Andrei Monastyrski

Aktionsplan (Map)

Aktionsplan (Map) is a map of the field by Kyevy Gorky. Here Monastyrsky locates many of the iconic actions that occurred between 1977 and 1999. In this drawing, the static positions of the audience are marked with circles, while the audience that re-locates is marked with hexagons as an arrow delineates their trajectory. A square marks the individual actions without an audience.

Andrei Monastyrski and Collective Actions (Kollektivnye Deistvia) Collective Actions Group was initially composed of four members, Andrei Monastyrsky, Lev Rubinstein, Nikita Alekseev, and Georgii Kizevalter, and was formed in 1976 in Moscow. By 1979 the group grew to seven and has expanded since. It was one of the more prominent performance groups of the late Soviet era. CA has conducted over 125 actions in the rural surroundings of Moscow. The group is still active today, meeting several times per year. Each action has been rigorously choreographed, staged, and documented. Each time, a selected audience was invited by telephone and given a time and place to meet. Often the destination would be a field outside of Moscow. Rather than positioning the field as a natural site or an abandonment of the Soviet urban structure, for Collective Actions, the field was a space with no affiliation. This neutral, empty place proved ideal for investigating social dynamics. Often seen as a foundation of Moscow Conceptualism, CA meticulously documented the numerous mysterious rituals over the years, and edited them into a series of texts, Trips out of Town. Central to the group are artist, theorist, and poet Andrei Monastyrski. His performances, phenomenological objects, and mysterious texts have defined a melancholic, scrutinized side of Moscow Conceptualism. A philosopher, in essence, Monastyrsky speaks in gestures that analyze behaviors, causes, and effects. His method is alchemical, and his extensive practice is strategic and precise.