ENLIGHTENMENT-PROHIBITION
Street Art Museum, Saint Petersburg, 2017
An integral part of street art is the moment of forbiddenness. The viewer can see the same works diametrically opposed depending on the context. Street art activity is usually associated with vandalism, but through the recognition of the museum community or the price in the auction house the work gets the status of art. Even in the example of Banksy, we see that initially illegal works are taken from the street and come to museums. For their damage there’s even a criminal liability. So isn’t it funny that the product of violation of public order is protected by law now.
In the work of “ENLIGHTENMENT-PROHIBITION” the same cut letters exist in two places at a time, they are read both on the street, where they were taken, and on the territory of the Museum of street art, where they are transferred, but they form completely different meanings.