the protest artist who stumps Putin

The protest artist Petr Pavlensky, who this week set fire to the door of Russia’s secret-police headquarters, has outsmarted the authorities by making their reaction part of his performance.

“Pavlensky is a sort of absurdist descendant of Soviet dissidents, who demanded that the state follow its own constitution, which, on paper, guaranteed the rights to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. Pavlensky demands that the state follow its own logic of escalation, which is precisely what the authorities are trying to avoid in his case.”
rest @ http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-protest-artist-who-stumps-putin

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