Day
8, Monday:
Wake
up at 10.00 am. Breakfast of sausage and mushrooms, coffee. Shower. Review lecture
slides with Juri. Instead of the train, we take a "small bus" to Moscow. This
is a van with cramped sitting for about 20 people. We are dropped off at a distant
Metro station and proceed by subway into the center of Moscow to the Mayakovsky
Museum, where I present a letter to the Manager seeking permission to see Russian
Futurist artist books with rubber stampings at a later date. Juri has written
a Russian translation. We then go by Metro to the State Humanities and meet the
head of the Art History Department, who will host my lecture there.
We
take the Metro to a bookstore that we heard specializes in books on the Russian
avant-garde. Only a very few books are left because the store is closing. I buy
two books, a hard cover book on Olga Rozanova (in Russian but well illustrated)
and a general work on Futurism, both Italian and Russian. We take the Metro to
another bookstore at 4:40 pm. I find another copy of "Our Arrival" by Kruchenykh
(in English) and a series of magazines on Ukrainian Futurism (in Russian). I also
find a copy of the magazine, "New Literature Browser," which includes the article
on Mail Art by Juri. An added treat is finding an audio tape of Russian Futurist
poems, read by the authors themselves, including Kruschenykh and Mayakovsky. Metro
to the train station and return to Pushkino at 7:30. Watch some Russian television
until bed.
Day
9, Tuesday:
Wake
up at 8:00 am. Breakfast of coffee, cookies, swiss cheese. Shower. Get ready for
lecture at Science Academy, where Ann Gik works as a researcher and tutor to a
South Korean student. From some 100 slides I've brought, I choose those relating
to rubber stamps as visual poetry. Take the train to Moscow at 10:00 with Juri
and Ann Gik. We sit in the first car and it vibrates all the way to Moscow. I
feel like I'm in a Rayonistic/Futurist painting. Arrive at the Science Academy,
around ten blocks from the Kremlin and across the street of a gold domed Eastern
Orthodox church, at 11:00 pm. Select and set up slides: Futurism, Schwitters,
Arman, Fluxus and Mail Art. About twenty people attend in a small room; a mix
of faculty and mail artists. Lecture for an hour and a half. Interview after the
lecture with one of the Mail Artists for a magazine he and a group of friends
are publishing. Alexander and Natalya are there. Also Constintine Melenkov. Walk
to Moscow Art Expo with Melenkov and the Giks. The Art Expo is a big gathering
of Moscow art galleries. I buy a t-shirt reading "Moscow Art." We stay about an
hour and take the Metro to the trains station. Take Ann and Juri to eat at the
Italian restaurant I've been favoring. Take the train back at 7:30 pm. Arrive
at Pushkino at 8:45 and buy a "pivo" (beer). Asleep by 10.00 pm.
Day
10, Wednesday:
Wake
up at 8:30 am. Breakfast of Cheese and coffee. Take a walk with Juri through Pushkino
and get a haircut. Go through the local markets and shops for the first time.
Get some envelopes at the post office. Lunch of chicken hearts, potatoes, tomatoes
and tea. We take a "small bus" to Moscow at 1:00 pm. Cost is twenty rubles, about
seventy cents. Dropped off at distant Metro stop and go to Mayakovsky Museum in
the center of Moscow (across the street from the old KGB headquarters. Meet Slavia
Vinogradov, who had been present at my lecture the day before. He presents me
with an envelope and artist postage stamp he created the previous evening in honor
of my lecture. Constantine Melenkov also comes to the museum and gives me some
artists books for me to rubber stamp. Buy a miniature book for my roommate (a
book editor at the University of California Press).
Back
at the Mayakovsky, a television crew comes to videotape the exhibition for a future
program. Juri and I go upstairs in the offices of the Mayakovsky Museum, where
they have pulled some books for me to see, including 1913 artist books by Kruchenykh:
"The Worldbackwards," "A Game in Hell" and "Explodity." This is the first time
I have seen these books in person after having studied them for the past four
years. I am especially moved to see the rubber stamp impressions in the books.
It's a highlight of the trip for me. Go to the main post office in Moscow with
Juri and mail postcards to a number of Mail Artists and family members. Eat at
MacDonalds. Metro to Central Train Station. Back in Pushkino at 8:30 pm. In bed
at 10:00.
Day
11, Thursday:
Wake
up at 8:30 am. Breakfast of coffee, cereal, cheese. Rubber stamp artist books
for Constantin Melenkov. Juri comes back from a trip to the market with newspaper
article about the exhibition at the Mayakovsly. The headline is, "To the Village
of Grandfather John," an old Russian saying, which I have no idea of the meaning.
It is accompanied by a good graphic of a work I stamped out for the reporter.
The story ends, "Mail Art has no past, only a present." We take the train to Moscow
and there are more offerings -umbrellas, sweets, batteries. Endlessly entertaining.
Arrive in Moscow and take the Metro to the Science Academy, where Ann Gik is working.
I finally get a chance to go on the Internet and answer some mail and let people
know I'm ok. Go to the State University of Humanities at 4:00 pm and set up slides
for the lecture. Introduced by the head of the Art Department. My translator is
the same woman I had at the
Science Academy lecture. The focus was on a history
of Mail art with slides of Duchamp, Fluxus, Ray Johnson, envelopes, postcards,
artistamps, catalogs, and books. It last about an hour and a quarter. Take the
Metro to the Central Train Station and buy Italian dinner for Ann and Juri.
Take the train back to Pushkino. More items offered on the train: beer, religious
decals for Easter, nuts, soup mix and magazines. Home at 8:30. Watch some
Russian television. Bed at 10:00 pm.
Day
12, Friday:
Wake
up at 6:00 am to watch the television program segment filmed at the Mayakovsky
several days ago. They said it would be on somewhere between six and nine. It
finally comes on at 8:56 am in a cultural segment also featuring the work of photographer
David Chappelle. They show me sorting envelopes of Russian Futurist postage stamps
canceled by the United States Post Office. The program has been broadcast nationally.
Soon after its airing, a neighbor rings the doorbell to say she's seen the program.
Go back to sleep until 11:00 am.
Breakfast
of cereal, coffee and cheese. Read "Our Arrival" by Kruchenykh. Lunch of chicken
hearts and barley. Go out at 1:00 pm with Ann to see shops in Pushkino. Buy t-shirt
with hammer and sickle on it, and a Moscow football club scarf. Go through a great
farmers market with pig heads. Back at 5:30. Juri has been in Moscow to firm up
arrangements for the lecture at the State Contemporary Art Museum. Dinner of tongue,
barley, tomatoes, tea and cookies. Talk with Juri about future Mail Art projects,
his relations with Dimitry Bulatov, the Kalingrad artist and curator, who was
his mentor, and his previous Moscow visit with English mail artist Michael Lumb.
Bed at 10:00 pm.
Day
13, Saturday:
Wake
up at 8:00 am. Juri shows me a television program he taped at 11:50 pm the previous
evening. A program on Independent TV, which was broadcast nationally, it features
a culture segment including a new exhibition of Futurist paintings at the Pushkin
Museum, my exhibition at the Mayakovsy Museum and the Moscow Art Expo. A nicely
edited program, which Juri copies for me on CD-ROM. Breakfast of boiled eggs,
cheese and coffee. Take a walk (in a light snow storm) with Juri and Ann to the
Mayakovsky Monument in Pushkino. From 1920, he maintained a summer "dacha" in
Pushkino, since burned down. But a larger than life statue marks the spot. We
climb the pedestal, and perform, "Why We Stamp Our Faces," an action commemorating
the Russian Futurists tendency to paint their faces and go out in the streets
of Moscow. Juri, Ann and I rubber stamp our faces and then go into the town to
confront a bemused public as we shop (bread, caviar and bologna). After going
home and showering, I go out with Ann again to shop at the farmers market.
Design rubber stamp ("John Held/Worldbackwards/Moscow 2003") to have made up the
next day at a commercial rubber stamp producer. Asleep at 10:00 pm.
Day
14, Sunday:
Wake
up at 8:00 am. Write the manifesto, "Why We Rubber Stamp Our Faces." Breakfast
of bread, cheese, coffee, chocolate cake. Take a shower. Do an hour video interview
with Juri. Take a short walk with Juri and Ann in a light snow storm. Sleep at
9:30 pm.
Sticker
and poster design advertising the Mayakovsky Museum show. A collaboration by Mike
Dickau and John Held, Jr.
Day
15, Monday:
Wake
up at 8:00 pm. Breakfast of coffee, cafe and oranges. Go to rubber stamp company
to have "Worldbackwards" stamp produced. Juri receives issue two of "CorresponDances"
from Tarturugo in Vigo, Spain, which includes my article on the preservation of
mail art magazines. Juri is also printing out all his stampsheets, about 40, for
me to perforate in San Francisco, when I return home. Take a "small bus" to Moscow
at 11:00 am. Go to Science Academy to answer e-mail. We take the Metro to a bookstore
that specializes in books of the pre-revolutionary avant-garde. A note on the
door indicates that it is closed for lunch from 2-3, and we are unable to convince
the owner to open for us. As there are holidays to follow in the next days, this
is my one opportunity to see the store, and I relentlessly knock on the door again,
convincing the owner to open for us.
The
store becomes the Holy Grail of my journey. The owner is the recognized expert
in the field and has an article about hand-painted examples of Futurist books
in a current antiques magazine. He was also a consultant on many previous exhibitions
on the field. He shows me original copies of The Worldbackwards, Explodity, Game
in Hell, etc. In addition he has both prints and postcards issued by the various
artists of the period, including Kruchenykh and Rozanova. I buy a Danish exhibition
catalog for a large sum because of the excellent reproductions and English text.
I would have liked to spend more time, but Juri and I are forced to leave because
of our other activities.
Metro
to the State Center for Contemporary Art. Arrive at 4:00 pm to set up for lecture.
Talk with the translator, an art student, about the lecture. Set up slides. About
forty people attend, including the director, Alexander and Natalya, Constatin
Melekov, et al. Melankov gives me carved stamps and I give him some from the Futurist
series. Lots of questions from the audience. Afterwards we have a drink of vodka
with the director in his office, where his bookcases hold works on Fluxus and
On Kawara. Metro to train station. Train to Pushkino at 9:00. Home by 10:00. Dinner
of potatoes, tomatoes, bologna and bread. Sleep at 11:00 pm.
Day
16, Tuesday:
Wake
up at 8:00 am. Breakfast of coffee and cheese. Train to Moscow at 9:30 with Juri.
Metro to meet Alexander and Natalya. Take a small bus to their apartment, which
they share with Natalya's parents. give them a complete set of the "Back to the
Futurists" stampsheets. In turn they are very generous in not only trading for
their own stamps, but for many other Moscow artists that appeared in their "Motherland/Fatherland"
artistamp exhibition. Lots of vodka with a nice spread of blue cheese, ham, bread
and capers. In the evening we go to the artist studio of Nicholay Krechtchin,
a painter and printmaker, who makes incredible engraved artist stamps. Trade
with him for examples of his work. More vodka. Dancing amid his cramped artist
studio. Metro to the flat of Alexander's' sister, who passed away in December.
More vodka before sleep at 1:30 am.
Day
17, Wednesday:
Wake
up at Alexander's sister flat at 10:00 am. Cognac and cookies for my hangover.
Hitch a ride to Alexander and Natalyia's flat at noon. Rain. Their friends Olga
and Andrew come over for vodka, ham, cheese and capers. Joined by Nicholay Krechtchin.
Take a nap. At 6:00 pm we go to the studio of Vasily Shulyhenko, a painter with
gallery representation in Chicago (Maya Polsky gallery). Hitch a ride to the Central
Train Station, where we meet Juri at 9:30 pm, Train to Pushkino with Juri, arriving
at 10:45. Tea with Juri and Ann. Bed at 11:30 pm. I really need the sleep. Moscow
artists really know how to party!
Day
18, Thursday:
Wake
up at 9:00 am. Coffee. Shower. A beautiful sunny day. Sort artistamp sheets given
to me by Alexander and Natalya. Juri gives me the rubber stamp I had ordered,
which he had picked up the day before. I'm very pleased with the result, and especially
like the very typical Russian design of the stamp itself. Take a "small bus" to
Moscow at 1:00 pm. Meet Ann at the Science Academy. Walk to Pushkin Museum just
down the street. See great works by Picasso, Matisse, Cezanne and Gaugin, as well
as works from Greece, Italy and Egypt. There is also a special section of Russian
avant-garde works by Kandinsky, Malevich, Larionov, Gonachara and others. Walk
to Arbot Street, a pedestrian avenue with
souvenir vendors, portrait painters
and interesting shops. Metro to Central Train Station. Take train to Pushino.
Arrive at 8:30 pm. Eat sausage and drink pivo. Watch a film by Fellini on video.
Bed at 10:30 pm.
Day
19, Friday:
Wake
up at 9:00 am. Have coffee with Ann. Juri sleeps late. Stamp out some works with
the new rubber stamp. Go to the market with Ann. Buy some blue cheese and mushroom
salad. Collaborate with Juri on a work for a forthcoming St. Petersburg Mail Art
exhibition. Make prints of the television of the program on the Mayakovsky exhibition.
Dinner at 6:30 pm-blue cheese, ham, olives, dates and halvah. Watch Russian TV.
Juri continues to print out copies of his stampsheets. Bed at 10:30.
Day
20, Saturday:
Wake
up at 8:00 pm. Unpack bag to pick up exhibition items from the
Mayakovsky
Museum. Breakfast of potatoes, cooked ham, tomatoes, yogurt, cheese and tea.
Take
train to Moscow with Juri and Ann at 10:30 pm. Metro to Mayakovsky
Museum.
Take down the exhibition. Ann's sister comes by with her son and daughter.
Her
daughter takes the opportunity to practice her English on me. Go to
Science
Academy for e-mailing, but it is closed for the holidays. Metro to the
Central
Train Station at 2:00 pm. Train to Pushkino. Dinner of potatoes, ham, corn
and
salad. Tea and sweats. Take a nap while Juri and Ann go shopping. Juri
scans
materials by Rocola and Ray Johnson. Watch Russian television. Bed at 10:00
pm.
Day 21, Sunday:
Wake up at 8:30 am.
Tea with Ann. Shower. Pack for my departure the following day. Take my first walk
in Pushkino without Ann or Juri accompanying me. Buy some flowers of Ann. Watch
TV. Nap. Not feeling well, and I'm afraid that I'm catching the cold Juri has
had for the past few days. Dinner at 5:00 pm-sausage and rice. Shave the Trotsky
goatee, I had grown especially for this trip to Russia. Early to bed.
Day
22, Monday:
Wake
up at 6:30 am. Tape video good-bye with Juri and Ann. Juri goes to work. Ann and
I take a taxi to the airport at 7:45 am. Arrive at the airport at 9:00 pm. Tea
with Ann and then bid her good-bye. Go through declarations. Ticket reservation
with Aeroflot. Through passport control with no problem. Wait for noon flight
to San Francisco. Buy water, chocolate, sandwich and newspapers. Read newspapers
for the first time in three weeks on the flight. Interesting and unexpected article
by Thomas Pynchon on the meaning of Orwell's "1984." Arrive in Seattle at 1:00
am local time and go through Customs inspection. Transfer to plane departing for
San Francisco. Arrive in San Francisco at 3:30 pm. Home by 5:00 pm. Asleep at
9:00 pm.
John
Held Jr. visited Moscow between April 14 and May 5, 2003.
back
to part one
