kathleen

Indeed. It’s a long infamous history. From the dark ages of bubbledom there has been much rumour surrounding the identity of the artist often known as Khan. His associations have been lucrative, and some may say he rides the waves of foam and fame on the backs of t-shirt greats. His sheer abrasiveness, tainted with the eloquence of an editorial commentator is littered throughout the village, emanating with the stench of revolution while the carcasses of his former parodies lie around the old town hall of the Parody and Satire and Lampoon Group, seized and overrun by the extreme ideas of a sociopath.

Q. What is the object of your ARSE initiative, and what is in it for you?

A simple jaunt through the colourful halls of RedBubble will soon tell you that there is a lot of seriously fucking boring shit going on. I mean really bad. Take the Fungilicious group for example. They should be eating them, not taking photos. And then there is the RPA, which is drier than a nun’s knickers and twice as starchy. I shan’t say anything about ‘Living Christianity’ apart from my understanding of the word ‘living’ is, well, a little bit more alive. When RedBubble was but a little bubbling, things were looking much more optimistic.

There is also quite a lot of whining and quite a lot of mutual masturbation. Nothing wrong with that, but you shouldn’t do it in public.

To be fair it’s not big bubble’s fault it turned out this way. The square world is just a reflection of the round one, but I’d like to see more groups called ‘crazy shit i saw on holiday last year’ (I know Ms. Pryor would also), and less ‘panoramic views’, and I’d be really chuffed to see ‘fundamentally Islamic’ up on the board. In essence the ARSE movement is a reaction- an attempt to unite similarly ironically minded people and mobilize their collective power for whatever purpose their collective power is needed. to yell, as opposed to whine. it’s been riding on the back of Danny’s lampoon and parody group for the best part of a week, causing confusion, mayhem and disruption, but… we’ve just received news from big bubble of official recognition which may or may not change things, ‘cos I might fall off a cliff tomorrow, and everybody would have forgotten about it all by next Wednesday.

What’s in it for me? I’m just trying to restock the rabbitollah’s harem, and make sure that when I log on to RedBubble i don’t get assaulted by pictures of llamas and short stories with punch lines.

Q. Do you steal other people’s ideas, as has been suggested in the past? If not, why?

Like anyone I take inspiration from anything I see. Occasionally other people’s work- if that’s the case I normally turn it on its head. I like playing with other people’s ideas or images, with the intent of changing their meaning entirely through some simple modification. to my mind that’s not really copying. That [expletive starting with c], who used to sit next to me in my Latin tests, looking over my shoulder, was copying. [Expletive starting with c] copy and I’m not a [expletive starting with c].

Q. As a creative soul, how do you find outlets for expression in Russia? What opportunities are there for exposure?

In the ‘real world’ I work with pre-school children, specifically – the richest children in Russia. I’ve had 2 of the richest 10 families in Russia as my clients, and countless politicians, business leader etc in the last 5 years. i make materials for teaching the children- songs, animations, stories, plays etc- this year I recorded an album of educational kids hip hop for using in English lessons, and I’m submitting a picture book for publication with Egmont, who’ve just opened offices here.

If I can add anything positive to the idea-base of the kids I teach, who will doubtlessly come to hold the reigns of the nation and their fortunes in the next couple of decades, then that is my outlet. For exposure there are galleries and magazines- the best English language magazine here is ‘the exile’ (exile.ru) fucking hilarious, and deeply disturbing at the same time. The only example of free press in Russia- (because it’s in English). And it’s very free. Never tried submitting anything to them due to the fact they seem to be doing quite a good job by themselves.

Q. To be observant, you have done some travel around the place, how does this shape your expressive presentation of ideas?

The world is round, not square. If you see something with your eyes, and not on a screen, you can understand it, not just observe it. This is one of the reasons that religion plays a big part in my work- i go to a Hindu temple, or an orthodox church, or a mosque, and i feel the same connection with the earth, with nature. Doesn’t matter what clothes it’s wearing, or what clothes I’m wearing. I also understood that the way people live is different. The philosophies, ideals, and morals by which they live, are different. There is no right or wrong. There is diversity, and that diversity exists only because it’s what people want. Do you think Islamic countries want democratic leaders, or strong military rulers? As my grandfather quoted from someone I’ve totally forgotten- ‘every country has the government it deserves’ (Joseph de Meistre). You think in India they want beef stroganoff on the menu. Different strokes for different folks. That understanding gives me the ability to happily include symbols from different places and cultures in my work that possibly might not be orthodox in its employment, but which I think is valid. I’ve never been to America; that is my mistake.
To my mind this travel is not just physical but psychedelic also. I probably did too much acid, about twice when I was out in Goa in my ‘formative years’, tripping for a couple of months at a time. Real flying in the heavens talking to trees shit. When I came back, I sort of discovered I was in Russia. Not the sort of thing you can book from a travel agent.

it’s just like in the matrix with the blue pill or the red pill. Those that have understand what a fucking joke everything really is.

Q. How do you expect you will revolutionize Russian in the next 5-10 years?

I think my results will begin to kick in through the next 20-30.