Naked artist nails himself to Red Square in protest

A performance artist has been detained in Moscow after stripping naked and nailing his scrotum to the cobblestones of Red Square in a protest.

Pyotr Pavlensky, 29, reportedly sat for an hour and a half on the square on Sunday afternoon, with a nail driven through his genitals into the ground.

The St Petersburg performer had faced a custodial sentence of 15 days but was freed on Monday.

Pavlensky said his "Fixation" act was a metaphor for apathy in Russia.

Naked artist nails himself to Red Square in protest

**Neither this headline, nor any combination or variant of "Russian" "testicles" "nailed" or "Red Square" was returned in the search results. If it's already been posted, I can't find it.

Ok. I understand it was a protest from him, but YEOWCH! Really? The nards?! I guess it brings a whole new meaning to getting nailed...

My understanding of laws in Russia are admittedly not up to par, so if anyone knows, what kind of punishments/charges (if any) could he be facing down the line? I see in the article he was given a 15 day sentence, but has apparently already been allowed to go. To be honest, I'm surprised he wasn't held in a mental unit. If he'd done this in the US, that'd be a good likelihood, so yes, I'm thinking of it from an American's perspective here.

Seeing that the man is a "performance artist", I'm wondering if he did it as part protest, part attention. I mean, to nail one's genitals to something, you're got to be determined for one reason or another.

Ohhhhh, I could have done w/o reading that... Ouwie ouwie!!!

reply to post by Nyiah


disappointed. I thought there was gonna be some naked...female...artists.

Well if i could i would give him a star and flag for that

Seriously, artist?

ThichHeaded
Well this guy definitely had some balls..

Well, he used to, before he installed a wind tunnel through them

There is a video, blurred, out there, but I'm not sure if it's within the T & C to post. Judging by the people passing by in it, you're think it was just another day at the mall or something, people just strolling by not phased. Granted, he was apparently sitting there nailed to the ground for an hour and half, so maybe it is the norm to see weird stuff like this over there?

May I suggest tape?

Art is indeed a stretch...

On the plus side, and slightly off topic (but not really) the reason he is still alive is that this did not take place in Times Square.

If it happened in Time Square, he would have been Tazzzzzered whilst back-up was called. Then beaten to near death and charged with trespassing and resisting arrest as well as being a public nuisance.

Once the dash-cam video went viral and the actual events were made manifest, the LEO's would not be charged or interviewed........a few weeks later, he would have been found hanging from a rafter......suicide and stuff, you know the drill.

Anyway, love your government, buy lots of things that collect dust and watch TV so you are aware of what the government(s) wants you to be aware of.
[snip]

reply to post by Nyiah


A true artist, and quite a piece of performance art. Russia needs more artists, after that Pussy Riot thing went south and the main organizer ended up in Siberia. And the gay laws came into being seeming 50 years behind the times when actually being much less. The Russian people are being dragged headfirst into the social contracts of the 21st century, and artists are leading the way. Thanks for the thread!

UGH, what the hell is wrong with that guy. Is he a descendant of Picasso maybe? Talk about extreme and strange protest methods. Hope his tetinuts shots are up to date.

reply to post by Nyiah

Naked artist nails himself to Red Square in protest

I remember Buddhist Monks firing themselves in the Nam... Hindu extremists chaining themselves to concrete slabs to then drown on Ganges at high tide...

This is no difference; a person tries to bring attention to a certain political subject they feel close to and they basically sacrifice themselves... to one degree or the next, to try and draw attention to it.

The world is not inhabited by robots. We will never all agree on anything. I find this kind of display counter to the idea of change.

Pavlensky stated that his "Fixation" act as a metaphor for apathy in Russia. Attention wise for the act, as it would not be the same if he just sat there, no one would be talking about it.

Similarly it's Performance Art, which includes some "risqué" acts in protest, meant to cause an emotional response as opposed to entrainment value.

I saw this and I gotta call BS, how did he nail anything into bricks which is what the ground is made of? Seems like an attention stunt by an artist simply to well get attention. Im more interested in the magic nails he can just hammer into brick, it would be a global revolution in metallurgy if he found some magical way to make nails do that with just a hammer.

You can see the nail in the video still going into the dirt/clay holding the cobblestone: -possible NSFW but doesn't show scrotum-www.theguardian.com...

Ive never understood how naked self mutilation in public or on a stage qualifies someone to be called an artist. When i was at school the kids who used to do that kind of stuff arrived in a special bus and were just kept away from everyone else, there was nothing arty about it.

In scrolling down this page, i expected to find a comment leading to the non-violent (and non self-
mutilating) as far as i know, "PussyRiot", before anyone gives me the gears, please, this new dude; got naked in a nationally condoned historic space, and self- mutilated himself. From what i read, got off pretty easy. (No pun intended.) Now if you have any cognizant intelligence within you and have any idea of who pussy riot is and what AND WHY FOR THEY ARE in prison, then you see how russia has become a silly little thing. No one knows why they make any political decisions. The sad thing is they seem to have chosen Youtube as their new Stalin. Sorry if that upsets you, but the only alternative was the 1930s probationist mafia. Whilst that is the reality, I'd rather point at youtube fail videos and wait to see you all find a peaceful way to live. Wait... I can see I forgot the point I was trying to make.... But still I see where I was aiming.... And dang it... I hit the bullseye!!!! Oh you silly silly humans! So cute yet vulnerable!!

I read about this in the newspaper this morning. Talk about random. For some reason, the article seemed to imply it was an act of protest, but failed to indicate any motive for his action. Sounds fishy.

"When the authorities turn the country into one big prison, openly robbing the populace and channelling funds to increase and enrich the police and other security agencies, society accepts arbitrariness and, having forgotten its advantage in numbers, brings the triumph of the police state closer through its inaction."

From the source and genius...

reply to post by Nyiah


Vodka is a very powerful drug.