Eşanu Octavian. Transition in Post-Soviet Art: The Collective Actions Group Before and After 1989

Vienna: Central European University Press, 2013. — 375 p. — ISBN-10: 6155225117; ISBN-13: 978-6155225116The artistic tradition that emerged as a form of cultural resistance in the 1970s changed during the transition from socialism to capitalism. This volume presents the evolution of the Moscow-based conceptual artist group called Collective Actions, proposing it as a case-study for understanding the transformations that took place in Eastern European art after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Esanu introduces Moscow Conceptualism by performing a close examination of the Collective Actions group's ten-volume publication Journeys Outside the City and of the Dictionary of Moscow Conceptualism. He analyzes above all the evolution of Collective Actions through ten consecutive phases, discussing changes that occur in each new volume of the Journeys. Compares the part of the Journeys produced in the Soviet period with those volumes assembled after the dissolution of the USSR. The concept of "transition" and the activities of Soros Centers for Contemporary Art are also analyzed.Creating a Clearing: Foreword by Boris GroysA General Introduction to KD and Moscow ConceptualismA Bibliographic Overview
Mapping Moscow ConceptualismTransition: From KD to [KD]KD’s Journeys Before 1989Volume I (1976–80): Appearance
Volume II (1980–83): Ten Appearances
Volume III (1983–85): Discussion
Volume IV (1985–87) and Volume V (1987–89)“During”: The Transition to Capitalism[KD]’s Journeys After 1989Temporality of Transition
New Schizo-Terms in the Dictionary
Bracketed Totality: From KD to [KD]
From Numerology to Statistics
From Action to Installation
From Descriptions to Projects
Kievogorskoe Field: From No Man’s Land to Housing Development
A More Comfortable Journey: From Public to Private Transportation
The Democratization of LanguageAfterword: From KD to [KD]: From Objectivation to ReificationAppendix: Dictionary of Moscow ConceptualismPreface by Andrei Monastyrsky
Dictionary of Moscow Conceptualism (Main Section)