I spent the whole of last evening browsing the Saatchi Art Gallery online (www.saatchigallery.com). What (or who?) was I looking for? For interesting works, from interesting painters. And why? Perhaps in order to compare my works with the works of others, to relate my views to the views of others.

I was looking, but in vain. There are very few interesting works; they are hidden, lost like a pearl, in a pile of manure. And what is vexing is that the painters of interesting works are not eager to give any explanations of their creations, as if to say “look, perceive, experience – everything is right here in my artwork!”

That’s true, in part. Any premature – or worse yet, superficial – attempt at an intellectual explanation desiccates the living body of the art work, and deprives the viewer of the opportunity to consider the work as a whole, with all his powers of perception.

None the less, intellectual cognition is necessary. It provides the orientation in space, like making a map of the area, in order to understand who you are, where you are, and where you are going.

Alas, the world of modern art is almost unconcerned with this problem. It is soaked with other ideas, purely commercial. Everything, including common sense, is sacrificed to this golden calf. Icons, as well as toilet tanks, everything is raised to the level of art on a pedestal.

In my opinion, such artistic gluttony is not an achievement, but rather a neurotic vacillation before the threshold of conscience. This modern all-permissiveness lacks a compass. There is no top, there is no bottom, and there is no development; instead there is only the Brownian Motion of particles. It is believed that everything has sense, but it is in fact senseless, because sense is searching for a compass, and lining the particles along the lines of the power field. It is the drawing of order from chaos.

I interpret this modern aversion to order, making a cult of disorder, as a manifestation of vulgar human cowardice. A person who habitually retreats from solving difficult problems is destined to develop neurosis. All these shocking projects, such as exhibitions of feces, are nothing but symptoms of global neuroticism.

Conscience and ethics are very unpopular nowadays, and not only in the sphere of art. The heads of modern artists are so much clouded by money and fame that the voice of conscience is very difficult to get into their mind.

None the less, a turn to ethics in art is possible – in that case, if an artist asks himself honestly and without prejudices: “Who am I?”, and “Why I was given this talent?” “What do I have to do with it and how to develop it?” And if he asks these questions, and if he tries honestly to answer, sooner or later he will have an insight and that insight is: his artwork – a painting or a sculpture – is a reflection of the state of his inner development, of the state of his spirituality. He will understand that it’s impossible to separate a personality from an artwork. And that this human capacity to step aside from both himself and his artwork have been given to him neither as a self defense barrier, nor for exercising his earthly ego, but as a means of cognition.

I recall after the opening of my exhibition in Oktyabrsky last December, the students of the local art school approached me. They asked me with a directness which is common for youth, “What should we do, where should we study, live, and work? To be a freelance artist means to be destined for poverty. Perhaps we should study design because it is fashionable and profitable nowadays.” To tell the truth, I couldn’t answer anything sensible at that moment because I was not ready.

But today, if they asked me this question again, I would answer: “Artistic talent is God’s mark. It’s a sign that this person has a special task to face. His talent is given to him to develop and to direct it for serving God and humanity, not for the purpose of making money. An artist is not a simple Philistine, endlessly dreaming to become rich, but a priest in God’s temple. His talent doesn’t belong to him. It belongs to humanity. His fate is to partake of this spiritual bread and to share it with other people.”

My position on this question does not ignore the demands of the material world. Yes, you have to earn your living, to have food and a roof over your head. But an artist should know what is an aim, and what is a means.

Material being is a means for solving spiritual tasks. To prioritize for material tasks means to go in the opposite direction of spirituality.

Today the world is addicted to materialism. All needs are being perceived as purely material, earthly, fleshly; it is considered that satisfaction of these needs makes a person happy and contented. The needs of the other kind, which are manifested as a vague yearning, a depression unpleasantly brewing in the soul, are more or less successfully being treated with the help of narcotics. As a narcotic, I mean not only chemicals, alcohol, or tobacco, but everything that drives one away from this vague yearning, making a person forget about it for a while.

What is necessary in order to make this person to get rid of this addiction and tête-à-tête face his yearning? For the beginning, he should want it.

With me, it happened this way – I worked as a journalist in the newspaper. One fine day I realized that I was paying too much for my relatively carefree material existence, in the form of my conscience – because I had to participate in the shameless deception of the readers. And I forsook this comfort, but not without pain and suffering, of course.

In this aspect I can honestly say to the school girls from Oktyabrsky that in choosing the fate of a freelance artist you are choosing voluntarily but necessary suffering. And it can’t be another way.

What is the notion of “I” in a common mind? It is what I know about myself. It is some kind of a tiny building on the territory of a big state. And when it is stormed by an irresistible power, the walls are being destroyed, and everything amassed in the process of living – all the views and values imposed by the society – is burning. But they are burning in order to clear away a place for a new building – a temple, where a wind will roam freely, and the name of that wind is divine spirit.

When we choose life, we choose suffering. And it’s high time to speak about it to young people considering their perspectives. If a person allows himself to be lead by collective norms (which are today being solidified as purely material values), he chooses suppression of this suffering by the way of regularly narcoticizing himself, and he chooses being numb and devoid of all feeling. But if he realizes that there is a difference between collective norms and his own inner voice, and if he decides to follow this voice, he ultimately chooses suffering. Because by the time he realizes this difference, he already has a totally formed ego. Suffering is destroying this ego.

However, there is comfort in this suffering, because life is not blind and soulless. There is sensible movement to sensible aim; there is living your own unique life, which does not repeat any other life scenarios. There is full realization of your own life’s potential.

One should accept any suffering with joy, not in masochistic sense, but as a signal about unsolved problems, and that is why all the mystics rejoiced when they suffered, because they understood that God was going to improve them.

In this way the ideal of a modern artist can be described. It is a person who has made the development of his own consciousness the aim of his life. He knows that his personal development is inseparably connected with his creative activity. He understands that his art works are reflections of the processes of his soul. And his mastery is an instrument of the translating of that spirituality which is being accrued and which circulates within him. And he feels all the responsibilities of his task, because God himself has chosen him as his coworker.

The task of an artist is extremely difficult. But, there are only two ways, two pills. Either the way back to The Matrix, to the womb of infantile illusions and neurotic fears, or the way into the real world, of whole and sensible existence. A person who realizes this thus becomes either Cipher or Neo. There is no third solution.