One can hardly ignore the sensationalistic aura of Pavlensky’s biography, featuring striking political performances such as the sewing together of his lips or the nailing of his scrotum to the floor of the Red Square. Filmmaker Irene Langemann goes beyond the eccentric surface of his work to sketch the sobering portrait of an artist engaged in a momentous wrestle with a repressive state, for whom each performance is a firm political statement. While Pavlensky’s more recent performances in France have been even more controversial, his work remains powerful and inspiring as an ongoing dialogue with the political power. His naked body, wrapped in barbed wire, testifies to the power of a vulnerable human being in its unflinching confrontation with the system.
