Empty Zones: Andrei Monastyrski and ?Collective Actions' is the first book to document the work of Russian Conceptual artist Andrei Monastyrski and his collaborative practice since the 1970s. Andrei Monastyrski is a unique figure in Russian contemporary art history, and he created the theory and practice of ?Collective Actions'. The Collective Actions group, founded by Monastyrski in the 1970s, was the first instance in Russia of the kind of participatory art that removes the viewer from his usual passive condition and gives him an active role in the creation of an artistic event. Monastyrski does not restrict himself to any specific method or genre; his artistic statements make equal use of performance, poetry, essay-writing, photography, video, objects and installations. The ?Collective Actions' are one-off aesthetic space-time events that involve artists and participants in huge rural spaces. Empty Zones brings together a cross-section of the actions for the first time in a unique volume with photographs and sketches by Andrei Monastyrski. The book includes texts describing the actions, photographs and theoretical articles about the contemporary aesthetic the artist and some of his contemporaries continues to develop. Includes essays from renowned critic and historian Boris Groys. AUTHOR: Boris Groys is an art historian and New York Times writer. Boris Groys is currently Visiting Mellon Professor at The Courtauld, and Professor of Slavonic and Russian Studies, at NYU; he was previously Professor and curator at ZKM Karlsruhe (Philosophy and Media theory). Claire Bishop is Associate Professor in the Department of History of Art at Warwick University. Claire was an art critic for the London Evening Standard and regularly contributes to art magazines, including Artforum, October and Tate. ILLUSTRATIONS: 80 colour ab/w illustrations
