The current focus of my artistic practice is at the intersection of the studio and urban space. Such an approach gives rise to a sense of disorientation and radical impermanence, which is caused by endlessly repeated leaps from one context to another. However, this duality also acts as a catalyst.

I began my journey with graffiti, but through the protracted experience of creating infinitely monotonous forms this type of creative practice began to feel inadequate. Nevertheless, the works I continue to perform in public space often seem like ‘street art’ because of the use of materials and methods I adopt.

In the beginning of summer 2015, I commenced a programme of work that sought to ‘erase’ graffiti in public space – without a permit. Equipped with a high visibility worker’s vest I started ‘cleaning the city’ from ‘vulgar’ inscriptions and ‘hooligan’ graffiti. The Moscow wall at the Kursky railway station became a place that I engaged with for almost half a year. The photographs of the wall are presented in chronological order (above – unpredictable aesthetics, from below – a buff).⁠¹ Close-up images have been added for clarity.

The removal of graffiti by an unauthorized ‘employee’ seems like a provocation, especially as this work is produced by a former graffiti artist. The answer to the question “Why?” is also ambiguous, like the question itself. If the inscriptions are not buffed with an ‘artistic’ intention, they will still be painted over. Perhaps the answer to the question is, then, “Why not?”

A paradox arises here. On the one hand, the ‘artistic’ buff helps the city to clean the space from the ‘visual garbage’, fulfilling the function of workers. On the other hand, the action itself is illegal, which refers to the traditions of the same graffiti. The only criteria for recognition of my work as mark making with artistic intent is the colour of the paint used, which does not match the colour of the wall. This distinctive feature often aroused suspicion among passersby, who repeatedly documented my graffiti removing process on the cameras of their smartphones.