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This long-read scholarly essay analyzes various aspects of theory and history of early Soviet modernism and avant-garde debated sub specie comprehension of complex mechanisms of late-industrial economy of culture and its fundamental institutions. Particular emphasis is placed on theoretical pragmatics of international modernism and early Soviet 'life-building' envisaged through the perspective of the new suggestive regime of experimental social environment. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/published

Abstract
This article addresses the complex role of mushrooms, particularly that of the fly agaric (Amanita muscaria) [Russian: Mukhomor], in the art of Moscow conceptualism in a broad setting. This paper explores the mythopoetic theme of mushroom-induced beliefs, which influenced the Moscow conceptualists, and employs background historical scholarship by R.G. Wasson, V.N. Toporov, T.J. Elizarenkova, and others. Aside from the mushrooms per se that were particularly important for Moscow conceptualism, this article also mentions various ethno-botanical entheogens (i.e. biochemical substances such as plants or drugs ingested in order to undergo certain spiritual experience, or "generating the divine within"). Apart from analyzing the ethnobotanical historical background of manifesting hallucinogenic mushrooms on the Russian soil (including Siberia), this article focuses on Pavel Peppershtein's novel Mifogennaia Liubov' Kast (The Mythogenic Love of the Castes), which was co-authored with Sergey Anufriev. As the narrative of the novel unfolds, its main character, the Communist Partorg (Party Organizer) Dunaev, is wounded and shell-shocked at the very beginning of the Great Patriotic War (World War II). Partorg Dunaev finds himself deep in a mysterious forest, where he inadvertently snacks on unknown hallucinogenic mushrooms. He subsequently transforms into an exceptionally strong wizard who is capable of fighting spectral enemies both on earth and in heaven. The reader discovers the so-called "parallel war" sweeping over the Russian territory where legendary Russian/Soviet fairy heroes are locked in combat with their opponents, the characters of the Western children's tales, and books. A heroic mushroom-eater, Partorg Dunaev joins one of the sides in this fight and gradually reaches the "utmost limits of sacrifice and self-rejection." This article contextualizes the fungi-entheogenic episodes of Moscow conceptualism into a broader sphere of constructed visionary/ hallucinogenic reality by focusing on psilocybin fungi, particularly the fly agaric/Amanita muscaria/Mukhomor, and their cultural significance.

Arguably, the Avant-Garde was engaged in a personalized dialogue with society. Modernism was offering a new language and culture that might foment social change and political action. This is evident in the movement's early infatuation with anarchism and socialism. It is also the reason that many of its practitioners supported the Bolshevik plan to create a new society. In the 1960s, Khardzhiev played a significant role in the rediscovery of Russian Modernism within the Soviet Union, mainly due to his personal relationships, several decades earlier, with many of its leading figures. His intimate knowledge of the various aesthetic experiments, his correspondence and personal associations with figures such as Aleksei Kruchenykh, Daniil Kharms, Kazimir Malevich, Mikhail Matiushin and many more, were essential texts, relevant to Soviet and Western scholars. Our volume of collected papers explores his multidimensional legacy. The scholarly essays in this collection are emblematic of the topics discussed at an academic conference held at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam (2-3 June 2017). These contributions by the leading scholars of the period expand the scholarly discourse on art, literature and culture. Although Khardzhiev's lasting influence is the starting point of this collection of essays, the enduring value of this book will be the multiple points of entry for future study of Russia's avant-garde modernism. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/published

Sergei Tret'iakov appears a unique figure in Russian intercultural scene of the early Soviet epoch. He was actively engaged in a number of ground-breaking creative projects many of which are analyzed and explained in the current essay sub specie common notions of modernism, documentalism, productionalism, and political aesthetics in general. The unique synthetic nature of Tret'iakov's socialist modernism could be described in a variety of ways, notably via his active participation in several characteristic Avant-Garde projects such as LEF or his preoccupation with the theoretical sides of the cultural production of his time (this discursive cluster includes his veshch'-theory which is discussed at length in the introductory article). ; info:eu-repo/semantics/published

Using the lens of cultural analysis, this study examines Pavel Lungin's Taxi Blues as one of the characteristic examples of perestroika cinema. The homosocial theme of the movie is explored in much detail, while using the available historical and comparative materials taken from Russian and Western cultural history. Taxi Blues traces the development of a relationship between a musician and a taxi driver during Russia's perestroika period. The taxi driver 'saves' the musician from alcohol dependency, imprisonment, financial ruin and self-destruction, only to be forgotten once the musician achieves fame abroad. Their relationship demonstrates a reversal of fortune in which economic and social status is conflated with sexual identity. As such, the homosocial relationship of the two men is disrupted when their personal fortunes are reversed by the collapse of the Soviet Union. The sexual overtones in the relationship implicitly evoke various cultural stereotypes (degenerate sexual behaviour, Jewish effeminacy) as well as inherent power dynamics (master and slave, teacher and pupil) to engage the explicit issues of social and economic status in a society that has been turned inside out by perestroika.