The first lecture

On the following day (Monday), I finally met with everyone at CEC: Susan, Nastya and Anna. I was told details about the week-long seminar. I was going to work with the art students from Pro Arte, a well known art institute in St. Petersburg. We drew the plan: Day 1: Lecture on my projects including the Bubble Project, Univers Revolved, Abstractor, among others. Day 2: Lecture on street artists around the world and preparation for the public art project for each students. Day 3 and 4: Presentation of students' proposals and critique. Day 5: Installation of the projects on the streets of St. Petersburg.

All lectures took place in the evenings. From 6 to 9pm because most of the students were busy during the day. I was ready for my first lecture. I was excite to meet the students and I felt a bit nervous at the same time. I didn't know what to expect. Will there be many people? Will the translator do a good job? For my pleasant surprise, the room was full. There were about 40 people, mostly young. Some were Pro Arte students and others were a mix of art enthusiasts, artists and journalists. The title of my lecture was "Bombing the Matrix. A lot of my projects challenge the fundamental systems in society, not often questioned. The Bubble Project transforms ads (corporate monologues) into public dialogues. Univers Revolved challenges our linear and 2-dimensional reading system into a new, 3-d reading experience. Abstractor transforms TV into an abstract art piece. Nine Circles Numbers offer alternate way to perceive and interact with numbers. I wanted to encourage the students to start questioning their own systems and create projects which ultimately would disrupt the mundane.