We Will R. E. P. You
/5
- We Will R. E. P. You
- 2005
- video, color, sound
- 11min
On 7 November 2005, R.E.P. appears on Maidan Nezalezhnosti, Kyiv’s Independence Square, to introduce itself as an independent political organization: with banners and quotations by Joseph Beuys and Andy Warhol, the group proclaims the slogan “Everyone is an artist.” The R.E.P. artists’ appearance here in white protective clothing with welder’s goggles, looking altogether somewhat akin to the Ku Klux Clan, promulgates this and other statements by these two heroes of the international art world as an aggressive gesture against the nationalist, communist, and clerical political forces in Kyiv. It is shortly before the arrival of the nationalists that the R.E.P.s first occupy the Maidan, beating drums and shouting slogans like “Andy Warhol is our president!” The reactions of the crowd are mixed—running from curiosity about the situation to scornful contempt. “We will R.E.P. you” hence also functions as a historical document from the years of transformation. H.S.