Статья

Last summer we left the office to take a slow short stroll and to take pictures of what we call “pictures” and what we see every day over and over again. Then we came back to the office.

Natasha: That is grand. Poltergeist and flying chips.
Olya: It’s quite typical when they combine product and taste. That’s a popular approach to advertising: if there is strawberry flavored tea they draw a strawberry with a teapot’s spout.
Polina: Isn’t it cool when everything is clear: they make beer that tastes like cheese and chips, and there’s a new creative meaning of the word “strong”.

 

N: Long live the photorealism.
Tanya: Well, I object to such a realistic advertisement of mayonnaise in summer. The mayonnaise producers should use something more abstract: a tanned woman perhaps.
N: A fat tanned woman.
O: That’s the advertisement of sunflower seeds. There’s poor mayonnaise hidden in lettuce  and lush tasty seeds!
P: The other day they sent us a brief for the summer mayonnaise – there was a slogan written with it on a girl’s belly. No more mayonnaise for me anymore.
T: Profit!

 

N: Everytime.
T: I don’t find it a good idea to cover a half of the picture with a slogan. So many details are hidden.
O: A psychedelic one. You can stand in front of it turning your head around – it’s such an attraction.
P: I got angry with this lazy kind of creativity. I guess it’s the effect of psychedelic.

 

N: Gosh. Have you shrunk? I have.
T: They are all cannibals. And the word “roar” looks as if it was a jelly made of blood.
O: That is scary. Such a nightmare.
P: Laughter for the youth. You get the information about the movie budget with the help of such posters.

 

N: Oh yeah! Once again!
T: Why not, they’re steady guys.
N: I’m sure they can’t draw.
O: Cool strong guys. No comments.
P: Wait, there is another meaning. That’s the language of gestures! A fist is for “A” and a thumb up stands for “D”.

 

T: It it better. I don’t know why the second word starts with a capital letter though – are they initials? However, let it be.
O: The picture is ok although I have no idea why it is here.
P: Well, one can eat a goose, a rabbit, some mutton… But do they really serve cats?

 

T: I think here’s something beautiful but from here it looks as if someone has just had been shot in head.
O: We should have come closer and taken a picture.
P: We should.

 

T: A very horrible signboard.
O: There is a belching little dragon and a surprised unidentified creature.
T: Let it be a cat.
P: A “Motherfuckup” pet store.

 

T: What a demonic badge. This owl has nothing to do with wisdom. I’ve looked it up and can tell you that an owl is a symbol of those who are in the know of some secrets. It’s a guide to the realm of shadows in Hinduism. And the Slavonic legends say it’s a demon, the herald of trouble. Isn’t it great? Welcome, Pelevin.
O: A symbol of absolute power. Is it from a fairy tale?
T: You’d better not deepen your interest. I say it’s too dark.

 

N: I’ve shivered again. It’s a pity there wasn’t enough space for the presents.
T: These are just flowers, why shivering?
O: Flowers and presents around the clock. There is nothing to add.
P: And nothing to seize on. Flowers 24 hours a day — it’s wonderful.

 

T: There is something archaic about it, ancestor’s sculls or oblation… Looks like staken off heads next to an old witch’s house.
O: Zombies are coming!
N: I have pity for the photographer, and the composition is a failure.
P: That’s a cool example of street-art. I like such things. You know, when people stop to take a photo of the thing — that’s a success.

 

N: It’s ok
T: It’s only the color that is ok here.
N: That is the level!
P: You’ve blurred everything I could comment on. But the color is ok.

 

N: Boring.
T: Very boring.
P: That’s disappointment. Where’s a mug-shaped students’ record-book, where’s the student wearing a kimono and the very word “passed” made of sushi?

 

N: Well, that’s a dream.
T: If the signboard hadn’t been so new it would have looked like a Soviet one. However, it sucks.

 

N: Ok…
T: I hate standers. They are usually cheap, shabby and ugly.
O: Is this really a pie or is it a magic button?
T: I wouldn’t touch it anyway.
P: The problem is this stander, the picture is ok. As well as the food there.

 

N: It’s ok, too.
T: I wish modern prints were prohibited.
P: The picture is ok. I have written a lot about the name itself, but then deleted.

 

N: It’s so authentic.
T: No modern prints. But it’s nice to look at.
P: I really like the idea of pictured menu on the window.

 

 

N: This is my Motherland.
T: I wonder where they all get the idea of such shop-windows from. There should be a source of such inspiration.
O: I am afraid if such huge photos of food. Please don’t.
T: SAUSAGE, CHEESE, MEAT.
P: And such posters always fade so fast! Come in, there is some blue meat for you!

 

N: Aaaaaah!
T: A historical centre of the sity, romanticism.
O: Let Palych have them all himself.
P: Palych is sacred!
T: Polina seems to be Palych-addicted.

 

N: Where is the artist?
T: When “Persona” first appeared with these pictures, it was really cool. But years go by, and it’s time the illustrations were changed.
P: That’s it.

 

T: It’s all delicious when mixed. I don’t know why Russian tourists go to the Chinese parts of New York and San-Francisco, we have our own great style.