Every artist has his own work, which he considers to be
most considerable no matter how others understand it. The desire to create something exclusive lives in every man. Women do not need that, because any woman is able to have a baby which is most important in her life. Hence, a man has a tendency to create perpetuum mobile or absolute, and they choose either complicated or simple way. A complicated one is way of cognition and creating of something exclusive, even if at moment of creating it breaks all known decrees of nature. And a simple one - most common - is way of destruction. As a rule, this way is used by persons with absolutely defective state of mind.
The occasion of creating is generally banal, like everything in this world - proof to himself and others that I CAN DO IT! The proof of his POWER, that is with help of this illusion to slip through eternity or at least less remote future.
But to make this attempt work it is necessary to have a victim; and victim is creator himself.
On 1 st July 1996 to my lodging, which I proudly called a studio, came a man, Amiran Guntaishvili and said, "I need an artist who will be able to design two books, and one of them is called Kaif and another Oblom".
Of course, I laughed, because combination of such words, especially for a Russian man, means nothing serious. But… we were acquainted with for a long time, and past gave me cause for perceiving him as a very serious man and a businessman. Particularly, I was glad for him as man who was able to write books, what was bolt from blue for me. We were talking for a long time. It wasn’t even a conversation but a joint flight to mere mutual fantasy. The more we talked more I understood that it was question of a unique work of art.
As an artist I could choose two ways:
One way was simply to paint author’s idea; to paint and forget.
The second one was to turn this idea into unique work of art, being unprecedented in its apparent simplicity so far.
I chose second way, perfectly realizing, what I risked and made a sacrifice. In itself idea of Amiran Guntaishvili was not new, and there had been made some attempts to accomplish it. However, previous authors' mistake was following: they presented volumetric idea unambiguously, i.e. on same plane or interpretation, presenting and considering a detail as whole.
AMIRAN'S IDEA
One day in Amiran's presence a man simply said, "Oh! I wish someone would give me a million dollars just for hell of it!"
As it was said in presence of a great number of people, everybody laughed except Amiran who thought and said, "They won’t give it to you for hell of it, but they will give it to you for NOTHING!"
