Recently, a very important event happened in Kyiv — the Samson fountain was repainted. Let me remind you that this is an ancient monument in Podil, dating to the 18th century. The fountain is notable for the sculptural composition “Samson Ripping Open the Lion’s Mouth,” and the composition itself is notable for its absurdity. The small lion, putting it mildly, seems rather calm about Samson’s businesslike manipulations. In my memory, this composition was called among the people “a cat at the dentist’s office” and other similar unheroic names. For me, it is a kind of symbol of Kyiv, whose inhabitants are usually skeptical of all kinds of pathos. So here we have the lion (cat) with Samson — they’ll put on a grand show of uncompromising struggle for you, and then they’ll go drink coffee. This is very much in the Kyiv style.
In any case, the sculpture is very unusual, especially against the backdrop of the traditional set “golden domes — chestnuts — Andriyivsky Descent.” It is unusual also in its coloring, as it is a rare example of a painted sculpture for Kyiv. Samson, painted in flesh tones, with drawn-on mustaches, eyes, and hair, looks especially provocative.
But the system does not slumber. And so about ten days ago, Samson was splashed with bronze paint. That is, with a light wave of the hand, it transformed from a monument challenging all philistinism and officialdom into part of this philistinism and officialdom. Of course, this is not a cunning plan of the Templars, not manipulations, and not humanitarian technologies — this is simply “Kyivzelenbud” with its own notions of the beautiful. But the system, we should note in passing, works precisely this way, and it is precisely this that makes it frightening.
Kyiv residents, as usual, expressed outrage on social networks, and Samson would have stood there turning bronze, had it not been for two brave girls who, as they say, simply painted it back. This was the kind of event that occurred in Kyiv, and as I see it, it will prove more significant than Ukraine’s refusals to pay debts, prospects of default, or failures to uphold human rights. Why? Because it demonstrates a simple method of fighting absurdity — ignore it and do what needs to be done. As we can see, this method is gradually taking root among the people, which is gratifying.
Actually, this is not simple, but very difficult indeed. For the entire power of an official — from “Kyivzelenbud” to the Verkhovna Rada, the president, and the UN — lies in a person’s belief in the supernatural abilities of the official and in the magical force of law. Or even more precisely — THE LAW. Why didn’t the brave girls write applications, collect signatures, or appeal to authorities? Because that is precisely what they should have done. I think the reason is that they did not consider it necessary, since they do not consider “Kyivzelenbud” competent in the matter of coloring Samson. They understand that bronze paint is absurdity, nonsense, and budget allocation, and nothing more. Their actions speak eloquently about this understanding.
I will be told, well, what’s the big deal, it’s obvious that “Kyivzelenbud” messed up, what’s so special about that. This only seems so to you. If you were beaten on the head for a long time and regularly shot every tenth person, you would sincerely believe in the infallibility of “Kyivzelenbud,” just as you now believe in the infallibility of the president, parliament, and the UN. You believe that all these people are needed and even necessary, don’t you? You do believe, don’t you? There you go. You just think that you need to simply find the right, patriotic, and whatever else kind of people for these positions. Well, and here nobody believes in principle. Zelenbud painted it, but we will return it to how it was and will not discuss how patriotic or idiotic the leadership is, or both. We ignore this leadership, since we do not consider it competent in principle. This is what it all comes down to. Officials are by default completely incompetent in matters of your life because it is your life. Well, that means they are not needed. I understand that this conclusion is staggering, therefore, we will move toward it gradually, starting with repainting the Samsons.