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A bus stop sign is a sign because it refers to the spot where buses of a particular bus line stop at certain intervals.
In semiotics, the relation between the sign and the spot would be somewhat less banal. The bus stop sign only constitutes the material aspect of the sign –the “signifier” using Ferdinand de Saussure’s terminology. The signifier is related to an object – the “referent”, the exact spot in the street – via its meaning, the meaning being that which is “signified”, buses of a particular bus line stopping at certain intervals. This set of three – the signifier, the signified, the referent – is also known as a semiotic triangle.
Taking the material sign out of its normal context – its habitat, so to speak – the reference also changes. Thus, if Evgenij Kozlov had simply adapted the bus stop signs as readymades and had exhibited them in a museum, the referent (relating to what/where?) and the signified (meaning what?) would have changed. The referent would now be the museum, and the meaning would be that of a (temprorary) museum piece. But the signifier (being what?) wouldn't change. If we asked ourselves not what the bus stops signs mean, but what they are, we would still consider them as bus stop signs.
As a matter of fact, the pleasure we take in looking at a readymade arises from the paradoxical relation between what this thing means and what it “really” is, between its accidental meaning and its ontological truth. In other words, we need to understand that Marcel Duchamps' “Fountain” (1917) is actually an urinal. Without understanding accidental meaning as the result of "decontextualisation" ontological truth, the provocation (or the joke) will not work.
Adapting Leningrad bus stop signs for his art, Evgenij Kozlov went one stop further. He not only changed their "meaning” (the signified), but also “what they really are” (the signifiers themselves). They are no longer perceived as bus stop signs, they have become something else. They have acquired a new ontological truth. From now on, the term “bus stop sign” should be put in quotation marks, but as this reads pedantic, the text continues without quotation marks.
On the other hand, the form and design of the bus stop signs undeniably provided the impulse for the creative process leading to the three works discussed here. As explained in the previous chapter, certain features have been integrated into the new works – to different degrees in each of the six images.
What is more, the artist transferred the dominant "sign character” of the bus stop signs, its “declarative power”, to his own work, although with new and unexpected references: ART from the USSR and ART for the USA. Therefore, these "old“ objects are still somehow present in the new ones.
The following descriptions of the six images specify a number of such new references and explain what Kozlov adapted from the objects “formerly known as bus stop signs”. The descriptions are not fully doing justice to the objects as works of art, as for Evgenij Kozlov, the “meaning” of a work of art is contained not in the choice of symbols alone, but to no lesser degree to in the choice of colour and form.
However, as there is no way to get around such a traditional question as “what a work of art means”, the descriptions below may be regarded as a first step towards a more profound analysis of the three works. An interesting, not purely rethorical question would be at what point during the artist's creative process a bus stop sign stops being a bus stop sign and become works of art.
1. ART и СССР • ART and the USSR
(Lenin Boulevard).
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(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov.
ART и СССР • ART and USSR (Lenin Boulevard)
two-sided, mixed media on wood
42.5 x 59.9 x 2 cm, 1988
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The letters “BU” and “LENINA” are from БУЛЬВАР ЛЕНИНА, Lenin Boulevard. The other letters, including “Comintern Street“ (originally written above “Lenin Boulevard”), have been overpainted.
Phonetically, "bu˚ is short for “buka” – bogeyman. Lenin, ostensibly the kind grandfather, ("grandpa Lenin and uncle Stalin), was not only the example Soviet children were to follow, but also the figure adults used to reprimand their misbehaviour (Lenin will not love you any longer). Apart from that, Lenin has been, of course, the bogeyman scaring the entire capitalist world.
The building in the form of a step pyramid is a reference to the Lenin Mausoleum in Red Square, Moscow, built in 1924 – the spiritual or antispiritual centre of the Soviet Union. Snow is coming down from the cloud to the right, benignly covering the building and the square, with the exception of some dark areas.
A newspaper cutting – just above the artist's signature – marks the entrance to the mausoleum. It shows a poem celebrating New Year‘s Eve, yet the pathos of the verses is more characteristic of an epitathios logos, a funeral oration in honour of the dead. In fact, like an epitaph engraved on a commemorative stone, this piece of paper is closing access to the tomb. Lenin‘s marble bust sternly oversees the scene.
The words inscribed along the border are a combination of key terms from the French and the Russian or October Revolution:
РЕВОЛЮЦИЯ (Revolution, top), РАВЕНСТВО (Equality, left), БРАТСТВО (Brotherhood, right), ТРУД / МИР (Work / Peace, bottom, left and right of Kozlov‘s signature).
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(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov.
ART и СССР • ART and USSR (Lenin Boulevard)
two-sided, mixed media on wood
42.5 x 59.9 x 2 cm, 1988
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The reverse of “BU LENINA” displays one of the most popular sculptures from the Soviet period: Vera Mukhina‘s double statue “Worker and Kolkhoz Woman” raising high a hammer and a sickle.
The giant 24.5 m constructivist sculpture was originally designed for the Soviet pavilion of the 1937 World‘s Fair in Paris and was later moved to Moscow, where it has since been displayed at the VDNKh, the “Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy”. Kozlov’s composition also displays a sketch of Moscow‘s modern skyline.
The top border carries the inscription РАЙ – Paradise.
The text ART и CCCP (ART and USSR) identifies Soviet art with this type of heroic pathos that celebrates the formerly supressed classes – workers and farmers – as divine warriors. Yet the word left of the sculpture, МИР – Peace – is followed by a question mark. Although subsequently crossed out, it nevertheless raises doubts about the new achievements.
Today, the monument is still considered as a major piece of Soviet art. In 2009, it was installed on top of a new pavilion, increasing its total height to 60 meters.
Unlike the compact, nearly static composition with Lenin‘s mausoleum, this side of the object offers an extremely dynamic perspective emphasising the movement of the figures. Kozlov set the vanishing point to the top right corner, above the hammer and sickle, to a red star painted on the right border. Strong, irregular diagonals all “rush” to this star, like air filling a vacuum at great speed. On the other side of the compostion, a small stencilled figure pointing towards the left border – a variation of the female figure from “Points of Contact” (see below and introduction more >>) – mirrors the figures on the right, thus providing a counterbalancing force.
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Left: (E-E) Evgenij Kozlov: "Игорь, мир? Mир? – О, нет."
"Igor, peace between us? – Peace? No Way." Oil, collage, paper, 226 x 97 cm, 1989 - Collection Aboa Vetus & Ars Nova, Turku, Finland
more >>
Right: Galaxy Gallery, Peterhof, 1988
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Kozlov took the picture on the right approximately in 1988, at his Peterhof apartment-studio “Galaxy Gallery”. In the centre are several letter stencils he created for his works, among them “Мир?” and “И СССР”, the words for the reverse of "Bu Lenina”.
The artist used the stencil for “Мир?” again the following year for a large portrait of Igor Verichev, where he placed “Мир?” twice, on either side of a skeleton hand which was in turn first employed in Kozlov's 1988 "Portrait of Timur Novikov with Arms Consisting of Bones” more >>.
The five handbags from 1988 display a number of key motifs from Kozlov's USA-CCCP. Some can be found in the works discussed here.
2. ART из СССР / ART для USA • ART from the USSR / ART for the USA
(Comintern Street).
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(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov
Left: Art from the USSR / Art for the USA (Comintern Street), 1988
Top and right: USA-CCCP, series of painted photographs, 1987
Exhibition view at USA-CCCP-CHINA
Egbert Baqué Contemporary, Berlin, 2018
Photo: gewis
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(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov
Left: Art from the USSR / Art for the USA (Comintern Street), 1988
Top and right: USA-CCCP, series of painted photographs, 1987
Exhibition view at USA-CCCP-CHINA
Egbert Baqué Contemporary, Berlin, 2018
Photo: gewis
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(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov.
ART из СССР / ART для USA • ART from the USSR / ART for the USA (Comintern Street)
two-sided, mixed media on wood
42.5 x 59.9 x 2 cm, 1988
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This piece was made on a “Comintern Street” bus stop sign, and we can see a fragment of the bus line number 354. In 1993, “Comintern Street” was renamed Razvodnaya Street, but bus line 354 still operates the same route today. The bus stop is now called “Universam” – “Supermarket”.
Comintern is short for “The Communist International” (1919-1943), a network of communist organisations from a large number of countries under the guidance of the Soviet Union. Its aim was to achieve world communism - propagated as a bright future of peoples living in harmony with each other.
The text reads ART ИЗ СССР (ART from the USSR), and the newspaper cuttings with pictures relating to the 1950s (or perhaps to an earlier period) depict an aestheticised image of the Soviet Union: shining cars are driving through Moscow and happy female workers proudly present large bouquets of flowers.
On the border of the bus stop sign are symbols Kozlov created for another object: “Mama”, “Papa”, and the figures of a woman and a trumpeter.
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(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov.
ART из СССР / ART для USA • ART from the USSR / ART for the USA (Comintern Street)
two-sided, mixed media on wood
42.5 x 59.9 x 2 cm, 1988
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The other side of this object is entitled ART ДЛЯ USA (ART FOR the USA). Its central part is Kozlov‘s photograph from a series portraying two pregnant women. Using two signs that cover their faces, the two women introduce each other as CCCP and USA. The letter Я (“ya”, which translates as “I“) of ДЛЯ (FOR) shoots an arrow towards the left sign, USA.
Another photograph from this series sees the women standing back to back. Kozlov cast a net over their bodies formed from longitude and latitude. Thus the profiles of the two women accurately illustrate the curvature of the Earth’s surface: together, CCCP and USA form the globe. – They are life-bearing.
Yet in the bus stop sign, skulls are framing the women on both sides. Life is unmistakably associated with death.
3. ART из СССР / ART для USA • ART from the USSR / ART for the USA
(Comintern Street / Lenin Boulevard).
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3. ART из СССР / ART для USA • ART from the USSR / ART for the USA (Comintern Street / Lenin Boulevard).
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(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov.
ART из СССР / ART для USA • ART from the USSR / ART for the USA (Comintern Street / Lenin Boulevard)
two-sided, mixed media on wood
42.5 x 59.9 x 2 cm, 1988
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As with the previous work, this bus sign was originally taken from the stop at the intersection of Comintern Street with Lenin Boulevard (уг. = угол = corner). it is one of two entitled ART ИЗ СССР (ART from the USSR) on one side and ART ДЛЯ USA (ART for the USA) on the other.
The central element of ART from the USSR is a piece of embroidery cut out from a larger work – a little cat sitting in a basket decorated with flowers, its gaze directed at the viewer. 
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Exhibition Miniatures in Paradise,
Victory Column, Berlin, 1995
The pictures displays one of
Kozlov's sixteen Miniatures more>> |
Left and right of this sweet creature are constructivist figures of a man and a women. Their abstract, flat black shapes stand in contrast to the elaborate, colourful cross-stitching piece.
Kozlov designed these stencilled figures for his work Points of Contact, also from 1988, which portrays the USA and the CCCP as a couple, a woman and a man, with the question of who represents who being left to the viewer.
The artist developed these motifs further in the cycle New Classicals; first on bus stop signs, then on canvas of a 2x3m format more>>, and, finally, – in 1995 – with his large cycle Miniatures in Paradise – sixteen flags in a 5x2m format displayed around Victory Column, Berlin.
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(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov.
ART из СССР / ART для USA • ART from the USSR / ART for the USA (Comintern Street / Lenin Boulevard)
two-sided, mixed media on wood
42.5 x 59.9 x 2 cm, 1988
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The letters in ART ДЛЯ USA (ART for the USA) combine stencilled shapes with handwriting. ART and USA are neatly inserted into the geometrical design of the bus stop sign, with ART again making use of the A, short for “Autobus”. ДЛЯ (for) displays highly ornamental letters with angular curves, resembling wrought iron window grills or graffiti art. A black contour designed in the same zigzagging manner frames the picture. Its central motif is a man standing between the letters S and A of USA. His naked upper body is covered with a multitude of dots and scars – perhaps skin diseases or injuries. The man is holding to a bar upon his head, and with his unshaved face and grim look he represents the cliché of an American prison inmate as depicted by Soviet propaganda – a victim of the capitalist system.
Another cliché figure appears to the left of the word ДЛЯ, but as an entirely positive symbol: the little pig “Krusha” from the popular TV programme “Good Night, Little Ones!” (Спокойной ночи, малыши!).
First introduced in 1970, “Krusha” has become a dear friend to many generations of Soviet and later Russian children, helping them to exist in a world marked by confrontation and (verbal) aggression, the latter being represented by the missiles painted on the left and right borders. In other words, while Kozlov ironically plays with negative clichés, he does appreciate positive ones, as long as they are pure and innocent. Here it is “Krusha” who wants to make friends – through ART. A little pig called “Khrunia” became the hero of Kozlov’s poem from 1997 Oracles on Orange Peel.
Other works on bus stop signs
Three works from the cycle New Classicals, two-sided. more >>
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(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov
Three works from the cycle New Classicals
Left: Untitled (Love for the Cosmos / Love for Work)
Centre; Untitled (Love for the Wonderful / Love for the Earth)
Right: Untitled (Love for Man / Love for Woman)
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Other works on bus stop signs
С Новым годом • Happy New Year 1992/1993
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(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov
С Новым годом • Happy New Year
Two-sided, mixed media on wood
42.5 x 59.9 x 2 cm, 1992/1993
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(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov
С Новым годом • Happy New Year
Two-sided, mixed media on wood
42.5 x 59.9 x 2 cm, 1992/1993
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The central part of this work uses a print copy from a black and white reproduction of Kozlov's graphic work from 1982. The graphic work, “Высокий уровень техники / A High Level of Technique" interprets an illustration on page 507 of "The Stalin White Sea-Baltic Canal. The History of its Construction, 1931-1934” Moscow, 1934 (page no from the 1998 reprint). more >>
The book illustration has the following caption: "Техника на Западе достигает выского уровня" / Western technique has reached a high level – a cynical comment on a scene depicting a man beating a prisoner with a baton. more >>
According to Soviet propaganda, such inhumane treatment of criminals was characteristic of capitalist societies, while the Soviet system relied on re-education, as Aglaya Glebova states: “Like many of the early gulags – those in operation between 1927 and 1934 – the Canal was widely advertised by the Soviet government, which framed the camps as a humane project to rehabilitate criminals and ‘class enemies’, a re-education policy known as ‘reforging’ [perekovka]. (In: “‘No Longer an Image, Not Yet a Concept’: Montage and the Failure to Cohere in Aleksandr Rodchenko’s Gulag Photoessay”, Art History Journal of the Association for Art History, April 2019, p. 333).
Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: The logotype
Page 3: Leningrad bus stop signs
Page 4: Three objects on bus stop signs
Uploaded 25 March 2019
Last updated 29 July 2019
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