Threat
At 1 am on the 9th November 2015, Pyotr Pavlensky approached the main entrance of the Lubyanka building, the historic home of Soviet/Russian security service (currently housing the FSB, the successor of the Soviet KGB) and poured gasoline on the doors. He then set fire to them with a cigarette lighter and stood there, with the empty petrol canister in his hands, expecting the inevitable detainment.
He was arrested and charged with “vandalism”. On the 27th January, Pavlensky was placed into a psychiatric ward (the very same one on whose wall he had severed his ear lobe while performing Segregation) for an evaluation of his mental health. On 8th June 2016, a court found Pavlensky guilty and fined him for the damage reimbursement; he was let go after the legal proceedings.
“All I wanted to achieve with my performance is to remind people to call a spade a spade, and where the ultimate terrorist nest in Russia really lies. Terrorism uses intimidation as a method of domination and a means of control over people. Armed organisations, with varying degrees of legitimacy, have used terrorism in the struggle for power – and as far as the FSB goes, its terrorist crimes against the people date back to the post-revolutionary Red Terror.
Of course the FSB’s leadership got quite angry that I was able to make a mockery of their security system, given they themselves are the Federal Security Service and are meant to ensure the security of Russia. A part of this anger certainly stemmed from the fire itself; fire is after all the element that brings light to things that would otherwise stay in the dark, and shows things as they truly are. This caused consternation for the FSB, but this was nothing new: oppressive systems have always prosecuted those who sought to enlighten the people. And the whole history of Russian culture is based on a conflict between the power of the state and the people of that same state.”