EMPTY PLACE (DOCUMENTARY FILM ABOUT FURIOUS PHOTOGRAPHY OF DMITRY PRYAHIN)


Director, Director of Photography and Editor: Vitali Akimov
Director of Performance: Dmitry Pryahin

Composer: Bhima Yunusov

Russia, Saint Petersburg, Summer 2019



EVEN IF AT THE MOMENT NOTHING IS HAPPENING,
SOONER OR LATER SOMETHING WILL START HAPPENING WITH YOU,
FOR HOWEVER LONG YOU MAY CHOOSE TO POST PONE IT.



WHAT MAKES YOU ALIVE IS NAMELY WHAT YOU DO WHILST NOT RECOGNIZING ANY SENSE INWHAT’S TAKING PLACE, NOT SEEING WHAT IS GOING TO BE IN THE FUTURE, FOR WHAT PURPOSE DO YOU LIVE, ANDWHAT YOU DERIVE YOUR JOY FROM




NO INTEREST, NOTHING TO PROFIT FROM, NO PLAN WHATSOEVER
AND THIS IS THE MOMENT WE SHOULD ARISE, WE THE OBSERVERS, AND FOLLOWING US FOLLOWS THE
AUDIENCE, THAT IS BECAUSE WE ARE OURSELVES THE AUDIENCE OF OUR OWN ACTIONS.



IT IS INDEED VERY HARD TO MAKE YOURSELF MOVE AROUND AT TIMES, BECAUSE — I THINK — THAT MAY EXACTLY BE THE INFLUENCE
OF DEATH OVER YOU, BECAUSE AS IT IS WELL KNOWN THERE ARE TWO HUGE ORIGINS IN LIFE: LIFE AND DEATH. AND LIFE WITHOUT DEATH
DOES NOT TRANSPIRE.



THIS ALAS ISN’T SOME KIND OF KNOWLEDGE WHICH WOULD DISALLOW TO NOT DO; I HOPE IT’S UNDERSTOOD THAT IN EVERY GIVEN MOMENT OF TIME THIS WEIGHT ONLY INCREASES, MORE AND MORE. KNOWLEDGE GIVES YOU ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.



I'M TRYING TO EXPLAIN TO MYSELF, I'M TRYING TO EXPLAIN TO OTHER PEOPLE  (**SPLASH OF WATER**) BUT IF I PROCURE THIS EXPLANATION, FOR INSTANCE DURING A PHOTOSHOOT — IT INSTANTLY TURNS INTO SOME
COMPLETE RUBBISH, STUPID RUBBISH, STUPID IN A BAD WAY.



ABSOLUTELY CORRECT ARE PEOPLE WHO SAY "WHY GIVE BIRTH TO PEOPLE INTO THE WAR, INTO
UNHAPPINESS, INTO DEATH — PEOPLE ENGAGE IN ART EXACTLY FOR THE SAME PURPOSE AS THEY MAKE KIDS: PRECISELY FOR NOTHING; MOST LIKELY, BECAUSE OF LOVE.




SO, HUMAN IS A CONSTRUCT OF EXCLUSION, AND IT EXCLUDES A LOT WITHIN THUS HUMAN. IN FACT, IN THE HUMAN HIMSELF THIS DICHOTOMY BETWEEN HUMAN AND INHUMAN IS ALWAYS REPRODUCING ITSELF: INDEED, HUMAN IS THIS VERY BORDERING BETWEEN HUMAN AND NOT HUMAN.



THE EXCLUDED AND THE REPRESSED IS OUR CONSTANT SOURCE OF FEAR; INCLUDING WITHIN OURSELVES. INSIDE OURSELVES
THERE IS SOMETHING THAT FITS NEITHER OUR IMAGE OF HUMAN, NOR OUR IMAGE OF OURSELVES AS PERSONS.



SO FORCEFUL THAT YOU FORGET THAT YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO STAND ON YOUR LEGS. UNDERSTAND? THIS IS WHAT'S INTERESTING.
AND THAT’S WHEN THE FACE IMMEDIATELY STARTS TO GET TO WORK — THE FACE WANTS TO GO UP ALL OF A SUDDEN, HUH?




I ASSURE YOU: IT WILL GO UP WITH THE TONGUE, AND WITH THE FINGERTIPS TOO. IF YOU EVER HAVE HEARD THAT WHEN A PERSON IS TRYING TO QUIT SMOKING OR SOME SUCH, EVERY
CELL OF THE BODY WANTS TO HAVE A FAG — AND RIGHT NOW HERE, ALL THE JUNK, EVERYTHING YOU OWN WANTS TO MOVE.



WHEN YOU DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY; WHEN YOU DON'T HAVE STRENGTH TO MOVE; AND WHEN THERE IS NO MEANING IN WHAT IS TAKING PLACE. SUCH PHASES ARE EXACTLY WHERE THE TRUE EXPRESSION OF LIFE CAN BE FOUND.



THIS IS SO STUPID, BUT I THINK THAT I CONTINUE TO LIVE BECAUSE SOMETIMES — ONCE A YEAR, ONCE IN TWO YEARS — SOMETHING IMPOSSIBLE HAPPENS, AND MY MEMORY ALWAYS RETAINS THESE MOMENTS, AND I KEEP HOPING THAT IT WILL HAPPEN AGAIN IN THE FUTURE.



...AND IF THERE IS STILL A RESERVE OF SUCH FOOLISHNESS LEFT, THEN WE CAN GO ON LIVING. WE HAVEN'T COMPLETELY UNDERSTOOD WHAT IS GOING ON WITH US, AND WHAT WE NEED — SOME PART OF THE RESERVE STILL LEFT.





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