On the Edge of Time: Focusing on the "Ordinariness" of Life - Dmitry Shagin

This article presents a detailed analysis of the work of Dmitry Shagin, examining how he used his art to express an independent stance regarding political and social systems within specific historical and cultural contexts. Furthermore, the article reveals his contribution to culture, philosophy, and art within the framework of the "Mitki" artistic movement. The study shows that Shagin’s creative philosophy includes his personal experiences, family background, and the traditions of unofficial art in Russia, providing an important perspective for understanding the development of underground art in Soviet Russia. The article discusses the formation of Shagin’s identity. He was born into a Leningrad family steeped in the traditions of unofficial art, and from an early age, he was profoundly influenced by the family’s cultural environment, underground art, and direct experiences of social realities. His artistic language avoided the grand narratives of official art, instead resisting institutionalized aesthetic norms through humor, satire, and everyday expressions in the cultural landscape of the Cold War era. To conduct an in-depth study of this topic, the present article employs the following methodology: abstraction method, literature analysis method, combined with a metaphysical research methodology. The article emphasizes the philosophical aspects inherent in Shagin's art. His work not only reflected the socio-political realities of the Soviet Union but also engaged in an intercultural dialogue with Chinese Daoist thought on both aesthetic and conceptual levels. The novelty of the research lies in highlighting the inhumanism and "anti-heroism" present in Shagin's work, which created an artistic space visually rooted in Russian culture but transcending individual ideological frameworks, thus achieving an intercultural intellectual expansion. The main conclusion of the research is that Shagin's art reflects both the underground artistic environment of Soviet Russia in the late 1980s and continues to influence the discourse of contemporary Russian art in the 21st century, emphasizing the enduring cultural significance of the "Mitki" movement in the history of Russian art.