Sociotherapic utopia. Project that aims to stimulate artificially and synthesize the conscience of people, who perform various social functions that require special inner responsibility and take the appropriate vows and oaths. Oaths-worn man in some way limits his personal freedom and gives a part of internal space of his personality to embody therein the executor of appropriate social functions, the oath holder.
U.S. Presidential Oath
While delegating from among its members a person to perform a particular social function, such as the president, a doctor or a soldier, etc., society should, giving him the power, to ensure its safety from the possibility of unfair execution of obligations entrusted to the Executor. Traditionally, this role was played by the rite of initiation, today presented by the practice of taking vows and oaths; the inauguration.
Unfortunately, we are often faced with the negligent execution of duty by the persons in positions of trust, sometimes with malicious violation of duties and with using their position for personal gain. Such phenomena as corruption, bribery, nepotism, double-dealing, etc. - also have their roots in failure to perform duties by oath takers.
Specially made series of video clips, that represents broadcasts of texts of oaths and vows in a suggestive mode: President Oath, Hippocratic Oath, Law Enforcement Oath of Honor, etc. - sent by mail (that was well documented) to the appropriate authorities - Russian Presidential Executive Office, different ministries... with an appeal to watch them in the morning as the calisthenics for conscience, imposition of culture of self-suggestion for subordinates. Creating unconscious “automatisms” will guarantee faithful performance of duties, pursuant to oaths, and help to protect against mistakes.
Russian Presidential Oath
On the other hand, failure to perform duties by those in power is only possible if society doesn’t know its rights and fails to respond to violation of its rights in an adequate form. Therefore proposed making educational suggestive videos for broadcast on television based on section of the Constitution “Rights and freedoms of man and citizen”, Criminal Code, different statutes and regulations.
The strategic objective of the project is the automatic execution of duties by officials of all types and levels in an appropriate form, and, on the other hand, automatic and proper response from the person, against which there is a violation.
The project is done in all languages of the world, because mentioned problems are international.
Kirill Shamanov, 2003
Supported by the St. Petersburg PRO ARTE foundation for culture and arts and Ford Foundation.
2003, April. Peter and Paul Fortess, St. Petersburg.
The receipt about getting videotapes from the Russian Presidential Executive office.
2003, December. "Art-Constitution". National Museum for Contemporary Art, SART gallery, Moscow.
2004, November. Extrashort Film's Festival. “Software for every case”. Novosibirsk, Russia.
2003, December. Participant of the “Art-Constitution” project. “Soft ware for the President of Russia”. Moscow, National Museum for Contemporary Art.
2003, April. Exhibition “Make it better”. Curators are Dmitriy Vilenskiy and Ekaterina Degot. ”Software for every case”. St-Petersburg, Peter and Paul Fortress.