PASHA CAS
ONE-PERSON PROTEST
(Almaty, Kazakhstan)
When caught up in one information bubble or another, it can seem like it is our whole world and entire life. But should we escape this bubble, it becomes clear that the world is enormous – naturally leading to a clear-eyed, independent realization of a particular situation. One-person protest is a reaction to the current state of events due to the pandemic and an attempt to discover a completely isolated place. Understanding the futility and absurdity of holding a one-man protest atop a mountain, the artist, holding an “Open borders” sign, shows the impossibility of movement and participation in international projects on the one hand, and demonstrates the beauty of the surrounding world, a shared treasure of humanity, on the other.
Street art artist Pasha Cas is well known for his far reaching, socialIy acute works addressing societal indifference, corruption, and ecology. In his work, Cas uses minimalistic stencil presentation techniques to create street art that is a manifestation of the present reality and strives to challenge the observer to rethink the current world. Cas is one of only a few street artists, who choose not to hide their face behind a mask, but rather believe that it is important to have an open dialogue with the public. He was awarded the prize for Best Public Art Work in 2018 by the Sergey Kuryokhin Contemporary Art Awards for his work Happy New Year, Comrades in St. Petersburg, Russia.