Leonid Voitsekhov is a contemporary artist, art theorist, curator and writer. He was born and lived almost all his life in Odesa. He is a father of Odesa Conceptualism – a trend of art that claims that the main thing is not the form of the work, but its intellectual component. Most of Voitsekhov’s works are built on associations, wordplay and absurd situations that force the viewer to pay attention to non-obvious details. He was one of the first organizers of actions and performances in Odesa.

The action “In No Time” (in Russian “V Dva Stcheta”), which was also curated by Leonid Voitsekhov, took place in the Palais-Royal square near the legendary Opera House and was a symbolic gesture directed against the commercialization of art.

Four people in white shirts and trousers with wooden mops, rags and buckets of water were washing the asphalt in the Palais Royal square. Voitsekhov, standing nearby, worked together with everyone and gave instructions at the same time. They all moved rhythmically and harmoniously, creating the effect of co-choreography. Passers-by watched this activity with interest, some of them tried to ask questions. Children, interested in the unusual action of the adults, also joined in the washing, cheerfully running between the adults and pouring water from the buckets. A large inscription “In no times” was made with white paint on the asphalt.

The choice of the Palais-Royal Square for the acion was not accidental. This historical square became the center of commercial activity of Odesa artists. The participants of the action, in response to the flood of low-quality artistic products, decided to draw attention to the decline of spiritual component of art. They washed the asphalt, performing the ritual of “washing” the space from “dirty”, purely commercial activities. It is necessary to pay attention to the clean and light clothes of the participants of the action. The choice of such clothes emphasizes that they perceived this action as a celebration: a celebration of saving true art from the dominance of commerce. Another reason for such bright clothes can be to emphasize that this is a struggle for the purity of art. The action called to revise the role of art in society, to cleanse the artistic world from the influence of material interests and return to its true essence.