Russian Cosmism was A Modern Manifestation of Russian Messianism during USSR.
Russian cosmism, emerging in the late 19th century, represents a modern variant of Russian messianism. Cosmists believed that the Russians, through their religiosity and scientific progress, should aspire to immortality and space conquest. This cosmic ideal resonated with the Russian people's relationship with space, largely due to the vastness of their territory. Just as religion played a key role in legitimizing political power in Europe, Orthodoxy served as the spiritual cement of Russian autocracy. However, this came at the cost of various struggles and divisions. Emperors such as Peter the Great abolished the Moscow Patriarchate, replacing it with a Synod under civil power control.
Despite their Marxist ideology, Soviet leaders embraced the idea of a new religion intended to liberate men from their ultimate alienations. This was demonstrated through the construction of Lenin's mausoleum, symbolizing the possibility of immortality, and the flight of Yuri Gagarin into space in 1961, fulfilling the dream of cosmic conquest.
Cosmism, developed by Russian philosopher Nikolai Fedorov in the late nineteenth century, emphasized the ethical obligation of humans to care for the sick and cure death using science and technology. It was a movement that influenced philosophy, theology, sciences, and visual arts in both pre-revolutionary Russia and the Soviet period. Fedorov's ideas on the colonization of space and the importance of collective salvation were admired by senior Soviets. Tsiolkovsky, a recluse by nature, spent most of his life in a remote log cabin, devoted himself to the eternal well-being of each atom.
Fyodorov's acolytes, including Tsiolkovsky and Solovyov, are associated with an intellectual movement called "Cosmism," which made a significant impact in philosophy, theology, the sciences, and the visual arts. The Izborsky Club promotes Cosmism as the basis of a "new global alternative development project that Russia could express and propose." This movement aimed to offer an alternative to Western theories of modernization, which assume that economic development brings about the political convergence of societies toward liberal democracy.
After Stalin's death, the Soviets turned again to space, just in time to counter American efforts to launch satellites into orbit. Sergei Korolev, the chief designer of Sputnik 1 and Gagarin's rocket Vostok 1, was profoundly influenced by Tsiolkovsky
With the fall of the Soviet Union, it became possible for Cosmists to re-establish the link between religion and science. Harvard University professor Anya Bernstein says that 21st-century Cosmists "worship" Gagarin for his role in realizing Fyodorov's "prophetic" vision. Today, Russia is second only to the United States in its uptake of cryogenic procedures, but the Russian Immortalist movement draws a sharp distinction with American Transhumanism, whose emphasis is secular and generally more libertarian.
The Russian Immortalist movement seeks to meld space and cyber-space, with the company Neuralink aiming to provide brain-machine interfaces that merge human consciousness and artificial intelligence, helping humans "stay relevant" in a world dominated by AI. These Cosmist schemes are replete with ethical anxieties, and it seems fitting that Fyodorov was fascinated by the figure of Faust.
In modern times, Vladimir Putin has leveraged the Orthodox Patriarchate of Moscow to consolidate Russia's 'moral values', opposing them to the alleged decadence of the West. This has seen a resurgence of religion as an ideological tool within Russian politics.
One Bulgarian fellow
The references in the film F1.618 to Russian culture are many. And I admit to being an absolute fanatic about Russian culture! All in all, your culture was Russia's most powerful weapon! We read your literature avidly, watched your films excitedly. And suddenly... Everything fell apart. Bulgarian director Teodor Ushev's statement at the Moscow Film Festival, 2023. He goes on with the Anti War Hippie Rhetoric for Peace: "War destroys Russian culture. Every missile you fire burns a Russian book. Every bomb you explode blows up a poem, destroys a film. With every innocent child or woman you kill, you kill one of your writers, artists, filmmakers." to end Marketing Brilliant, "I don't understand! Please, we have to do something. Man and love must conquer hate and death. I believe all is not lost. At least you have one poem to save!" As he recited an example of the great and captivating Russian poetry of Anna Akhmatova.
What the Bulgarian Filmmaker, who started out in Marketing and Advertising before finding a niche in state sponsored art, does is demonstration how to answer the classic interview question- "What are your weaknesses?" while he masterfully demonstrates what it means to "Put your weaknesses in a positive light." Or to put it in other right words that western man wants to hear, no matter how cynical the tragedy in Ukraine sounds "everyone has their little weaknesses and makes little mistakes, the important thing is to be able to overcome them and move on". What matters is that Russia is a great culture that has inspired more than one or two artists.
Bulgarian culture has two peculiarities. First, it is heavily influenced by the culture of the USSR (which at the time could not win Oscars, but today does, even in a hybrid-prankster way). The second feature is like the first. As in the days of Communism, it relies 100% on the State(or some grant), paying off by painting propaganda posters. In Bulgaria, culture (especially cinema and literature) has been completely dependent on state funding for almost eighty years. Even in his autobiography our most successful director, nominated for Oscar, pretends to work for the Canadian Film Centre (Canadian governement pay him to make films). Whereas in earlier versions of the resume, he presented himself as a business man. But despite everything, Theodore Ushev represents the Smart, the Successful, the Modern and the Beautiful of the Bulgarian Left/Right Change. Usually, as under communism, everyone else doesn't understand anything, they are bad material, they listen to the wrong music, they watch the wrong movies, they are materialistic, selfish, subject to vulgarity and vice, simply workers. Of course there is an "ugly reserve face, even in politics", which we won't talk about now. But you can look at how strange culture is financed in Bulgaria:
Teodor Ushev is the first Bulgarian animator nominated for an Oscar. To some extent, thanks to Bojana's Top Author Georgi Gospodinov, Ushev was nominated for an Oscar.
Anthologist of Communism, Inspired by Russian Poster Artists under Russian Music
A key place in Ushev's filmography is taken by the "Tower" - "Drux Flux" - "Gloria Victoria" trilogy, which depicts the formation and collapse of communist ideology.
The powerful energy of these films is provided by the spirit-lifting works of Soviet composers Georgy Sviridov, Alexander Mosolov, and Dmitry Shostakovich. In the trilogy, Theodore Ushev repeats the experiments of Oskar Fischinger, visualizing music and combining sound and drawing into a single artistic image. The visual style is based on the Soviet avant-garde painting of the 1920s and revolutionary agitational posters.
Теодор Ушев. Анимация как музыкальный видеоарт: altereos — LiveJournal
For someone who specializes in visual messages, who specializes in symbolism, who started his career as a poster artist, to choose the same t-shirt that features the hanged Mickey Mouse. Once at a show, once to appear on Bulgarian National Television from Canada to talk about your Oscar nomination. It's more than a symbolic message!
Asked if he would work for USA companies, the Montreal-based Bulgarian-Canadian animator said:
I believe that if you sell your freedom to the Devil for money, sooner or later he will take both from you. Теодор Ушев: Не заменям свободата за Холивуд - Мнения — Новини Стандарт (standartnews.com)
The most important battle of every Artist is against Egoism! A socialist philo-socialist trend finding greater and greater popularity.
Teodor Ushev is an animator, director and graphic designer. He was born in 1968 in Kyustendil. Theodore is the son of the famous artist of the Socialist era Assen Ushev. Artist and designer of the time of Communism or so-called Socialism, member of the omnipresent Union of Artists at the time of total propaganda, informers and censorship. It is extremely curious how Ushev talks about this time. How his father made the first art performance to push socialism in front of half a hall of policemen (without being arrested) in 1985 (despite being an important part of the Artists' Union and having been a designer for the biggest communist factory) and despite having been in East Germany on business (an extremely rare privilege given by the Communist Party to few people.). Ushev tells how he and the boyfriends were bugged by the secret services, for reasons unknown. But still in Bulgaria there is an opinion that we are very intelligent and Westerners are naive and believe in painted magic fairy tales. Теодор Ушев: Не заменям свободата за Холивуд - Мнения — Новини Стандарт (standartnews.com)
Recently one of the most influential Bulgarian artists presented his new film φ1.618. An artistic and non-commercial film, which not only visually but also in terms of its messages is reminiscent of the fantastic masterpieces of the USSR era - Kin Dza Dza and Stalker. The director said that this is a film in which the Bio Titans, a class of immortal (vampire) exploiters, after having sucked the life out of the earth try to leave it. This corporation of human transformers(sexless beings), have used up and destroyed all the resources on earth and are looking for new colonies to exploit in space. But a madman changes their plans, as has always happened according to the director.
The vision of φ1.618, a visual homage to Soviet science fiction cinema of the 1970s and 1980s. Yet Ushev revealed to the Russian press that the inspiration was the Russian artists of the first half of the 20th century, who served as inspiration for the world fantasy masterpieces of the USSR, Stalker and Kindle Dza Dza, among others. And yet, before he immigrated to Canada, Ushev was making a name for himself drawing Posters. Where the message or propaganda must find a place on a single sheet.
Фильм, 1979
Ushev's film, like Tarkovsky's Stalker, is hard to define what it is. Drama, post apocalyptic parable, environmental warning, anti capitalist and anti imperialist ultra left call... Bleak landscapes, symbolism everywhere, even in the plastic bags in the 1979 film- In Russia disposable plastic bags were banned and consumers(historically there were none, there were workers) used either paper or reusable bags to get their daily ration of food. Ushev as Tarkovsky propagandistically accentuated the positive collective image- the Professor(scientist and intellectual) to trust him to save humanity after the ecological catastrophe caused by the soulless exploiters.
The destroyed traditions and values
The inhabitants of the earth destroyed by exploitation are sexless. But one of the Titans saves the last remaining woman(after all, the world has become sexless, destroying the traditional family of man and woman) by taking her with him into space, taking off from the monument to socialism that becomes a flying spaceship.
On a remote mountain, the ‘Sistine Chapel of socialism’ awaits its fate | eKathimerini.com
An interesting visual wink to the last woman saved by the flying Titan is a mosaic inside the Sistine Chapel of Socialism itself, as the New York Times had called it.
Ushev's film was funded almost entirely by the National Film Fund, Ministry of Culture, and received support from a Canada Grant. Who's who in the Bulgarian Culture Fund, setting cultural trends and suggestions?
In 2017, his film Blind Vaisha, based on the short story of the same name by Georgi Gospodinov, was nominated for an Oscar for short animated film.
A little more about Georgi Gospodinov and the nostalgia movement in Bulgaria:
The face of the Bulgarian protests against the Status Quo
Ushev is one of the artists who most strongly and consistently supports protests against the government and the Attorney General. By the way, Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev, who is the first target of the Protesters, is the only prosecutor who started investigations against Russian spies in Bulgaria.
Теодор Ушев: "В България е токсично, не може да се диша" – DW – 5.10.2020
Ushev is one of the artists who most strongly and consistently supports protests against the government and the Attorney General.
Corruption, shenanigans, seizure of personal businesses, bureaucracy, dysfunctional administration, and as a result - an economy in stagnation and people losing motivation to work. When people see that the laziest and most illiterate individuals are getting enormously rich by abusing EU subsidies just because of their close relationship with the local feudal lord, it demotivates people, people feel robbed. And this scheme is practically enforced from the smallest village to all state institutions. Accountability among subordinates is reduced to zero. A mediocracy has been established in the country - a system in which incapable and mediocre people are appointed to positions of responsibility not because of their qualities, but because they are obedient, they are relatives of someone and ultimately serve the interests of the Borisov-Dogan-Peevsky triumvirate.
The atmosphere in the country is toxic, one literally cannot breathe, those in power are arrogant, uneducated, brutally insolent, and the propaganda and agitation from the media they own runs non-stop, led by frankly illiterate people. A total reboot of the state is needed - and the people in question in key positions are just the tip of the iceberg. Working and thinking people will either win back the state or everyone will have to head for Terminal 2 at the airport.
Once, in '97, when the Canadian consul asked me - "Why do you want to emigrate to Canada, when you have such a successful career in Bulgaria?", I replied - "I am not an economic emigrant. Although in other older interviews he says he had a successful graphic design business in Bulgaria, partners in Montreal and opportunities there.
I don't care what team this government will have. But if elected, I will be the first to shout - "Resign, mutro! Take your talentless writers and musicians and retire with your ballet to the roadside inn of Uchindol countryside - where you belong."
For the government of one of the most famous Bulgarian artists (music called chalga because it has more eastern motifs and resembles gypsy motifs) Тео Ушев към Слави Трифонов: Взимай си бездарните сценаристи и се омитай - Труд (trud.bg)
Repetitive Past. New is good old forgotten or who are the young left intellectuals?
Trendafil Velichkov, the young socialist who lit the star of the Socialist Sistine Chapel - Buzludzha.
Let's draw Gypsy-Oriental and USA cartoons- how to plant Nostalgia
Kiril Petkov is the caricature example of Bulgarians who studied in the West and returned to Bulgaria. There is no more ridiculed and caricatured image in Bulgarian political history. Kiril has been instilled for two years as an image personifying the West and those Bulgarians who are in the West and share Atlantic ideals. He was launched by the obviously pro-Russian President Rumen Radev, a prototype of unprincipledness a la Donald Trump, USA. An image who has major behavioural problems, obvious, cannot speak Bulgarian, which he is constantly ridiculed for, has obvious problems with concentration and balanced behaviour, lies, a lot and claims it is normal, flouted the constitution with targeted acts, all the while repeating that it was a just law, as well as demonstrating constant unprincipled and seemingly Western-looking rudeness and insolence, educated in Harvard. Politically, he shows a total lack of any political hygiene or historical memory - from a "spiritual son" of Rumen Radev, Kiril allied himself with the BSP (the former communist party) and the bulgarian 5 Star Movement, and even made a government together. Now he is about to form a government with GERB, whose leader Boyko Borisov was detained for 24 in the police, on a tip-off from Kiril Petkov personally, based on articles in Google.
The Normal and Not Normal(official specialist position)- Everything Western is abnormal
Broadcast featuring Dr. Tsveteslava Galabova part of the initiative committee for the nomination of President Radev. On the show with one of the most popular Bulgarian journalists, currently a blogger. Discussion about the mental state of Kiril Petkov(and he has obvious behavioral deficits, unclear why not noticed in America for Bulgaria).
The ridiculous image of the Democraty and the West
The only pro-Western party in Bulgaria(member of the European Conservatives), fully associated with liberalism and democracy, DA Bulgaria is full of controversial personalities at the core of the party. For example, former Health Minister Peter Moskov(whose mother Emma Moskova, is a long-time director of the National Institute for Monuments during communism), and bears the surname of the notorious Head of the Komsomol - Young Communists (until 1989) Encho Moskov famous for his "conservative positions" that "Gypsies should be denied health care"
ПРЕССЪОБЩЕНИЕ: БХК остро осъжда расистката закана за отказ на животоспасяваща здравна помощ за роми | Български хелзинкски комитет (bghelsinki.org) And that the party supported by ethnic Turks and defending the rights of minority groups is "tumor education. And he as a doctor knows that tumors should be cut out and thrown away."
But most interesting is the political and coalition life of Moskov. Who was Minister of Health with a coalition partner ABV (the same party from which was lastley Trendafil Velichkov, the present governor of Pazardzhik). ABV leader Rumen Petkov:
At the beginning of the COVID pandemic, one of the most successful Bulgarian businessmen, Ivaylo Penchev, expressed on many media the positive opinion that the pandemic will cleanse the world of the weak. The old people will decrease, which will solve the pension problem. As well as that the world will split in two. On one side will be the welfare states that have allowed natural immunity, on the other those who fear, restrict and live from vaccine to vaccine.
The next generation on the Right
Perhaps the most interesting example is the journalist Yavor Dachkov. Yavor Dachkov is one of the most established journalists in the last 30 years, a name long synonymous with Democracy. He is the man from the first intellectual circles and medias that formed the DSB (successor of the SDS), later transformed into the DA Bulgaria. He also graduated in Theology at the Seminary (a religious university of the Orthodox Church) during the Communist regime. Journalism, intellectual circles to Democratic Parties, theological education to the Orthodox Church and the subsequent reorientation towards Russia are curious similarities with Volen Siderov. The Voices media is Dachkov's, a place overflowing with Dugin and Putin's ideology. And he himself is one of the most ardent advocates of Russia in Bulgaria.
The issue was to first bring down the seemingly pro-Western government at a sublime moment (the Kovid Crisis and the War in Ukraine). Then two years to play out a political caricaturean animation. By first ridiculing Gypsy and Chalga culture, then ridiculing American commercial culture, as if on purpose making us more and more despair as a society and remember with nostalgia all the good old lost. Ushev himself in interviews divides the Transition in Bulgaria into; the 90s, the Viden winter, the thug times, and the need for his generation to come. As the strongest card has not yet been played(maybe Vazrazhdane, but definitely pro Russian and anti Western) to get Bulgaria out of the EU and maybe NATO, like the UK.
During the National Day celebration, the premiere Harvard graduate:
