The Kremlin’s suppression of dissent is having Freudian effects on Russian society. Artists from a politically minded cooperative, Voina (War), recently took credit for sketching another large phallus on St. Petersburg’s Palace Square. The group’s first installation involved a penis measuring sixty-five meters, which was drawn on one of the city’s iconic drawbridges. When the bridge was raised, it “saluted” the Federal Security Service’s headquarters on the bank. “We have painted a giant phallus to show what the FSB and Interior Ministry are doing [to the country] in terms of security,” Voina said in a statement.
Could this possibly be a sign of some oedipal rage latent within the populace? Probably not. But it is certainly a fitting image.
Could this possibly be a sign of some oedipal rage latent within the populace? Probably not. But it is certainly a fitting image.
