The Russian government is not exactly known for freedom of speech, sexuality, or any other kind of freedom, but on Sunday one artist decided to protest the growing “police state” in a strange and painful way—he nailed his scrotum to the cobblestones outside of the Red Square. 

Pyotr Pavlensky timed his protest to coincide with Police Day, a holiday that celebrates the country’s law enforcement officials. 

"The performance can be seen as a metaphor for the apathy, political indifference and fatalism of contemporary Russian society," The Guardian reported that Pavlensky said in a statement. "As the government turns the country into one big prison, stealing from the people and using the money to grow and enrich the police apparatus and other repressive structures, society is allowing this, and forgetting its numerical advantage, is bringing the triumph of the police state closer by its inaction."

After removing the nail from his scrotum Pavlensky was taken to the hospital for treatment and then arrested.

Pavlensky’s previous acts of civil disobedience include sewing his lips together in support of Pussy Riot and getting cozy with some barbed wire in front of a Russian government building. Ouch. 

Watch Pavlensky’s protest here. 

Read the full story here. 

 

 

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