Dutch Cheese December 1994 MOSCOW 
Sergey Maloutin, our host in Moscow, asked us some days before our trip to Moscow if we would like to join an ice sculpture concourse. Although we were no sculptors and did not have the slightest idea what it meant to make a sculpture from ice, we were delighted to take some unknown action. The day after our arrival we had to start straight away because it should have been ready the next day. We had decided before to let our ice sculpture be a monument for Dutch cheese. This was inspired by a news paper article about Dutch butter in relation to a Russian poet who wrote some promotion poems about Dutch butter to be sold in Russia during the Stalin period. Cheese, Butter and Potatoes are a big deal in Russia and thus an important part of their food culture. The creation of our sculpture had to be a performance rather than a serious sculpture. Of course we did not tell anybody. For them we pretended to be sculptors - very seriously busy with our sculpturing.
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It was hard to instruct our ice rock suppliers how we wanted the rocks to be stacked on to each other. It was so simple (see photographs) that they could not get away with it. But, since they were told that I was the artists and thus the authority, they tried to do the best they could... while mumbling something like:
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. . . Interviews After the park was overwhelmed by the dark and all sculptures were ready, the party began. Loads of people and vodka everywhere (it is hard to believe that people can have so much fun at 25 degrees below zero). We settled ourselves with many others at the ice cafe. Real size, including a 'terras' with decoration pillars and vases and tables - all build from ice. Russia at its best. The more cold it is the better they feel and believe me it was fu... cold that day.
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