Vladimir Maximkov’s Alphabet: ‘I Am a Cosmopolitan’

Vladimir Maximkov’s Alphabet: ‘I Am a Cosmopolitan’

Director, producer, and traveler Vladimir Maximkov shares his thoughts on dilettantism, oakum, and the letter ‘R’.

The Gallows

A literary association inspired by Arkady Averchenko’s story. Averchenko is one of the wittiest Russian writers, in my opinion. His story discusses the post-revolutionary intelligentsia, deprived of cultural life and development. It exaggeratedly shows human degradation: ‘I used to read books, then there were no books left – I started reading signs; and yesterday I went to the field – to look at the gallows, mainly for reading: one gallows looks like the letter ‘G’, another – like ‘P’.’ The humor is dark but accurate. I believe that today, we haven’t strayed far from the described situation.

Dilettante

This is my word. The state of dilettantism is one of my favorite worldviews; it’s close, understandable, and dear to me. Today, a dilettante is understood as someone who engages in a activity unprofessionally, without specific skills, and often the word has a negative connotation. However, according to Dahl’s dictionary, a ‘dilettante’ means an ‘inspired amateur,’ and I insist on this explanation.

This means that a person does something not out of necessity, but out of desire, sincerely and inspired. In reality, a dilettante knows and can do a lot; they may not have a formal education, but their enthusiasm provides depth and scope. One can be a highly qualified programmer and, at the same time, draw magnificent portraits with a pencil – just for pleasure. A person needs to be a dilettante. They should have a hobby that inspires them.

From personal experience, I dare say that amateurs often outperform professionals. Because they do things with soul, not for money. I always remember my favorite project ‘Travels of a Dilettante,’ which I am particularly proud of. The program told Belarusians about the real, living, interesting Belarus. Its host, Yuri Zhigamont, is not a professional historian but an actor who is passionate about studying the history of Belarus. And how inspiring he is! A whole generation of Belarusians grew up on his stories.

Eroticism

This letter evokes an erotic association for me: ‘Z’ reminds me of a woman’s breasts and buttocks. I am a tolerant man with a traditional sexual orientation; female forms attract me – physiology cannot be canceled. But I have no standards of beauty. I love women of all sizes, heights, hair colors, and skin tones, and I do not judge them by their appearance – I have passed that age.

To be attracted to a woman, her exterior alone is not enough for me; I need to talk to her and look into her eyes. For long-term relationships, spiritual kinship, mutual understanding, and the desire to invest in each other are important, not external beauty. You can’t rely on physiology alone for a long time. The most sexual part of a woman is indeed her brain.

Art

A popular phrase: ‘So what, it’s just a black square, I could draw that too.’ But the difference between ‘I could draw’ and ‘I drew’ is significant. In words, we can all do everything. Advanced art, in particular, often faces such ‘evaluators.’ Few people consider art as work. But it is indeed work. Meticulous, hard, long, and almost always ungrateful.

Essentially, an artist needs not only to create a piece but also to literally break through the wall of stereotypes with their head. Everything that goes beyond the classical, i.e., universally recognized, chewed up, laid out on shelves, and beautifully presented, people accept reluctantly. After all, they are forced to think, analyze, realize, and understand – to work, not to consume. And work is not a favorite activity for most. Hence the indignation and rejection. It’s easier to say ‘yuck, nonsense’ than to try to study, comprehend, and go beyond the usual.

Cosmopolitan

I consider and feel myself to be one. My father was a military man, which is why I have been traveling the world since I was young. I was born in Germany, grew up and studied in Poland, traveled from Arkhangelsk to Odessa in between, moved to Belarus, and now I am constantly traveling and on the move. For this reason, I do not have a sense of homeland – attachment to any place, roughly speaking, a ‘birch tree,’ or country. I love everything and everyone. I feel good in almost any country in the world. And I like this state.

Laziness

My favorite state. It’s true that laziness drives progress. When I’m too lazy to do something, I come up with a way to do it in the simplest way and with minimal effort. Laziness also protects against making rash decisions and actions. It’s no coincidence that they say: postpone the problem, perhaps tomorrow you won’t need to solve it at all. Or the solution will be more balanced, conscious, and, accordingly, effective.

Another recommendation: if you allow yourself to be lazy, then be lazy with pleasure and don’t scold yourself. Relax. Laziness teaches you to listen to your body; it’s a kind of meditation, a way to save energy and properly distribute your resources. Thanks to laziness, you will understand what is truly important and what is insignificant.

But any laziness disappears when there is motivation. If you need to wake up at four in the morning to catch a plane and fly to your dream vacation, you will easily wake up and happily rush to the airport. If you really fall in love and want to make an impression with a slim figure, you will stop eating just anything and find time for sports. And no persuasion or excuses will be needed.

Maximum Vision Expansion

My non-commercial multimedia project, which I called Maksivision. Free ideas for free people. This was prompted by the endless debate about the search for ideas and who ‘stole’ whose idea. This debate irritates me because it’s impossible to steal an idea.

First, everything has already been invented. Second, ideas are not protected by copyright. An idea is an ephemeral thing. Moreover, any idea has many analogs. As a producer, people periodically come to me with burning eyes and offer to implement joint projects. When I ask them to tell me what the idea is, they answer: ‘We won’t tell you, you’ll steal it.’ But tell me your idea, and I’ll immediately list a dozen of its variants for you!

Because it only seems to you that you have come up with something genius. All genius ideas in the world already exist. Moreover, there are not so many of them: most often, they talk about twelve ‘eternal’ plots. Everything else is just variations.

Believe me, no one has gone beyond these plots yet. The thing is that people misunderstand the word ‘idea’ itself. The most important thing in any idea is its implementation. It is the implementation that makes the idea unique. Therefore, I am ready to share the ideas that fill my head and constantly arise during work for free. For the simple reason that I cannot implement them all myself – there is simply not enough life.

So I decided to create a project and publish different ideas – including my own – so that others could use them. In my opinion, it is in this way that humanity develops: ideas are exchanged, inspired, improved, and used.

Negligence

I am impressed by the French negligence in appearance. Probably, in a past life, I was French because I like slight wrinkling, unshaveness, and the lack of desire for pathos and brands. For the French, it’s not important how you are dressed, but what kind of person you are and how interesting you are. During one of my first trips to France – I participated in an international music exhibition in Cannes – I met the owner of a large music label.

The man was the owner of the company, but he was personally present at the stand. I was then stunned by his appearance: he was in ordinary sneakers, wrinkled jeans, and a simple T-shirt. The second strong impression was his attitude.