Pasha 183 has died, RIP

It's been sad to read that the outstanding Moscow's street artist Pasha 183 has died, and even more sad knowing that he was just 29 years old. I wrote a short mention to him in this blog 1 year ago. His work is impressive, that much as the work of that other genius everyone seemed to liken him to, Banksy. It's obvious that both shared many things: a boundless creativity, an urge for criticizing all what they found wrong in this world, a need for trying to open others eyes, or maybe to show them that they're not alone.

There's another obvious trait that both share and about which I feel like reflecting on, Anonymity.
Yeah, it's clear that the average citizen does not know their real names or faces. I'm saying "average citizen" here cause at least in the case of Banksy (who has done tons of works out of his country and at known dates) it's ridiculous to think that the British Police does not know who he is. Apart from having done most of his works in a city where there's a security camera on every corner (cameras that could reconstruct his route from the place where he did his work with a mask and a hood up, to the far place where he put his mask...) the other essential point is having done so many works abroad. It's just a matter of crossing data, the dates when Banksy works appeared in Barcelona, Melbourne, Gaza... and the dates of entry and exit of British citizens in other countries. Provided those data, how much CPU power do you think it would take to find out his name and face? :-D

So, what do I find so important about their condition of Anonymous Heroes?. For me, in these times of massive and radical egocentriticy and narcissism, statements like this by Pasha 183:

What I do is more important than who I am.
People should know my work, not my face.

are truly revolutionary acts of dignity in a world of dishonesty. In a society where Social Shit like facebook or the misuse of valid tools like twitter or video streaming services have made most of the population lose awareness of what privacy means and of the difference between virtual "friends" and real friends. Have made them unable to grasp the distinction between what is important and what is purely foolish, and going further in that sense, has made them believe that any futile and stupid thing that they happen to do or that happens to occur in their happy miserable lives is worth to be told to everyone through their "walls", their tweets, their stupid videos... Sharing wisdom is an act of generosity that fosters progress, sharing stupidity is an act selfishness and irresponsibility that promotes foolishness and alienation.

It's curious that several media mention the "glasses on the snow" piece as one of his most notorious works, while it's one of the less appealing to me (it's really creative, but it fades when compared to other of his works, mainly those with a more direct sociopolitical inspiration). I specially like this one:

The selection of works found here makes for a pretty good introduction to his creative universe. RIP