The Awakening at The Foundry
In line with the legacies of the Situationists and Fluxus, Petr Davydtchenko has turned his life into a living artwork. As documented in Death Book, his project Go and Stop Progress (2016–2019) saw him spend three years living outside the monetary system in southern France, within a former industrial site known as The Foundry. There, he deliberately rejected market-based systems in an attempt to escape the structures of capitalism—beginning with food. For Davydtchenko, the primal act of eating becomes the first step in questioning not only societal norms but one’s own existence. In his hands, nourishment turns into a political gesture. To challenge pre-established ideas of normality, he embraced a self-sufficient lifestyle that tested both body and mind. As he explains, this severity sharpened his thinking and metaphorically toughened his skin, despite the many ups and downs along the way. Throughout those three years, he survived exclusively on roadkill, guided by local gypsies who not only helped him find animal carcasses but also taught him how to prepare the meat. These animals, killed without the fear or stress that they might have encountered inside a breeding farm—and whose meat lacked both antibiotics and cortisol (the hormone that toughens meat)—resulted in what he considers the purest form of nourishment available.

A Gastronomic Renaissance
In Death Book, Davydtchenko puts into words the gastronomic renaissance his practice initiates—beginning with the cover. It features a macabre still life of roadkill strung up like meat in a butcher shop. The image recalls Renaissance genre paintings that celebrated raw labour and trade, nodding to the belief that global change must start locally. Over eight years of research, Davydtchenko travelled extensively and collaborated with many individuals. These experiences shaped a body of knowledge that proposes an alternative model for contemporary living, one that resists mainstream ideologies.