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CHAPTER 5 A Tale of Two Artists A rmen and Magu shared the same dream with Gosha: they wanted to be able to make a living from their art—rap music and drawing, respectively. Like Gosha, they used their personal experiences and images of the “dark side” in their individual forms of expression; unlike Gosha, their way of relating to the future was not based on a single dream. Rather, it was a matter of day-to-day business. This chapter explores how some of my informants, including Armen and Magu, attempted to engage directly with the future, seeking it out purposefully on a daily basis. Armen and Magu were different from each other: Armen had an education (as an economist and sailor—combined training he had received from the local sailing academy), had quit drugs, and regularly attended the Protestant church where his mother and father were members (as was Emil’s mother). He could be said to be a “good boy from a good family .” Magu’s father had just died when I met him, and he himself had lost his opportunities in Moscow. He was now drinking and increasingly doing drugs in Batumi while trying to figure out what to do. At first glance, such differences (education, family background, and so forth) could easily lead to the conclusion that Armen’s was a more solid background than Magu’s, that he had more “capacities to aspire,” in the words of Arjun Appadurai (2004). Although this had a role to play, what is of interest to me in this chapter are the similarities in the ways Armen and Magu engaged with the future in relation to the “dark side.” Magu: An Artist in Search of Perspective He was almost mythic. Everyone knew Magu. Everyone seemed to have been tattooed by Magu. He was said to be the hardest drinker, the finest 104 • CHAPTER 5 artist, the best friend. For a long time, he had not been there; he had been in Moscow. He had gone alone, his parents, brother, and sister staying on in Batumi. In early 2008, his father, who was Chechen, suddenly died after a short period of illness. To attend his father’s funeral, Magu immediately left Moscow, leaving behind even his dearest possession—his tattooing machine . And because he had been in Russia illegally, the new visa regulations would make it difficult if not impossible for him to return. Although saddened by the circumstances (he had known Magu’s father well), Emil was happy that his brother-man was returning to Batumi. Both Emil and I were happy that I would finally meet Magu in person. When I first did meet him, however, his appearance did not quite live up to the grandeur of his reputation. He was not very tall and was incredibly thin; he struck me as more humble and gentle than the wild stories had led me to believe. He had small, black eyes, partly frightened, partly playful, that were often hidden behind large sunglasses. Since childhood he had suffered from a kind of photophobia that made him extremely sensitive to sunlight; he also had problems with his lungs, which probably partly accounted for his slight, fragile appearance. He came unannounced to my apartment with Roman late one evening, both of them having decided that we should go drinking. Because I had come to know many of his friends and brother-men, Magu had heard about me and knew that he was to give me a tattoo. When Emil first told me about Magu, he praised his skill as a tattoo artist and said that everyone in Batumi had been tattooed by him. I mentioned that I would like him to tattoo me as well if we were ever to meet. My tattoo was not discussed at our first meeting, which was spent drinking vodka and listening to old Russian prison songs that Roman and Magu liked, but it came up a few days later. Sketch. Emil calls me and asks if I still want a tattoo. He is with Magu, who wants to do it. They come to my apartment shortly after. “We have a small problem with money for the tattoo,” Emil says as we drink coffee. “Magu borrowed a machine, an old one, but we need a needle and some ink. The needle costs five dollars, and the ink costs fifteen.” I tell them that I can buy the needle and ink as payment for the tattoo. Magu...

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