Born in 1947.

Studied philosophy, mathematics, and logic at Leningrad State University (now Saint Petersburg State University). Having moved to Moscow in 1976, he got a job as a research assistant at the Department of Structural and Applied Linguistics at Moscow State University, where he worked until his departure from the USSR. At the same time he actively participated in home seminars on unofficial art, published culturological articles in the samizdat magazines “Chasy” and “Obvodny Canal”. While a student, he immersed himself in the unofficial cultural scenes taking place in Leningrad and Moscow, coining the term “Moscow conceptualism”.

In 1981 he emigrated to the Federal Republic of Germany. He currently holds the position of Professor of Philosophy, Theory of Art, Media Studies at the State Higher School of Design in Karlsruhe, and Professor of Slavic Studies at New York University.

He is the author of many books on modern culture, including “Russian Cosmism”, “The Communist Postscript” and “Public Space. From emptiness to paradox”.

He lives in New York.