Russian Artist Lighting the Word 'Future' on Fire Perfectly Sums Up 2020

This year's Beat Film Festival had some rather eerie, or pressing, artwork that really speaks to the world in 2020. The Russian film festival saw the future burn before its eyes—literally—and it has got the internet talking about how fitting it feels right now.

Artist Timofey Radya shared both a photo and a video of his piece entitled Future on Twitter on Tuesday. In the piece, a giant set of letters spelling future are set ablaze. The violent burst of fire is clearly meant to prompt fear and reflection on the world around us—as well as the future we're all fighting just to reach.

While art is open to interpretation by the viewer, the message of this piece seems pretty clear: As the world faces political unrest, a new and emboldened civil rights movement and the coronavirus pandemic, it can feel, at times, like the future will never come, like maybe we're watching everything collapse before our eyes as we get sucked deeper and deeper into a time of change. And we're stagnating, hoping that change will come.

Since we cannot see beyond our time to a future that looks stable, simple and comfortable for all, we can only look into the flames that burn the "future" until it is nothing but a pile of ash and all goes quiet again.

You can watch the full video of Radya's artwork burning below. Newsweek reached out to him for further comment on the message behind the piece but did not hear back in time for publication.

Much of Radya's artwork focuses on thought-provoking text. His website, T-Radya.com, shows a list of former projects that incorporate neon wording in unlikely places. Some of the titles (translated to English) read "What Are We? Where Do We Come From? Where Are We Going?" and "It Is Not a Dream."

The 2020 Beat Festival is mostly being held remotely this year because of COVID-19 concerns. The festival began on July 21 and will continue through August 2. That means there is still time to tune in and catch art, film and more for digital entertainment.

But if you are currently in Moscow, there is a way for you to attend the festival in person, with specific guidelines post-COVID. Some Moscow theaters will open for film screenings starting Saturday, which is the first time they've opened since the pandemic hit, according to The Moscow Times. You can read a list of the films showing in person, and their locations, at TheMoscowTimes.com.