1. Monument “Glory of the Space Explorers”. Monino, 2016

    Monument “Glory of the Space Explorers”. Monino, 2016

    Monument ''USSR - Stronghold of Peace'‘. Moscow Oblast, 2016

    Monument ''USSR - Stronghold of Peace'‘. Moscow Oblast, 2016

    Model of the rocket which carried the first cosmonaut into space. Moscow, 2016

    Model of the rocket which carried the first cosmonaut into space. Moscow, 2016

    DKR 1000 (wide-band radio telescope). Pushchino, 2016

    DKR 1000 (wide-band radio telescope). Pushchino, 2016

    Architectural element on stadium Spartak, built in 1931. Shchyolkovo, 2016

    Architectural element on stadium Spartak, built in 1931. Shchyolkovo, 2016

    Monument “Glory of the Space Explorers”. Monino, 2016

    Monument “Glory of the Space Explorers”. Monino, 2016

    Monument ''USSR - Stronghold of Peace'‘. Moscow Oblast, 2016

    Monument ''USSR - Stronghold of Peace'‘. Moscow Oblast, 2016

    Model of the rocket which carried the first cosmonaut into space. Moscow, 2016

    Model of the rocket which carried the first cosmonaut into space. Moscow, 2016

    DKR 1000 (wide-band radio telescope). Pushchino, 2016

    DKR 1000 (wide-band radio telescope). Pushchino, 2016

    Architectural element on stadium Spartak, built in 1931. Shchyolkovo, 2016

    Architectural element on stadium Spartak, built in 1931. Shchyolkovo, 2016

    Central computing center. Moscow, 2016

    Central computing center. Moscow, 2016

    Marx generator for highenergy-energy physics experiments. Moscow Oblast, 2016

    Marx generator for highenergy-energy physics experiments. Moscow Oblast, 2016

    Byurakan Observatory. Aragatsotn Province, 2016

    Byurakan Observatory. Aragatsotn Province, 2016

    The spine. Monument ''Cobblestone is the Weapon of the Proletariat'‘. Moscow, 2016

    The spine. Monument ''Cobblestone is the Weapon of the Proletariat'‘. Moscow, 2016

    Monument to the Atom. Voronezh, 2016

    Monument to the Atom. Voronezh, 2016

    Hotel ''Saucer''. Dombai, 2016

    Hotel ''Saucer''. Dombai, 2016

    Bas-relief on the monument to the Conquerors of Space. Moscow, 2016

    Bas-relief on the monument to the Conquerors of Space. Moscow, 2016

    Model of the Headquarters of the Third International. Moscow, 2016

    Model of the Headquarters of the Third International. Moscow, 2016

    Model of the first artificial satellite of the Earth. St-Petersburg, 2016

    Model of the first artificial satellite of the Earth. St-Petersburg, 2016

    Sculpture Soviet Sportsman. Moscow, 2016

    Sculpture Soviet Sportsman. Moscow, 2016

    ''Friendship'' pension. Crimea, 2016

    ''Friendship'' pension. Crimea, 2016

    Monument to the Conquerors of Space. Moscow, 2016

    Monument to the Conquerors of Space. Moscow, 2016

    • 1

      Monument “Glory of the Space Explorers”. Monino, 2016

    • 2

      Monument ''USSR - Stronghold of Peace'‘. Moscow Oblast, 2016

    • 3

      Model of the rocket which carried the first cosmonaut into space. Moscow, 2016

    • 4

      DKR 1000 (wide-band radio telescope). Pushchino, 2016

    • 5

      Architectural element on stadium Spartak, built in 1931. Shchyolkovo, 2016

    • 6

      Central computing center. Moscow, 2016

    • 7

      Marx generator for highenergy-energy physics experiments. Moscow Oblast, 2016

    • 8

      Byurakan Observatory. Aragatsotn Province, 2016

    • 9

      The spine. Monument ''Cobblestone is the Weapon of the Proletariat'‘. Moscow, 2016

    • 10

      Monument to the Atom. Voronezh, 2016

    • 11

      Hotel ''Saucer''. Dombai, 2016

    • 12

      Bas-relief on the monument to the Conquerors of Space. Moscow, 2016

    • 13

      Model of the Headquarters of the Third International. Moscow, 2016

    • 14

      Model of the first artificial satellite of the Earth. St-Petersburg, 2016

    • 15

      Sculpture Soviet Sportsman. Moscow, 2016

    • 16

      ''Friendship'' pension. Crimea, 2016

    • 17

      Monument to the Conquerors of Space. Moscow, 2016

     

     

    LOST HORIZON

    Danila Tkachenko

     Project “Lost Horizon” visualises the utopia of constructing the ideal world. Or rather, half-forgotten traces and ruins of this utopia: the Soviet architecture and technical buildings, which symbolically affirmed the technical progress and advance of the communist future.

    I make photos of these objects, built by Soviet authorities, by the medium format camera 6x6, during the night and with a powerful light source. Thus I enclose them in a suprematist figure of the black square which refers to the “Black Square” by Kazimir Malevich, the early Russian avant-garde and the origins of the Soviet utopia.

    The radical refusal of the old, and the belief in the beginning of the new, ideal cosmic life, devoted to the liberated human, unifies the aesthetic project of the Russian avant-garde and the political project of the Soviet power. If the “Black Square” was the artistic embodiment of utopia, then the Soviet rule was its social implementation.

    The time has brought back the original meaning of utopia: u-topos is the absent place, place of nowhere. Presently, USSR is the utopia in its most strict sense.

     

Danila Tkachenko ©