WOOD # 4 – The Russian pavilion. Beyond Building by Nikolay Polissky. The front and the back of The Russian Pavilion houses Nikolay Polissky’s Beyond Building structures. Polissky is a unique master of Russian land art and his striking revolution in Russian art involves a hybrid of conceptualism and folk craft. His absurdist performers are simple peasants, the inhabitants of the village of Nikola-Lenivets. Thus he combines the conservatism that is traditional for part of the Russian intelligentsia (the retreat to the country village, to nature, away from temptations of the city) with the logic of the avantgarde performance and conceptualism. It is important that all this takes place on the basis of an architectural utopia. The Russian utopian consciousness is today temporarily living beyond architecture: it has set off for the countryside and taken up residence in the landscape.Thursday, September 18, 2008
VENICE: 11th Biennale of Architecture: OUT THERE: ARCHITECTURE BEYOND BUILDING
WOOD # 4 – The Russian pavilion. Beyond Building by Nikolay Polissky. The front and the back of The Russian Pavilion houses Nikolay Polissky’s Beyond Building structures. Polissky is a unique master of Russian land art and his striking revolution in Russian art involves a hybrid of conceptualism and folk craft. His absurdist performers are simple peasants, the inhabitants of the village of Nikola-Lenivets. Thus he combines the conservatism that is traditional for part of the Russian intelligentsia (the retreat to the country village, to nature, away from temptations of the city) with the logic of the avantgarde performance and conceptualism. It is important that all this takes place on the basis of an architectural utopia. The Russian utopian consciousness is today temporarily living beyond architecture: it has set off for the countryside and taken up residence in the landscape.