For the ideological champions of utopian society, architecture is a clear and potent manifestation of a society’s power, in uence and status. From the gothic might of Stalin’s seven Vysotki to Astana’s gleaming Bayterek Tower, giant structures loom over the citizens of the former Soviet Union, signifying the grand ambitions of their rulers, past and present.
Power and Architecture is a season that will explore the design of the built environment and its use as a device of in uence, both physically characterising the skyline, and psychologically in relation to the people who live in its shadow.
In the opening show, four artists will re ect on the modernist vision of the socialist city and consider the real and imagined futures of utopia.
In his lms Hyperborea and Walking the Sea, Anton Ginzburg explores the quest for a perfect, utopian life and its potentially devastating impact. Kuba Snopek, Iza Cichońska and Karolina Popera’s Architecture of the VII Day catalogue draws upon 3,597 churches built by hand in Poland against the will of the state in the second half of the 20th Century and the circumstances of their construction.
Participating artists: Przemek Pyszczek, Dmitry Lookianov, Anton Ginzburg, Kuba Snopek, Iza Cichońska and Karolina Popera. Above shown works are by Anton Ginzburg.
10 June – 09 October 2016, Free Admission (events may be ticketed)
22 Calvert Avenue, London, E2 7JP.