Open

Brief descriptions of the projects were provided by the open call participants at the request of the curatorial team. Texts are presented with minimal editing.

Research and development of the Museum of Modern Art Massacre video game. Installation of arcade machines. An impossible game level in the reconstruction of the Russian pavilion. Despite everything, some things will never happen. Relax and relieve anxiety while working on a project. Introducing a shooter sanatorium for an architectural group.

Arcade Machines For:

• Helping the team to present space-planning ideas;

• Showing changes and trends during the architectural development of the reconstruction of the pavilion;

• Detection of an additional, virtual level to the reconstruction of the pavilion;

• Ensuring performative attractiveness;

• Enrichment of speculative office space in the Biennale;

• Rest and mental health of the team;

In recent decades, the physical appearance of the modern Russian metropolis has been created with the toil of foreign construction workers from neighbouring countries. Yet these people themselves remain in the shadows, fearing police brutality, racism, often not having the time nor the energy to leave the construction site. These same newly built buildings are kept clean and tidy by similarly “invisible” women migrants. There is an abyss between the message that the architect wants to give and how the buildings are built and maintained in practice. We propose to turn modern Russian architecture “inside out”, showing people and problems that are hidden behind the security fencing. We wish to present the Russian pavilion not as an unfinished site, but as a physical, historical, economic and social structure in the process of transformation.

The essence of the pavilion makes it a resemblance of a polity the pavillion state that wants to be re-imagined. Thus we are transforming it into an open platform to work on the new constitution of the pavilion. The walls of the main hall are covered with numerous identical screens which provide a 24/7 live streaming of the agencies (candidates from the application process) who work on the content of the constitution collaboratively during the biennale. To avoid any human bias, the text of the actual document will be written by a machine learning algorithm trained on text and video data gathered from discussions between the agencies.

Openness is deceptive. Institutionally imposed lack of structure, innate incoherency and hollow falsity make an inflammable collage of contemporary russian architectural and broader cultural scene. Sheer incompetence walks hand in hand with ambition. Profane simulation is at place. Chronic repetition of errors is positively implied. Yet again we find ourselves in Zugzwang position. No longer we subdue.