‘Future from Here’ blends different versions of reality to create an
amalgamation of differing forecasts of the future.
One strand focuses on developments in science and technology, showing how
artists create feasible images of hi-tech realities. The group Iced Architects
creates architectural works that are futuristic yet functional; paintings by
Natalia Struchkova merge media images with already existing structures; and
Dmitry Bulatov’s robot constructions make use of complex technologies,
biological and genetic research. With the loss of faith in progress, Dystopias
– informed by negative outlooks – subsume the ideal utopian images of the
future. The project Cell by Alexander Brodsky describes a dying world where
history is nearing its end. Similarly, Snow by the group PG depicts the Kremlin
– the symbol of the capital – disappearing from the face of the Earth, like
Atlantis, under an avalanche of snow. Our awareness is conditioned by the
desire to free ourselves not only from the overbearing present but also from
the future, with all its fears. Humanity has come up with many ways to reach
beyond the boundaries of this world in search of an alternative reality that
would chime with its desires. Some seek worldly pleasures in the parallel
reality of the media, as depicted in the project Shiva by PG. Others, like
Sergei Shutov – immersed in the ideology of Russian utopias – ask
questions:
What are the models for society’s future?
Which are the ideas that determine its development?
‘Future from Here’ attempts to find answers to these questions.
