Archstoyanie started on Friday, July 31st. From all over, by buses and cars, electric trains and bicycles, by hitchhiking and on foot, people traveled to an inaccessible and therefore almost protected area of the Kaluga region on the Ugra River. Neither the distance, nor the rain-washed roads, nor the bleak weather forecast for the weekend scared them. For the tenth time, the strengthened and expanded festival gladly received countless guests in Nikola-Lenivets. And if before they were expected there a wild, but romantic vacation far from civilization, now all possible amenities were at the services of those arriving. There are cozy houses with white linen, hot water showers, and numerous cafes, bars and shops offering everything from delicacies to essential goods. Having comfortably accommodated in the campsite, visitors could get to the neighboring village of Zvizzhi in five minutes and fifty rubles using a fixed-route taxi. It was there that the main action of the festival took place this year.
The village is located directly at the entrance to Nikola-Lenivetsky Art Park. Here, at the crossroads of two country roads, a guest registration point has been operating for several years. A forest of signs that has grown at the crossroads tells how to find the desired objects in the park and in Zvizzhi, and also indicates the direction of movement from Nikola-Lenivets to St. Petersburg or from the stable to the Barents Sea. Just above the registration area, you can see the massive black volume of the Kazarma hostel, built in 2013 by the ArchPole bureau. Next to it is the same black-and-wood press center with a glazed facade overlooking a large terrace hanging over the slope on pillars. These modern, stylish facilities, like the check-in point mentioned above, have taken their places on the outskirts of the village, without crossing its borders.
This year, the task for artists and designers was completely different - to penetrate the space of Zvizzhi, transform and saturate it with new architectural forms. The manifesto of the festival's curators explains that Archstoyania's "move" to a new site for it is associated with the desire to draw public attention to the problem of the decline of Russian villages that have fallen into decay in the post-Soviet era. Zvizzhi - a tiny picturesque settlement with winding streets of neat village houses after the collapse of the Soviet Union also "got" an abandoned store, dilapidated recreation center and "Post". All this is set against the backdrop of green fields, fruit trees and vegetable gardens.
In such a traditional space for the Russian countryside, it was proposed to create both installations and other "objects of art", as well as fully functional infrastructure facilities, such as a bus stop or an entrance group for the House of Culture. Appeared at the village and its own entrance sign. True, it is impossible to guess right away that an 8-meter round tower of the color of damp earth, set in the middle of a potato field, is an entry sign. Rather, it is perceived as a high-rise dominant visible from a distance, which over time may become a recognizable symbol of this place. The tower resembles either a large column under a massive square capital, or a giant nail driven into the ground.
The authorship of the project belongs to Sergei Tchoban and Agnia Sterligova. They said that, in addition to the role of a landmark, the tower carries another - unexpected - function. The space inside it is hollow, and you can get there through the door. And there, surprisingly enough, is a museum. Exhibits - rakes, shovels, spinning wheels - in a word, tools of rural labor, which were found in the vicinity of Zvizzhi. Items are hung in a spiral along the entire height of the blank walls. The mysterious atmosphere inside is formed due to the circular geometry of a small room in diameter - just over 3 meters. Soft diffused lighting plays a significant role. Sunlight, penetrating inside through a round lantern on the ceiling, slides along the earthen walls and gradually dissolves into the museum twilight. Interestingly, the lantern is made of light yellow glass, which gives the interior a warm golden hue.
Sergei Choban, who personally presented his project at the festival, said that a reliable wooden frame on a brick foundation is hiding inside the earthy shell. On top of the frame, a special earthen plaster was applied with the addition of chopped straw. Such material makes the new object an integral part of the environment - as if it spontaneously originated from the land on which it stands.
A wide trail leading to the center of the village starts at the foot of the unusual museum. Already from here one can see the uneven outlines of another fantastic wooden structure by Nikolai Polissky. This gigantic sculpture received the ironic name "Selpo". It appeared on the site of a former rural shop with a canteen, which ceased to function in the early 1990s. Some of its walls had long ago collapsed, the windows had been shattered, and the flat roof was precariously holding onto the wobbly frame of the walls. Nikolai Polissky, together with local residents, turned the ruins into a real large-scale work of art. Instead of concrete peeling surfaces, three-dimensional wooden towers, spirals and ledges appeared. The shape of the building has changed both outside and inside. In silhouette, it began to resemble a mysterious ancient temple or pagoda. Inside, labyrinths of secluded niches, wide columns, narrow passages and spacious rooms with uneven outline of window openings formed.
The complex volume has an even more intricate structure. All of it is assembled from small wooden blocks of various shapes, which are strung like a shish kebab on vertical metal strings. And just like a kebab on a skewer, they rotate freely around their axis, constantly changing the idea of / u200b / u200bthe volume as a whole. The spectacle turned out to be breathtaking, and its design is striking in its laboriousness. As Polissky himself explained, all this is production waste: scraps, leftovers, pieces that were sawed into cubes of approximately the same size and collected from them something fascinating. Separately, it must be said about the steel strings that formed the basis of the entire structure. The idea of such a construction, which simultaneously serves as a gigantic musical instrument resonating with the internal volume, was proposed by Oleg Makarov from the Polyhord bureau. As a result, another object was hidden inside one object - giant spatial “gusli-samoguds”.
Much work was done to strengthen the skeleton of the former store. In particular, it was necessary to strengthen the roof, on which it was now possible to climb up a ladder specially built for this purpose. According to the artist, the new object does not have a separate purpose. It is in its purest form an art designed to enrich the living environment, to more clearly define the town-planning center of Zvizzhi. I must say that the author succeeded quite well, given that historically there was a large square in front of the former store, leading to the bus stop: only the iconic object was missing.
The bus stop located not far from Selpo also changed noticeably for the festival. Aleksey Kozyr created in its place “Belvedere Zvizzhsky” - a meditative space with eyes turned to eternity. Although, to be honest, the bulging "zombie" eyes look into the field, but it looks very impressive, albeit frightening. Taking a closer look, you realize that the body of the stop is a metal cistern of a former flour truck, the upper part of which has been cut down, and comfortable benches are arranged inside: residents can rest on them while waiting for the bus. And behind them, in deep niches, two large eyes appeared. The role of the iris is played by beautiful stained glass windows made by Maria Koshenkova. As the authors explain in their description of the project, their creation was inspired by the philosophy of Diogenes of Sinop, who lived in a wine barrel, thus demonstrating contempt for material goods.
Another important object, created in Zvizzhi within the framework of Archstoyanie, was designed to decorate the entrance area to the village House of Culture. Young architects from the Archpoint bureau took on this task. Zvizzhsky DK is a one-story unremarkable brick building under a gray slate roof. This image does not fit well with the serious function of the social and cultural center of the settlement. It was these considerations that guided the authors when they decided to build a large, from a distance, noticeable wooden visor over the entrance. They were inspired by folk crafts, namely, the famous toy made of wood "the bird of happiness", in which the wings and tail unfold like a fan. Taking long wooden blocks, the architects folded and fixed them with some displacement. The result is a complex shape that smoothly flows from one plane to another. A stone podium was erected under the canopy, which can serve as a small stage, and a long bench was placed a little to the side. The result is a completely finished public space that immediately attracts attention.
During the festival, the Palace of Culture became a venue for performances and master classes. A wide program was associated with children's workshops: children learned to create interesting objects from ordinary things, sculpted from clay and painted.
Not far from the entrance to the House of Culture, Evgeny Kazakov and Olga Kozmanidze installed a two-seater bicycle, which became part of an interesting acoustic installation. It turned out to be impossible to ride such a bicycle - it was firmly shackled to the ground, but anyone could pedal. At the same time, from the speakers installed around the perimeter, soft music, the noise of voices, and cheerful laughter were heard. As conceived by the authors, in this way a bicycle is capable of transporting its passengers to beautiful Paris as if by magic: the sounds of this particular city were reproduced when pedaling. All that is needed for instant teleportation is good imagination and strong legs.
As for the event program, this year it was more than eventful. And most of the events were also held on the territory of Zvizzhi, bypassing Nikola-Lenivets. Theatrical performances and stage performances unfolded against the background of the transformed "Selpo", which looked especially impressive with night illumination. Traditionally, a lecture hall worked within the framework of the festival - also in Zvizzhi, in the recreation center. On August 1, there was also a round table on the topic “Village. A look into the future”, where the permanent curator of“Archstoyanie”Anton Kochurkin acted as the moderator of the discussion. But the musical part remained in Nikola-Lenivets: all night from Saturday to Sunday, the invited musicians and DJs performed on the main stage of Versailles and on the experimental stage of the Rotunda. One new art object, Kukurussa, also appeared in Nikola-Lenivets: at the height of the second day of the festival, the Ultimatum Group bureau launched a small pond in the center of the camping, an openwork kinetic structure resembling an ear of corn.
The most important thing at this year's festival was that the residents of Zvizzhi and nearby villages were as much involved as possible in everything that was happening. They participated in the construction of facilities, prepared for the events and carried them out themselves. The courtyards of the residential buildings have turned into cafes with traditional local cuisine. The central street became a noisy fair, where residents offered guests to buy handicrafts. Fundraising for the restoration of the club was organized near the recreation center. People, despite the downpour, went out into the street, surrendering to live human communication. And this, probably, was the main goal and task of the 10th anniversary festival, which was born in the village, grew up in its fields and returned in the tenth year of his life to benefit her.
