"Udar" was an artist residency held in the town of Borovsk (Kaluga Region, Russia) in November 2021. During the residency, artists were invited to reflect on the space of a prison castle that was scheduled for reconstruction immediately after the program’s completion.
The prison castle complex was built in 1866 specifically to house inmates. However, after the 1917 revolution, the building took on a new function: it was converted into a residential house for workers at a local factory. The leading workers of the Krasny Oktyabr (Red October) plant were granted individual apartment-cells as a reward for their exemplary labor. This gave the building its new name: Dom Udarnika (The Stakhanovite’s House). From that point on, the building was barely maintained; its walls and structural elements slowly deteriorated, and its utilities fell into disrepair.
Until 2013, people continued to live in the building, which by then resembled more of a dormitory, without heating—raising children and still remembering that this place had once been a prison. On December 4, 2013, the residents of the "Castle" were relocated to new high-rise apartment buildings.
Until 2013, people continued to live in the building, which by then resembled more of a dormitory, without heating—raising children and still remembering that this place had once been a prison. On December 4, 2013, the residents of the "Castle" were relocated to new high-rise apartment buildings.
© Vladimir Seleznev
© Vladimir Seleznev / Katya Selezneva
In 2012, I visited the castle by chance and encountered its last remaining residents. At the time, I didn’t know the building’s history, but I somehow felt it bore an uncanny resemblance to a prison.
During the 2021 residency, individually and in collaboration with artist Katya Selezneva, I explored the historical iterations of the castle through visual imagery, reading its history as a layering of temporal strata. We were interested in how space and time enter into dialogue, mirroring one another and forming a unique atmosphere: fragile, teetering between decay and renewal.
During the 2021 residency, individually and in collaboration with artist Katya Selezneva, I explored the historical iterations of the castle through visual imagery, reading its history as a layering of temporal strata. We were interested in how space and time enter into dialogue, mirroring one another and forming a unique atmosphere: fragile, teetering between decay and renewal.
© Vladimir Seleznev
The sculptures we created interpret these layers: the collisions of epochs and the fates of specific individuals caught in the tides of history, materialized in the very fabric of this place.
Of course, we cannot truly feel what those who lived in the "Castle" before our "invasion" experienced. All we had were the walls and the knowledge of its history. Our works, on the one hand, reference particular historical moments we know about, and on the other, remain nothing more than themselves: an organic part of the abandoned building, not always easy to recognize or identify for the casual viewer.
Of course, we cannot truly feel what those who lived in the "Castle" before our "invasion" experienced. All we had were the walls and the knowledge of its history. Our works, on the one hand, reference particular historical moments we know about, and on the other, remain nothing more than themselves: an organic part of the abandoned building, not always easy to recognize or identify for the casual viewer.
© Vladimir Seleznev / Katya Selezneva
© Vladimir Seleznev / Katya Selezneva
© Vladimir Seleznev / Katya Selezneva