”There was a wall. It did not look important – even a child could climb it. But the idea was real. Like all walls it was ambiguous, two-faced. What was inside it and what was outside it depended upon which side of it you were on…”

– Ursula K. Le Guin in The Dispossessed (1974)

The object PO-2022 (2022) refers both to the ПO-2(PO-2) fence designed by Boris Lachmann the ПO-2(PO-2) fence designed by Boris Lachmann in the 1970s, as well as to the Berlin Wall in terms of the East-West divide. For 28 years, the Berlin Wall was the best-known material symbol of the so-called ”Iron Curtain” – It was not only a symbol, but also an architectural object. Built by a totalitarian power to deprive people not only of the view, but also to deprive them of access to another, freer world. Due to the Russian aggressive war in Ukraine, such a "curtain" has again been erected. ”curtain” has been erected again, only this time much more to the east. The characteristic rhomboid relief pattern is an integral part of the collective memory of the Soviet architectural landscape and continues to characterize the post-Soviet post-Soviet space to this day. The relief side stands for the unfree world. By incorporating the concrete relief into pop culture and the visual arts, ПO-2 (PO-2) achieved a cult status. Lachmann himself emigrated to the USA as early as 1981. A wall in itself is an auxiliary instrument, partly also a ”free shell”, which keeps own object properties away from individual individual applicability. It can be a protection, an environment, a blockade or border. It is always a locally created demarcation. The project was conceived as a reaction to the Russian war of aggression. It can be be seen as a hypothetical approach to a solution.

↑ Wall along the border between Ukraine and Russia

Technical details

After the planned completion of PO-2022, the weight of the element will be approximately of the element will be about 3.1 tons. The height will be 3.6m will be. This corresponds to an element of the Berlin Wall.

Exhibition site

PO-2022 will be placed in public space, opposite or at least in the immediate or at least in the immediate vicinity of Russian embassies or consulates in the Federal Republic of Germany and other European countries.

Artists

MNPL: The artistic practice of the artist group MNPL from the Ukraine is anchored in both anchored in architecture as well as in the visual arts. They specialize conceptual architecture in connection with the research of the urban space. The research interest is focused on vernacular objects and the spontaneously created, nameless architecture. The group counts 8 members, the majority of them are architects by profession. Due to the current situation in Ukraine, at the moment Yevhen and Viktor Prokhorov are working in Dortmund.

Hans Ostapenko: He has been living in Dortmund since 2006. He has always maintained the connection to his homeland. Fence as a material and demarcation as a thematic field, have occupied Ostapenko for several years. Since the founding of Ukraine Support Bochum in February last year, the artists have been active members of the young last year, the artists have been active members of the young NGO.

Making-of photos

Exhibition

”Feeling so real”, KraftRaum, Berlin, 2022