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Was man stattdessen sieht, sind groteske Zierstreifen fehlverstandener Stromliniengestaltung, mechanische Elemente, die tatsächlich die Startrek-Gleichung Klingonen gleich Russen schlüssig sein lassen, und Bücherregale, ein liebevoller Hinweis auf die damalige Lesenation UdSSR.
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As an interior designer, Balaschowa actually had little influence on the configuration of the space or function of the station; her work was confined to the choice of colours, the surfaces and smaller items of furniture. It is unclear from the exhibition exactly how much of her work was realised. However, what we can glean from the drawings and watercolours, most of them at a very large scale, is frustrating, regardless of their technical quality, as they reveals the degree to which the heroic modernity of the early Soviet Union was itself replaced by a tame desire for comfort at the very height of the USSR’s industrial trajectory. To be sure, some chairs are reminiscent of the work of Arne Jacobsen, but in the few interior shots the sharp edges, improvised plywood panels and awkward screw joints are plain to see, showing that these spacecraft were defined not by precisely detailed design; rather, the design was determined by a stolidly functional, almost DIY approach. As the Süddeutsche Zeitungreported, there is no trace of modernity here, and little in the way of Modernism either. Instead, we see grotesque decorative stripes on misconceived, supposedly streamlined features, mechanical elements that make the Russian space station look like a Klingon spacecraft from Star Trek, and bookshelves, an affectionate reference to Russia’s view of itself as a nation of readers. Balaschowa went about her task in an insightful way, bearing in mind that the watercolours that evoked the homeland faded away once they had served their purpose. And while we cannot reproach Balaschowa for eschewing modernity – we have only to look at the single bookshelf with its art books on Ilja Repin, Rembrandt and Turner, but nothing by Tatlin or Filonov – neither should we claim that she did the opposite.
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