vitaliy and elena vasilieva visualize an architectural apocalypse

vitaliy and elena vasilieva visualize an architectural apocalypse
all images courtesy of © vitaliy and elena vasilieva

ukrainian photographers vitaliy and elena vasilieva have visualized ‘apocalypse in art’, a series which builds upon the morbid and wide-sweeping contemporary fascination in catastrophe and disaster, particularly theories regarding the end of the world. the spirit of armageddon ‘holds sway over modern culture and slowly infects everything around us’ describes the artists ‘how will this virus affect art? will there still be a place for an art in society?’

institutions of art — housed within some of the most important architectural structures in the world — are set in ominous landscapes, disintegrating and being swept away by destructive natural elements. amongst the photographic works is new york’s ‘guggenheim’ museum teetering over the edge of a cliff and buried beneath mounds of sand and dust; niemeyer’s ‘niterói contemporary art museum’ is blanketed by of heaps snow; SANAA’s stacked ‘new museum’ floats out to sea; the ‘pompidou center’ barely stands as a sandstorm whips through it. ‘it is difficult to escape the feeling that ‘apocalypse in art’ really shows the world, standing on the edge, barren, falling in decay like a story line of a picture that is braking into fragments.’ vitaliy and elena vasilieva illustrate ‘people can not postpone the crash, they’ve lost an ability to create – all they can really do is to seek and fix.’

new york’s ‘guggenheim’ museum teeters over the edge of a cliff

the series is currently exhibited at palazzo bembo and palazzo mora for ‘time space existence‘, a collateral event for the venice architecture biennale 2014

the world-famous building is buried beneath mounds of sand and dust

the museum is set within an apocalyptic landscape

ominous cloud cover surrounds niemeyer’s ‘niteroi’ museum

the renowned structure sits with a snow-filled scene

SANAA’s ‘new museum’ floats in an empty sea

the ‘new museum’ adrift at night

the ‘pompidou center’ barely stands as a sandstorm whips through it

the series depicts the building on the brink of destruction