a symbolic crosswalk traverses moscow river in land art by gregory orekhov

gregory orekhov manifests the choices we face into his latest artistic installation titled ‘crossroads’. composed of a symbolic crosswalk over moscow river in russia, the land art piece questions social, ethical, and environmental behavior. the artist intends to highlight the loss of nature, and more specifically, the issue of high-rise developments on protected reserves of the river.

image by konstantin antipin

‘crossroads’ is installed in the rural area of nikolina gora outside moscow. the artwork is made from polycarbonate that’s been painted over to create the look of a zebra crossing. the crosswalk traverses the river, among fields that seemingly have no end. 

image by konstantin antipin

with this large scale artwork, orekhov hopes to turn the world’s attention toward heritage preservation and to remind people about the ability of choice. the artist describes himself as standing at the crossroads between the quiet, foggy natural world and an impending catastrophe. the object is situated at the intersection of historic events that took place here at the time of the second world war, and those that are yet to come

image by konstantin antipin

‘the symbolic meaning of crossroads deals with choice, a twist of fate that establishes the preordained path in life. it is a place where space and time intertwine,’ says orekhov.

image by konstantin antipin

the artist continues, ‘this installation is not a personal reflection, more so, it is something that each of us encounters on a daily basis. this is about the unrestrained transformation of the space around, because of which, tomorrow, we can forever lose memorial places, favorite façades, birch groves, and fields that stretch into infinity, for the sake of saturation of the capitalist machine.’

image by ilya ivanov

image by ilya ivanov

image by ilya ivanov

image by ilya ivanov

image by konstantin antipin

project info:

name: crossroads

location: nikolina gora, moscow

artist: gregory orekhov

photography: konstantin antipin, ilya ivanov

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: lynne myers | designboom