gregory orekhov rolls out 250-meter-long red carpet across snowy russian landscape

gregory orekhov draws endless red line on snowy landscape

artist gregory orekhov has just completed his most recent work titled ‘nowhere’ in the malevich park of moscow, russia. his latest public art installation presents itself as a 250-meter-long red carpet made out of polypropylene, stretching across the snowy forest. surrounded by the vast natural landscape, the carpet seems like an endless line drawn on a white canvas.

all images by konstantin antipin, unless stated otherwise

the symbolic importance of the red carpet

historically, the red carpet has carried a ceremonial meaning — the path of the winners. since the time of agamemnon, the red carpet has been laid out to welcome leaders and royalty, attributing a divine spark to them. in soviet times, red — the sacred color— marked the route taken by heads of state on ceremonial and official occasions. today, at the oscar ceremony in los angeles or at the cannes film festival, the red carpet celebrates the glorious entrance of the celebrities, while welcoming them warmly into the venue.

walking along gregory orekhov’s red carpet, the visitors take on the role of a ruler. however, in the end, they are too fascinated by the surrounding landscape to pay attention to themselves. in this way, the artist emphasizes that the desire for fame, wealth, and power is insignificant when it comes to the greatness of the universe and nature. however, ‘nowhere’ cannot be limited to one interpretation. through this installation, orekhov asks the audience the following question: ‘where is the red line, the forbidden line that must not be crossed under any circumstances?’  every day we witness more and more violations of this border, and which seems to be less rigid by the day. the opportunity to interact with orekhov’s work, to literally cross the red line, allows one to look at the problem from a new angle and redraw for oneself the boundary of what is acceptable.

image by nikita subbotin

image by nikita subbotin

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image by nikita subbotin

image by nikita subbotin

image by nikita subbotin

project info:

name: nowhere
artist: gregory orekhov

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: myrto katsikopoulou | designboom