Burned bridge

Kaluga region, Nikola-Lenivets, 2020


The bridge was built and burned on Maslenitsa in Nikola-Lenivets. The project is called Burning Bridges. The idea of the concept literally corresponds to its name. The bridge expresses the irreversible changes taking place in the life of the whole world, as well as in the life of each individual.

The Bridge that grows right out of the field is a poetic image, a symbol of space, and, ultimately, a symbol of time. It was important for us to create an extended object, a path-object that is completely unique and doesn't cause any specific direct associations, as it is from another civilization.

The structure was built by a team of local residents. Two towers 20 meters high and about 14 meters wide are connected by a platform. The length of the entire structure is about 70 meters. The post-and-beam frame made of wooden elements is filled with old pallets, hay and construction waste. Wood infected with bark beetles was used for the frame.

The authors sought to evoke in the viewer a sense of personal participation in what is happening. Before the burning, the audience could freely walk along the Bridge all day long and to cross it. It literally became a part of their life and a familiar part of the landscape.

The burning was preceded by a performance developed in collaboration with the St. Petersburg theater «La Pushkin». The performance was intended to unite people around the burning process. The audience became fully engaged in the events. People lined up in a huge ring. Everyone took firewood and put it on the Bridge, making a personal contribution to the future fire.
Thus, the burning became both a collective action and a deeply personal experience for each of the viewers.