07.04.2015 – 18.00

“Critical assembly: people and atoms”

(research-exhibition)
Opening: 17:00 – 07.04.15

Lecture-exhibition guide: 18:00 – 07.04.15 (Galina Orlova, Russia)
Place: Contemporary art gallery “Y”, Minsk

Atom and outer space to a significant extent formed imagination of the late socialism epoch and determined organization of its technocratic unconsciousness. Exploration of new energy source promised to turn communist utopia into sci-tech project in a single stroke. Cultural heroes of 1950-1960th – “Prometheans of atomic age” – became physics, while atom itself stayed one of the cipher keys to that time code. Founded 100 km away from Moscow from secret laboratory “V” – Obninsk two years later after the first nuclear power station was launched has become the city of physics. As well as radio-medics, nuclear meteorologists, radio-chemists and Sredmash-builders (Ministry of Medium Machine-Building Industry of the USSR). Here was created first soviet atom сluster. Here are still living those who with bare hands and manipulators tamed “atom for peace” half century ago and therefore know the password for the epoch code. Stories and photos of NTR-ovtzov (people who proliferated the idea of scientific and technical revolution in USSR.), their private archives and memoirs, life voices and newspaper files collected by the members of Obninsk Digital Project in 2012-2014 became the material for our critical assembly. Borrowing this model from nuclear physicists we intend to turn the exhibition into device sui generis that supports knowledge production through the accumulation and curating of data. Exhibition is designed as a manual prototype of a research website where one will be able not only to touch “hot data” by hands but also catch knowledge in the process of establishment and disjunction.