stands outside the gates of the National Economic Achievement Exhibition, a huge entertainment park for trade fairs to show off the power of Soviet industry and science. It was built at a time when the Soviet Union was leading the space race. To quote the captain of the submarine in the movie "Chasing Red October," "the world trembles with the sound of our rockets." The Space Conqueror Monument is cosmic art beyond the world.
html Made of 1107mm (351ft) high titanium, it is a sculpture of a rocket launched from a tall building on any ground above the exhibition centre itself – almost twice as large as the Vostok rockets that inspired it, one of which is in the park displayed inside. The titanium-coated granite sculpture is so large that its base is large enough to accommodate the entire museum, the Aerospace Memorial Museum.
In a political system that forbade religion and honored only the friendliest figures of the pre-revolutionary Soviet Union, Soviet artists turned to portraits of Soviet leaders like Lenin, symbols of Soviet industry and science, and space.
The early Soviet leadership in the space race, spearheaded by superb German scientists and brilliant designers such as Sergei Korolev, became the new canvas for Soviet artists, sculptors and product designers. But its roots go far beyond that, says Alexandra Sankova, director of Moscow's Design Museum.
"Interest in space started long before Soviet came to power, it goes back to the time of Tsiolkovsky (19th century Russian rocket pioneer). Everyone thought he was crazy, but after the revolution The Soviets made him a permanent ideology."
The Soviet imagery of the universe flourished in the 1920ss and 1930s, as was the case in the rest of the world, fed by scientific magazines' visions of future life," Sankova said. But with the space race Formed, it exploded in popularity as an theme . For a long time the closely guarded Soviet space program became a powerful propaganda tool - but it was also widely supported by the artists themselves. Sankova "In the 1960s, all of a sudden, everyone was very enthusiastic about the idea of going into space. "The designers created images inspired by these space achievements not because it was a 'big thing', but because they were very proud and inspiring. "
The Monument to the Conquerors of Space is over 100m (330 feet) high (source: Vyacheslav Lopatin/Alamy)
For the Soviet Union, space was a very important subject (for the Soviet system)," Sankova said. "" space and technology are facing religion . "
One of the most influential publications in the field of Soviet space art was Tekhnika Molodezhi (Technology for Youth), a scientific journal (still published today) that combines science fiction and real-world engineering. It promotes The development of the Soviet position in space inspired many who would later become artists and designers. As Sankova wrote in the introduction to the book "Soviet Space Graphics", a collection of collections held in museums Some works of art and design: "Throughout the period, Soviet citizens lived alternative lives through the images they consumed. For most, it's the only way to experience the thrill of infinite discovery and harness the potential of science to lift a nation out of so many years of struggle.
Sankova says it's not just a poster or a picture in a book - there are cosmic icons everywhere. "Textile designers are happy to use it," she said. "There are also industrial designers and makers of monumental artworks - sculptures, mosaics and architecture. "
The "Exhibition of National Economic Achievements" (known in Russian as Vystavka dostizheniy narodnogo khozyaystva or VDNKh) in Moscow celebrated some of the technologies that made the USSR a space superpower - models of the Vostok rocket and Buran space shuttle, such as - In a casual setting. Even when Soviet citizens drink, laugh and ride ferris wheels, one is reminded of the industrial powerhouses surrounding the Soviet Union.
Even the sweet jar was an opportunity to promote Soviet space exploration (source: Courtesy of Moscow Design Museum)
"Space is an opportunity to promote communism and the Soviet system," Sankova said. "Artistic expression was severely restricted in Soviet society, whose artwork had to be approved by the Art Technical Committee. "They would look at the process used and say 'this needs to change'. This can be a very difficult process. "
But the approved space theme had a powerful impact on Soviet art, somewhat similar to what happened with Soviet photography in the 1920s, bringing new ideas into the mainstream under the guise of revolutionary propaganda. Sankova "It's a revival of avant-garde thinking. But in order to engage ordinary society, Soviet space art also moved away from more traditional Russian art forms - including those that were once the dominant form of the Russian Orthodox religion. "They drew quintessentially from Russian art," Sankova said. icon and turned it into something of the Soviet Union. "It's not a Christ-centered figure, it's a Soviet figure.They have to convince the people and they have to use the 'language' they already know.
Promoting the space program allows artists to sneak in avant-garde ideas in front of censors (Image credit: Moscow Design Museum)
Murals, posters and sculptures are one side, but Soviet designers also used space in the design of everyday objects objects and patterns. There are table lamps based on the Conqueror Space Monument, traditional tea glass stands with rockets and satellites. Even everyday chores are an opportunity - one of the most striking items in the Moscow Design Museum's collection is the planet-shaped vacuum cleaner that looks like something from a space age cartoon series. Another vacuum cleaner resembles a retro spaceship , while 1950s washing machine looks like a scaled-down booster section of a Soviet rocket.
The Soviet space program even entered childhood. There are rocket-based climbing frames on many playgrounds (Credit: Konrad Zelazowski/Alamy)
Some of these are consumer designs, not actual space race equipment designs. In the USSR, there was little difference between industrial production and consumer production. "The same factories that make spaceships or fighter jets are also making toys, stools or teapots," Sankova said. She said Soviet space-inspired designs developed a little later than America's , the space-age design in the United States Usually rooted in the 1950s. Perhaps because the success of the Soviet space program made it easier to celebrate more esoteric designs.
Even in childhood, young Soviet citizens were not immune to the call of the universe - standard Soviet playgrounds with climbing frames for rockets and spaceships were impressed by Soviet soft power. "All of us were in the Rockets game," Sankova said."It's only natural that all Soviet children want to be space explorers – we all grew up on the playground . "
It remains to be seen whether a new Russian audience appreciates it, too young to be influenced by this art for the first time. "People don't like it as a cultural heritage these days. Young people do not have strong feelings for Soviet things, but some older people have better memories. "
