fABRIKA SPACES
FROM SOVIET FACTORY TO DIGITAL RESIDENCE
Digital AIR is an idea of virtual residence in which artists and curators could participate remotely. We form a new ecosystem at the junction of digital and material art: this space is both physical venues of the now-existing cultural center Fabrika (Center for Creative Industries) and virtual spaces – the exact replicas of the Soviet paper mill in Moscow.
1 post-Soviet factory
3 XR venues
44 artists
The main venue a visitor of DA enters is Tsekh Otdelki – the meeting point for the current residents and a former manufactory workshop. Tsekh is a huge hall where several buildings of Fabrika meet. It unites and adjusts at least 7 of the existing Fabrika structures. Back in the day, it was the place where the paper was going through the finishing procedures before being released from the factory.
Jump from Tsekh Otdelki into the portal at the end of the hall, where you can find the biggest Fabrika's space – Olivie.
It was named after a huge paper-producing machine that remained in the venue until the very end of the factory’s history in 2008. Rumor has it that the machine was so big that the wall facing the sidewalk had to be dismantled to drag the machine inside. The Olivie keeps the presence of its physical origin – our VR feet are crossing the metal floor of the space while the columns are withholding the history of the Soviet architectural projects where every factory was a Palace of Work.
The smallest and the most “white cube” Fabrika’s space is Arthaus. It is a former supply spot, a storage for Olivie. Arthaus is a space for dreams. For it is emptiness where dreams occur, isn’t it? At least we share this thought with Ruth Baettig whose project Placet Experiri was released in the spring of 2023, in the fourth season of DA.
What is this space today?
Credits
Photographs were kindly provided by CCI Fabrika and the respectful photographers:
Tanya Sushenkova
Varvara Philippova
Alan Vouba