The Potemkin Village
Complexe de Tir en Zone UrBaine, French Army, France, 2015
Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia, 2016
Carson City / Vårgårda, Sweden, 2016
Carson City / Vårgårda, Sweden, 2016
Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia, 2016
AstaZero, Sandhult, Sweden, 2016
Suzdal, Vladimir Oblast, Russia, 2016
Beauséjour, French Army, France, 2015
Complexe de Tir en Zone UrBaine, French Army, France, 2015
Jeoffrécourt, French Army, France, 2015
Complexe de Tir en Zone UrBaine, French Army, France, 2015
Complexe de Tir en Zone UrBaine, French Army, France, 2015
Schnöggersburg, German Army Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany, 2017
Schnöggersburg, German Army, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany, 2017
Schnöggersburg, German Army, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany, 2017
Schnöggersburg, German Army, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany, 2017
Schnöggersburg, German Army, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany, 2017
Schnöggersburg, German Army, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany, 2017
German Town, Anting, China, 2016
German Town, Anting, China, 2016
German Town, Anting, China, 2016
Thames Town, Songjiang, China, 2016
Holland Town, Gaoqiao New Town, China, 2016
Thames Town, Songjiang, China, 2016
Bridge Carr, Stanford Training Area, British Army, Norfolk, England, 2015
Eastmere, Stanford Training Area, British Army, Norfolk, England, 2015
Red Pass Ranch, Fort Irwin, US Army, Mojave Desert, California, USA, 2016
Junction City, Fort Irwin, US Army, Mojave Desert, California, USA, 2016
Tiefort City, Fort Irwin, US Army, Mojave Desert, California, USA, 2016
Tiefort City, Fort Irwin, US Army, Mojave Desert, California, USA, 2016
Tiefort City, Fort Irwin, US Army, Mojave Desert, California, USA, 2016
Tiefort City, Fort Irwin, US Army, Mojave Desert, California, USA, 2016
Junction City, Fort Irwin, US Army, Mojave Desert, California, USA, 2016
Junction City, Fort Irwin, US Army, Mojave Desert, California, USA, 2016
Junction City, Fort Irwin, US Army, Mojave Desert, California, USA, 2016
Tiefort City, Fort Irwin, US Army, Mojave Desert, California, USA, 2016
Tiefort City, Fort Irwin, US Army, Mojave Desert, California, USA, 2016
Junction City, Fort Irwin, US Army, Mojave Desert, California, USA, 2016
The Potemkin Village
The concept of the “Potemkin Village” can be traced back to Prince Grigory Aleksandrovich Potemkin, a Russian field marshal and favorite of Empress Catherine the Great. Anxious to spare her the grim face of the recently annexed Crimea when she toured it in 1787, he allegedly ordered to create entire “villages” consisting of nothing more than gaily painted façades to be erected all along her route. The curious architectural phenomena in the haunting images shown here, Gregor Sailer’s latest project after Closed Cities, are focused on political, military, and economic features: field exercise centers in the USA and Europe, the allure of European city replicas in China, and urban vehicle testing tracks in Sweden. Not surprisingly, the country of the term’s origin, Russia, still fakes whole streets in disguise when high-ranking political celebrities are visiting from abroad. Sailer’s images provide access to the world of fakes, copies, and artificial fronts. By exposing them to the eye of the beholder, he puts the value of these often absurd aberrations of today’s society to an acid test.
Der Mythos besagt, dass der Begriff des Potemkinschen Dorfes auf den russischen Feldmarschall Reichsfürst Grigori Alexandrowitsch Potjomkin zurückgeht. Der Günstling der Zarin Katharina die Große soll vor ihrer Reise durch das neueroberte Krimgebiet 1787 entlang der Wegstrecke ganze Dörfer aus bemalten Kulissen errichtet haben lassen, um das wahre, heruntergekommene Gesicht der Region vor ihren Augen zu verbergen. Nach Closed Cities zeigt Gregor Sailers Projekt erneut auf eindrucksvolle Weise aktuelle architektonische Erscheinungsformen, angetrieben von politischen, militärischen und wirtschaftlichen Motiven: Gefechtsübungszentren in den USA und in Europa, detailgetreue Repliken europäischer Städte in China, Fahrzeugtest-Städte in Schweden. Nicht zuletzt werden im Ursprungsland des Begriffs Potemkinsches Dorf anlässlich hoher Politbesuche heute noch ganze Straßenzüge maskiert und vorgetäuscht. Sailers Bilder eröffnen dem Betrachter Zugang zur Welt der Fakes, Kopien und Kulissen und stellen diese mitunter absurden Auswüchse unserer heutigen Gesellschaft in Frage.
Buch / Book
Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia, 2016
Carson City / Vårgårda, Sweden, 2016
Carson City / Vårgårda, Sweden, 2016
Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia, 2016
AstaZero, Sandhult, Sweden, 2016
Suzdal, Vladimir Oblast, Russia, 2016
Beauséjour, French Army, France, 2015
Complexe de Tir en Zone UrBaine, French Army, France, 2015
Jeoffrécourt, French Army, France, 2015
Complexe de Tir en Zone UrBaine, French Army, France, 2015
Complexe de Tir en Zone UrBaine, French Army, France, 2015
Schnöggersburg, German Army Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany, 2017
Schnöggersburg, German Army, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany, 2017
Schnöggersburg, German Army, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany, 2017
Schnöggersburg, German Army, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany, 2017
Schnöggersburg, German Army, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany, 2017
Schnöggersburg, German Army, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany, 2017
German Town, Anting, China, 2016
German Town, Anting, China, 2016
German Town, Anting, China, 2016
Thames Town, Songjiang, China, 2016
Holland Town, Gaoqiao New Town, China, 2016
Thames Town, Songjiang, China, 2016
Bridge Carr, Stanford Training Area, British Army, Norfolk, England, 2015
Eastmere, Stanford Training Area, British Army, Norfolk, England, 2015
Red Pass Ranch, Fort Irwin, US Army, Mojave Desert, California, USA, 2016
Junction City, Fort Irwin, US Army, Mojave Desert, California, USA, 2016
Tiefort City, Fort Irwin, US Army, Mojave Desert, California, USA, 2016
Tiefort City, Fort Irwin, US Army, Mojave Desert, California, USA, 2016
Tiefort City, Fort Irwin, US Army, Mojave Desert, California, USA, 2016
Tiefort City, Fort Irwin, US Army, Mojave Desert, California, USA, 2016
Junction City, Fort Irwin, US Army, Mojave Desert, California, USA, 2016
Junction City, Fort Irwin, US Army, Mojave Desert, California, USA, 2016
Junction City, Fort Irwin, US Army, Mojave Desert, California, USA, 2016
Tiefort City, Fort Irwin, US Army, Mojave Desert, California, USA, 2016
Tiefort City, Fort Irwin, US Army, Mojave Desert, California, USA, 2016
Junction City, Fort Irwin, US Army, Mojave Desert, California, USA, 2016
The Potemkin Village
2015–2017
EN
The concept of the “Potemkin Village” can be traced back to Prince Grigory Aleksandrovich Potemkin, a Russian field marshal and favorite of Empress Catherine the Great. Anxious to spare her the grim face of the recently annexed Crimea when she toured it in 1787, he allegedly ordered to create entire “villages” consisting of nothing more than gaily painted façades to be erected all along her route. The curious architectural phenomena in the haunting images shown here, Gregor Sailer’s latest project after Closed Cities, are focused on political, military, and economic features: field exercise centers in the USA and Europe, the allure of European city replicas in China, and urban vehicle testing tracks in Sweden. Not surprisingly, the country of the term’s origin, Russia, still fakes whole streets in disguise when high-ranking political celebrities are visiting from abroad. Sailer’s images provide access to the world of fakes, copies, and artificial fronts. By exposing them to the eye of the beholder, he puts the value of these often absurd aberrations of today’s society to an acid test.
DE
Der Mythos besagt, dass der Begriff des Potemkinschen Dorfes auf den russischen Feldmarschall Reichsfürst Grigori Alexandrowitsch Potjomkin zurückgeht. Der Günstling der Zarin Katharina die Große soll vor ihrer Reise durch das neueroberte Krimgebiet 1787 entlang der Wegstrecke ganze Dörfer aus bemalten Kulissen errichtet haben lassen, um das wahre, heruntergekommene Gesicht der Region vor ihren Augen zu verbergen. Nach Closed Cities zeigt Gregor Sailers Projekt erneut auf eindrucksvolle Weise aktuelle architektonische Erscheinungsformen, angetrieben von politischen, militärischen und wirtschaftlichen Motiven: Gefechtsübungszentren in den USA und in Europa, detailgetreue Repliken europäischer Städte in China, Fahrzeugtest-Städte in Schweden. Nicht zuletzt werden im Ursprungsland des Begriffs Potemkinsches Dorf anlässlich hoher Politbesuche heute noch ganze Straßenzüge maskiert und vorgetäuscht. Sailers Bilder eröffnen dem Betrachter Zugang zur Welt der Fakes, Kopien und Kulissen und stellen diese mitunter absurden Auswüchse unserer heutigen Gesellschaft in Frage.
Buch / Book
