The project “Restricted Areas” is about the human impulse towards utopia, about our striving for perfection through technological progress. Humans are always trying to own ever more than they have—this is the source of technical progress. The byproducts of this progress are various commodities as well as the tools of violence in order to hold power over others. Better, higher, stronger—these ideals often express the main ideology of governments.

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To achieve these standards, governments are ready to sacrifice almost everything. Meanwhile, the individual is supposed to become a tool for reaching these goals. In exchange, the individual is promised a higher level of comfort. For “Restricted Areas,” I traveled in search of places which used to hold great importance for the idea of technological progress.

These places are now deserted. They have lost their significance, along with their utopian ideology which is now obsolete. Many of these places were once secret cities, that did not appear on any maps or public records. These places were the sites of forgotten scientific triumphs, abandoned buildings of almost inhuman complexity. The perfect technocratic future that never came. Any progress comes to its end earlier or later and it can happen for different reasons—nuclear war, economic crisis, natural disaster.

What’s interesting for me is to witness what remains after the progress has ground to a halt. —Danila Tkachenko Interview LC: What drew you to the subjects in “Restricted Areas?” DT: One day, I went to visit my grandmother who lives in a closed and previously secret city where the first Soviet nuclear bomb was developed. While there, I learnt that in the 1960s, there had been a nuclear disaster but it had been completely classified. As it turns out, a vast territory had been contaminated and the people living there developed a variety of chronic diseases because of the accident. The first shot of “Restricted Areas” was made in this city.

This was the starting point of my investigation into the ruthlessness of technical progress as against the human element—a particularly tragic dynamic since this search is initiated by humanity itself. Testovij rolik dlya proverki kachestva izobrazheniya televizora. Keep in mind: these facilities were created by the state—and not by individuals. I believe that the state thinks much more about its own well-being and safety than of its people. As a result of this mindset, the actions of the state often lead to disasters that affect the entire population, composed of individuals. LC: Decades ago, when these Soviet structures were being built, the people who constructed them likely believed that the Soviet Union would continue to exist indefinitely! Can you be so bold as to predict what might have a “Restricted Areas”-look 50 years from today?

DT: I think that the idea of totalitarianism and world domination is always utopian, from the beginning. I’ve finished a new project titled “Ideal,” focusing on the utopianism behind the idea of building any super-society (filled with “super-people”). While running, such states have to demonstrate their superiority and inspire people with impossible ideals. But it is natural that totalitarian systems don’t last forever. After all, in such states, the people are functioning because they are forced to, not because it is their desire to do so.

As a result, when such systems come to an end, the crutch of control disappears. Then, people stop working and we witness a collapse. The crashed dreams of such systems leave behind a heritage of gigantic monuments and ambitious architectural projects. We live in a different situation now, so it’s difficult for me to predict what will be left in 50 years. But we’ll see it for ourselves before too long. LC: Can you say more about the visual approach that you used for this project?