Total.Earth is based on the ideas of Cosmism and God-Building, influential among Russian and Ukrainian revolutionaries at the turn of the century. The concept of “Cosmism” was first published after the death of Nikolai Fyodorov, who demanded immortality for all and the resurrection and unification of all previous generations in space. The “God Builders” among Anatoly Lunacharsky and Alexander Bogdanov* co-founded the Bolsheviks, but unlike Lenin, intended to build up communism as a religion worshipping the untapped potential of humanity instead of God.
Anton Steenbock and Peter Behrbohm fuse elements of startup fair stands, space capsules and shrines into a pavilion selling a sophisticated business model that aims to fulfil the “Divine Common Task”.
*The Ukrainian and Russian thinkers mentioned here aspired to unify all past generations, regardless of their origin, skin colour or gender in space. They were collaboratively creating a just society without classes and hierarchies, which could not be more different from what the Russian President has been violently putting into practice since the invasion of Ukraine.
Total.Earth was developed for the exhibition "Broken Machines and Wild Imaginings" @ Akademie der Künste Berlin together with Peter Behrbohm as SONDER.
Curated by: Clara Herrmann
Curatorial Assistance: Nataša Vukajlović