MAYANA NASYBULLOVA

Until 2012, the outlines of Moscow formed almost a perfect circle, bounded by the Moscow Ring Road (MKAD). By 2018, the city’s borders expanded, absorbing sixteen villages and two towns.

The colossal scale of Moscow and its inhabitants renders the outskirts of the city beyond the mental space of its residents — the peripheries become a blind spot.

Due to the city’s expansion, more and more areas fall into this zone; a settlement in the Moscow region, once with its own center and periphery, distorts and ultimately dissolves into a continuous periphery.
Asphalt, bricks, soil, grass, metal, concrete, and glass transform into something fluid, plastic, almost alive. And this living entity retains the true spirit of the city.

Using the method of contact copying employed in archaeology, the surfaces of the city beyond the MKAD are captured in a static unified relief of the periphery. The synthesis of surfaces and materials opens up the possibility of a different interaction with the urban environment — through tactile sensations — to feel the movement of urban borders relative to one’s body, to touch the surface of the edge with hands.