Armin Linke photographs the physical limits of power

Berlin-based artist Armin Linke works in film and photography, combining the two mediums to blur the border between fiction and reality. For Russian Spatiographies, his recently opened at Moscow’s Triumph Gallery, Linke photographed a series of physical spaces, from government institutions to scientific research centres, in a bid effort to create a portrait of state power. Some of those locations, like the golden ceremonial office of the Grand Kremlin Palace, were synonymous with national might and authority. Others tell a more nuanced story of the limits of power, such as an abandoned cosmodrome space launch pad complex in Kazakhstan that stands gradually dissolving into the desert landscape.

For Linke, the show is part of an attempt to create “an ongoing archive on human activity and the most varied natural and manmade landscapes”. Linke’s images and multimedia installations have been exhibited widely, including at the 2012 Venice Architecture Biennale. Russian Spatiographies runs until 14 July.