Crocodile POWER is a young Russian artistic collective that consists of artists Peter Goloshchapov and Oxana Simatova. The duo investigates issues of endangered reality, by using computers to fix the problems and make new forms. These new forms are materialised through traditional materials such as oils, convas and porcelain. According to the duo, this legitimises the new reality, rendering it more real. Recently they exhibited their project called ‘Russian Space’ in Moscow. It’s a project about lost dreams, more particularly the ambition of the world in 1960 to one day live on the moon. More than fifty years later, this dream has become a naive one.

The exhibition looks at different conceptions of the world beyond, starting with a tribute to George Lucas’ Star Wars by appropriating their font. The exhibition also illustrates the theory of relativity with the story of twin brothers: one heads into space while the other remains on earth. Upon returning to earth, the astronaut sees that his twin brother has aged way more than him.

‘Russian Space’ is about the Russian present gazing into the sky in the hope that the “mythical cosmonaut” from the Russian heroic past will return, bringing with it a radiant future. Inside the gallery, deep red walls are lined with delicately  painted porcelain tiles displaying scenes from the lives of the cosmonauts. The tiles are placed within frame-explosions of fiber glass and, in combination with them, appear to be alien artefacts, icons appearing miraculously for those who believe in the second coming of Yuri Gagarin. Spacemen appear again in a series of sculptures that seem elegant but upon closer inspection only show chaos. A porcelain rocket covered in gold has a host of spacemen around it. One is in mid-fall from the top, another exposes the insides of rockets.

‘Russian Space’ runs until Dec. 21 at Triumph Gallery. 3/8 Ulitsa Ilyinka. Metro Ploshchad Revolyutsii. 495-662-0893. triumph-gallery.ru.