Denis Prasolov

FIRST CREW In the middle of the 20th century, the Soviet Union launched 42 rockets with dogs. Most of the animals didn’t survive aboard or died after a parachute failure. Some died during the flight because the technology to return from orbit had not been developed yet. Still, there were those who returned alive, successfully recovered from a spaceflight and even gave birth to descendants. However, only a few animal astronauts hit the headlines first of the USSR and then all over the world. Their stories became one of the most touching and charming stories of our time. Such pet dogs with their defenselessness in spacesuits confronted the abyss of space. They didn’t match their size with the scale of the universe. Animals helped to humanize the ruthless scientific space research turning it into a fairy tale in space. They didn’t match their size with the scale of the universe. Animals helped to humanize the ruthless scientific space research turning it into a fairy tale in world’s opinion. The project is dedicated to animals that are unknown to pop culture. Most of them died but some survived. There are even some that were born in cosmos, for example, the quail-bird. This is the monument to the first crews that have made it possible for a man to fly into space.

First Crew in Kosmos Seven (photo by Y.Palmin)

Twins 2014

Sculpture Quadrennial Riga 2016 Kronovaldа Park, Riga

WUNDERKAMMER 2016 Black rubber