This semi-transparent rectangular sculpture, with its rhythmic, grid-like structure, is a miniature reinterpretation of the PO-2 fence system, a standardised concrete module developed in the 1970s to enclose military and other restricted areas in the Soviet Union.
By translating the solid, closed form into a transparent material, the characteristic shape of the fence is preserved while its properties are fundamentally altered. What once functioned as a physical, opaque barrier becomes permeable and visible, shifting the relationship between visibility and power. The fence remains as a form, yet its role in concealing and dividing is called into question — suggesting that systems of control can persist even as their material expressions change.
The work raises the question of how boundaries continue to structure freedom — whether through physical presence, visibility, or their inscription in collective memory.
Marina Schmitt is an artist working at the intersection of abstraction and reference. Drawing on architectural fragments and structures from the late Soviet context, her practice explores how historical forms shape perception and continue to resonate in the present.
This semi-transparent rectangular sculpture, with its rhythmic, grid-like structure, is a miniature reinterpretation of the PO-2 fence system, a standardised concrete module developed in the 1970s to enclose military and other restricted areas in the Soviet Union.
By translating the solid, closed form into a transparent material, the characteristic shape of the fence is preserved while its properties are fundamentally altered. What once functioned as a physical, opaque barrier becomes permeable and visible, shifting the relationship between visibility and power. The fence remains as a form, yet its role in concealing and dividing is called into question — suggesting that systems of control can persist even as their material expressions change.
The work raises the question of how boundaries continue to structure freedom — whether through physical presence, visibility, or their inscription in collective memory.
Marina Schmitt is an artist working at the intersection of abstraction and reference. Drawing on architectural fragments and structures from the late Soviet context, her practice explores how historical forms shape perception and continue to resonate in the present.