Crossroads: a floating river sculpture spotlights Russia’s environmental destruction

Connecting a patchwork of seemingly endless misty fields, Gregory Orekhov’s latest sculpture, Crossroads, looks as if it’s been painted over the tranquil waters of the Moskva river.

Placed in the rural area of Nikolina Gora, just outside of Moscow, the floating art installation is designed to symbolise humanity’s impact on the natural world. Created to look like a road crossing, each of the sculpture’s lines, made of buoyant polycarbonate, is attached to an underwater structure.

“In pursuit of economic development, the authorities allow more and more ground to be built upon, destroying nature,” explains Orekhov. “Crossroads is an attempt to turn the world’s attention towards heritage preservation, and to remind people of their ability to make choices.”

Orekhov’s previous large-scale sculptures have been exhibited in public spaces across Russia, including in Moscow’s Red Square.