Captivity is a series of frottages of items such as furniture and personal belongings allowed in the cells Temporary Detention Center for Foreign Citizens in Moscow.
It is a center for foreigners awaiting forced deportation from Russia. Commonly it was used for the detention in inhuman conditions of seasonal workers from Central Asia who broke the migration laws of Russia.
During major protests against Putin's regime, arrested protesters were also taken to this center. And after the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, many Ukrainian citizens were forcibly moved to the territory of Russia and held in detention centres.
The basic cell phone can be bought from the administration. It is allowed to use it twice a week for 15 minutes. After the inmate’s release, these cell phones are again confiscated and resold by the administration to the next inmate for the same money.
Mikhail Tolmachev is a visual artist born in 1983. In his work he investigates alternative documentary practices. His audio-visual installations, photo etchings, and spatial interventions examine the complex intersections of technology and territory, realism and imagination, as well as the complicity of looking, scrutinizing different media constructs and their influence on the understanding of reality.
He studied documentary photography and theory in Moscow and holds a diploma and a postgraduate degree in Media Arts from the Academy of Visual Arts Leipzig.
Mikhail is based in Leipzig.
List of works (PDF)
Artist presentation (PDF)
