"The king, (as figurehead, as sun god) was formulated in the figure of astronaut Yuri Gagarin. Gagarin was turned into a national hero in a way that Armstrong never was in the U.S. Statues of him ascending to the stars, a kind of cyborg Christ, were erected all over the country; a circular bas-relief of his head some twenty feet in diameter was made the centrepiece of an exhibition celebrating Soviet space achievements.
This exhibition had its own special building- The Kosmos Pavilion- the star attraction in an enormous and permanent national expo called the USSR Economic Achievements Exhibition...its grandiose belvederes and gazebos now house a gigantic consumer goods arcade."
James Flint- from 'the bright tunnels of alchemy, the dark lights of science' in ATOMIC catalogue, arts catalyst 1998