*This lecture is going to look at a social revolution- a communist revolution and the effects this had on society during and after.
*Russian Revoltion, led by Lenin 1917
'Peace, Bread and Land'.
Russia was a country of illiterate workers (80% of the population) who rallied together and overthrew the government. They took over and wanted the country to become equal- everyone has the same amount of food, work etc as everyone else.
Known as the October Revolution 1917
*1917-1921 Russian Civil War: Reds (Revolutionary Bolsheviks) vs. Whites (Anti-Revolutionary Imperialists)
During the bloody civil war (after the revolution) many died
*After the revolution a 'rival' strand of modernist art came about . Different political and philosophical place than the west- so different (perhaps more progressive?) art was produced.
*OCTOBER (Ten days that Shook the World) Directed by Sergei Eisenstein.
A film made to commemorate the event in 1927 (Bolsheviks led by Lenin, storming the government)- Ten years after the event.
*In late 20th century we see propaganda in a negative way- people think of Nazi's and deceit-lying to the public. However this revolution used it in a positive way.
B. Kustodiev 'The Bolshevik' 1920.
The giant Bolshevik= a personification of how powerful they were- greater than the Tsars and government they had overthrown.
The RED FLAG symbolically represents the blood of the workers.
Solely an image- no writing means an illiterate person will understand this propaganda.
*The cultural acceleration of Art after the revolution is massive. No one wants rich elite culture (realistic paintings of landscapes and kings etc.) people want NEW!
What is the art of the working people?
Radical experimenting begins- trying to find a new voice for the country.
*In this very short period the style of the art really progressed.
*Lenin asked artists to look at artists from the West for inspiration (e.g. Picasso and Matisse)
*Abstract and a more modern style of art appeared almost out of nowhere in Russia.
*Everyone was seen as a productive value- Artists became designers and designers became artists. No clear hierarchy of culture. No snobbery.
A. Rodchenko 'Book Poster- Books for all fields of Knowledge' 1924
Artists took jobs by the state- this poster was trying to get the public into the library to read and learn. No longer had to be illiterate- people now had the freedom to gain knowledge.
Also note the WOMAN! The revolution brought a levelling out of the status and the roles between the sexes.
Some more of A. Rodchenko's work. Shows the experimentation with photography that was happening at the time. He was finding out what photographs can do.
*Artists became known as 'constructivists' - they were constructing the future.
Artists were now seen as people who could really help with the revolution.
*Tatlin's model of the 'Monument to the Third International'. Was going to be Russia's answer to the Eiffel Tower!- Bigger and better. A true 'Constructivist' version. The Wikipedia entry reads:
"Tatlin's Constructivist tower was to be built from industrial materials: iron, glass and steel. In materials, shape, and function, it was envisaged as a towering symbol of modernity. It would have dwarfed the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The tower's main form was a twin helix which spiraled up to 400 m in height, around which visitors would be transported with the aid of various mechanical devices. The main framework would contain four large suspended geometric structures. These structures would rotate at different rates of speed. At the base of the structure was a cube which was designed as a venue for lectures, conferences and legislative meetings, and this would complete a rotation in the span of one year. Above the cube would be a smaller pyramid housing executive activities and completing a rotation once a month. Further up would be a cylinder, which was to house an information centre, issuing news bulletins and manifestos via telegraph, radio and loudspeaker, and would complete a rotation once a day. At the top, there would be a hemisphere for radio equipment. There were also plans to install a gigantic open-air screen on the cylinder, and a further projector which would be able to cast messages across the clouds on any overcast day"
Limited technology did not inhibit idea but it did inhibit building it. Sadly it was never made.
*The Russian Constuctivists: Leading Avant-Garde artistic group. Their aim- 'achieving the communistic expression of material structures.' ('The Programme of the first working group of Constructivists' 1929 quoted in Lodder (1983) Russian Constructivism, London & Yale, p.94)
Art should be understood, used and appreciated by everyone.
*1925 Paris expo- USSR pavilion by Melnikov. A constructivist building- a great place to exhibit the new modern work of the time. Paris had no idea what was happening in Russia and they were shocked to see this building. Shows how advanced Russia was for its time.
*VKhUTEMAS
A progressive art school. Prospectus cover by El Lissitzky.
Sadly shut down when Lenin took over (more about that later....) :(
*All architects in the West were men but in Russia women were studying it and were allowed to.
*Constructivists with textile, clothes and furniture- Art for the people. Art was not just for art galleries anymore- it was now in peoples homes (wallpaper, curtains etc.) and what they wore.
*New designs for clothing- made more for comfort. Not like high fashion for women, which were clothes to display femininity of women- make them objects of desire/lust. These new designs created a level of equality between the sexes.
V. Stepanova designed sports costumes and textile designs:
Example of designs.
* HAMMER AND SICKLE. Logo of the Soviet Union. United workers and united farmers.
*The lesson of the Soviet Union is that everyone has the same (standardised) so there is no haves and had nots in the country. No one can look down on others. However the human element is lost- there is no room for individuality. Plus, everyone has the same but that does not mean that what they have is good- there was a lot of poor housing and cheap food.
*STALIN came into power in the late 20's (thought to be about 1928) and changed art. The late 20's and onwards: socialist realism.
He decreed that the only acceptable art was simple painting with simple meaning. He believed that was the only thing workers would truly understand.
In some ways Stalin killed culture.
*In 1962 Russians realised they did not have any good artists and designers anymore because of Stalin and the closure of Art schools. They were worried about opening Art Schools as art was associated with the West and Capitalism.
SUMMARY
*Revolution= new opportunity for art to progress.
*Constructivists desire to make art useful.
*Aim that art should help 'construct' new society.
*Use of new techniques and abstract aesthetic.
*By end of the 1920's artistic freedom curtailed.
*1934 Stalin decrees 'Socialist Realism' only.
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