Constructivism - Softcover

Gan, Aleksei

Softcover

ISBN 10: 8493923125 ISBN 13: 9788493923129

Publisher: Tenov Books, 2014

Synopsis

Published in 1922 in Russian, Aleksei Gan’s Constructivism was the first theoretical treatise of postrevolutionary Russia’s emergent Constructivist movement. Fired with revolutionary zeal, it was unquestionably a declaration of war on traditional bourgeois art.

Constructivism recasts artists and architects as Constructors, turning away from aesthetic or speculative problems in art and instead focusing on the fusion of art with everyday life in order to create a functional system of design, one in keeping with the great task of building the new communist society. This edition replicates Gan’s original layout, which was one of the first experiments in Constructivist typography and graphic design, and it also presents a substantial introductory essay by art historian Christina Lodder that examines Gan’s own odd, mercurial character and the tracks he left across avant-garde Russian graphics, architecture, film, and theater.

Nearly a century later, Constructivism remains a powerful manifesto, and this new translation will help scholars trace its enduring influence on twentieth-century art and design.

About this title

About the Author:

Aleksei Gan (1887–1942) was an agitator, publisher, activist, artist, and promoter, as well as the main theorist and cofounder of the First Working Group of Constructivists.

Review:

“Lodder’s translation of the first major manifesto of Soviet Constructivism is a milestone in understanding just exactly what was happening among these small groups of expainters, ex-sculptors, ex-poets, designers, directors and architects.”
(Owen Hatherley Radical Philosophy)

"The definitive edition of Gan’s text." (Burlington Magazine)

"Pays long-overdue respect to this important experiment in graphic design." (Russian Art and Culture)

"Extraordinary. . . . The volume combines the aesthetic qualities of a historical artefact with the academic overview of Ms Lodder’s informative introduction." (Russia Beyond the Headlines)

“Lodder’s knowledge of Gan’s career and reputation, her mastery of the complex historical and theoretical debates of the time, and her ability to analyse diverse cultural positions in an integrated manner is impressive. In her account of Gan’s career, Lodder interweaves discussion of both contemporary theory and art-historical debates of the 1920s with close reading of a wide range of primary sources. This volume is an important contribution to the growing literature on Russian Constructivism, and will become essential reading for scholars and students of Russian cultural history and politics of the twentieth century.” (Slavonic and East European Review)

“Lodder’s English translation . . . represents a long-awaited resource for scholars of Soviet visual, cultural, and political history, as well as an invaluable text for the neophytes.”
(Russian Review)

“An intensely valuable book.” (Slavic Review)

About this edition

• Publisher: Tenov Books
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 8493923125
• ISBN 13: 9788493923129
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 178