contents ‘‘Printed tables of contents indicate page numbers where each part starts, while online ones offer links to go to each part.’’
CONSTRUCTIVISM
4-5
EARLY BEGINNING
6-7
REVOLUTION
8-9
EL LISSITZKY
10-19
ALEXANDER RODCHENCKO
20-27
JOSEF MULLER BROCKMANN
28-33
WORLD WAR I
34-39
CONSTRUCTIVISM ‘‘An artistic and architectural philosophy that originated in Russia beginning in 1919, which was a rejection of the idea of autonomous art.’’
4-5
CHARACTERISTICS: The movement was in favour of art as a practice for social purposes. Constructivism had a great effect on modern art movements of the 20th century, influencing major trends such as Bauhaus and the De Stijl movement. Its influence was pervasive, with major impacts upon architecture, graphic and industrial design, theatre, film, dance, fashion and to some extent music.
6-7
The term Construction Art was first used as a derisive term by Kazimir Malevich to describe the work of Alexander Rodchenko in 1917. Constructivism first appears as a positive term in Naum Gabo's Realistic Manifesto of 1920. Alexei Gan used the word as the title of his book Constructivism, which was printed in 1922.
Constructivism was a post-World War I development of Russian Futurism, and particularly of the ‘cornercouter reliefs’ of Vladimir Tatlin, which had been exhibited in 1915. The term itself would be invented by the sculptors Antoine Pevsner and Naum Gabo, who developed an industrial, angular style of work, while its geometric abstraction owed to the Suprematism of Kasimir Malevich.
Constructivism in Moscow was represented by VKhUTEMAS, the school for art and design established in 1919. Gabo later stated that teaching at the school emphasized political and ideological discussion rather than art-making. Despite this, Gabo himself designed a radio transmitter in 1920 (and would submit a design to the Palace of the Soviets competition in 1930).
8-9
1917
As much as involving itself in designs for industry, the Constructivists worked on public festivals and street designs for the post-October revolution Bolshevik government. Perhaps the most famous of these was in Vitebsk, where Malevich’s UNOVIS Group painted propaganda plaques and buildings (the best known being El Lissitzky’s poster Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge 1919). Inspired by Vladimir Mayakovsky’s declaration ‘the streets our brushes, the squares our palettes’, artists and designers participated in public life.
EL LISSITZKY “The sun as the expression of old world energy is torn down from the heavens by modern man, who by virtue of his technological superiority creates his own energy source.�
10-11
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SUPERMATISM
C RI ET GE OM 12-13
In 1918 Chagall became head of the art school at Vitebsk and in the following year he appointed Lissitzky professor of architecture and graphic art. One of his colleagues at Vitebsk was Malevich, whose advocacy of the use of pure geometric form influenced Lissitzky, notably in the series of abstract paintings to which he gave the collective name ‘Proun’ and which he referred to as ‘the interchange station between painting and architecture’.
E is l Li on a s ssit w e to zk ro orld red ry a y’s d ma . , o bo fir th ime nc It is ne ut st s r it e ns e,” Li bla ho up 19 wa e-d ion an ssit ck, w t rem a 22 s f im an al zk tr wo at wa rad , A irst ens d i leg y’s ans sq ist o s, ica bo pu io ts or “s fo ua bo re rga de l re ut 2 bli nal effe y of cien rm res ok th lat niz mo th S sh wo ct th ti a , an e b ing ing ns ink qua ed rld on e fo fic p d eg it ty tra in re in . W th ur av ubl is a inn to v pog ting g of s p Ber he e th an an ica mo ing isu ra a wh res lin n d t-g tio ng o al ph ne at en in gr ar ns t f a im y w a te ap de in he n a on w b d hi in th m ew ge a ay oo c d t e os g s. pa o k es yp hi t i rap It ge f ig og sto mp h ma a n. ra ry o ic rk nd ph o rta ar e y f t nt t d he
14-15
TW SQ O UA RE S
16-17
AB 2 O SQ U T UA RE S
Th S e pr qua com se ov re m br mi ide s, b ent p ief na s a ox ar th oet his l wo de ed y, M Li e l ry to rk ta in o co ssi ette in R rica . R iled the re A re ro tzk r/ us l s ail an sa bo ab lat llar y in so sia urv ing aly me ut a st ion y t A un an ey pr si s 2 th nd p rac sh o th bou d w d s of ovi s of lipc de eo ai t or ip t e p t 2 as ho ava des th ase vi ret nti no ha ic S ap ws nt a is , ce ic ng n t to qu p h -g of al a in ob for ria ar lied ow ar de Li nd R jec ms l im es b ss us ti th a as y c itz re si ve e g a ky at a, la ba es ’s ive an ng si - a gr s d ua s o ap ou is g f hi rc the e cd ea es nd ig n.
18-19
“W ci e w rcl b A sp e r es ro Pr ou ac ais . ug n e. e . . ht 19 � o an t 25 ur d he se w c lv hi an es le va in we s i to t nt th urn o e ,
ALEXANDER RODCHENKO
“In order to educate man to a new longing, everyday familiar objects must be shown to him with totally unexpected perspectives and in unexpected situations. New objects should be depicted from different sides in order to provide a complete impression of the object.�
20-21
Russian artist, sculptor, photographer and graphic designer. He was one of the founders of constructivism and Russian design he was married to the artist Varvara Stepanova. Rodchenko was one of the most versatile Constructivist and Productivist artists to emerge after the Russian Revolution.
He worked as a painter and graphic designer before turning to photomontage and photography. His photography was socially engaged, formally innovative, and opposed to a painterly aesthetic. Concerned with the need for analytical-documentary photo series, he often shot his subjects from odd angles usually.
Y H P
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A E G
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A T N
M O T O H
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22-23
P
TO O H
t n re nt e ff re i d ffe t t in ugh l ra di ren ed i hro n.� e v om ffe in t ai e s fr di m ed ag e k ct, in exa ook nd a t je nd e l a o b a on an ain t u as a s iew if r th ag h f f v as e le e o n ts o s, ath ho O “ ho ts ion d r ey s oin at un k p itu ro me s he sa t he t
24-25
American conceptual artist Barbara Kruger owes a debt to Rodchenko’s work.
26-27
Much of the work of 20th century graphic designers is a direct result of Rodchenko’s earlier work in the field. His influence has been pervasive enough that it would be nearly impossible to single out all of the designers whose work he has influenced.
josef muller brockmann ‘‘The grid system is an aid, not a guarantee. It permits a number of possible uses and each designer can look for a solution appropriate to his personal style. But one must learn how to use the grid; it is an art that requires practice.’’
28-29
ORGANIZE TEXT Swiss graphic designer and teacher. He studied architecture, design and history of art at both the University and Kunstgewerbeschule in Zurich. In 1936 he opened his Zurich studio specialising in graphic design, exhibition design and photography.
IC PH RA OG P TY
E YL ST
t er h. r nc ric ito co Zu ed ed in g th in wi uc lle nd g od ha n u an pr on fo lo . a pe g a he e T ro e gn ur 51 th Eu m si ub d 19 or ca e e f D e e be ic . N nt . om rs i M H pl Fr ste he ph d po IB h m a n p o si of z- ic t po 58 Gr a sa t is se en wh s in n 19 w se r h u id rs er wa lta In Ne oh fo an kz ou ign he su of . L P n ed le A ol s R. 66 co is is c bly d c de 19 n gn h ta n ic In sig co d no s a ph re an y, e ra de is ns ph hap y g y. He sig gra , s an ur de po esk s m ent ty rot ire t c G p 1s s in e 2 th
30-31
GRID SYSTEM
32-33
From a child’s verbal description of a snowflake, to the detailed scientific analysis of the properties of magnetic fields.
Structure is a fundamental, tangible or intangible notion referring to the recognition, observation, nature, and permanence of patterns and relationships of entities. This notion may itself be an object, such as a built structure, or an attribute, such as the structure of society.
world war i ‘‘And like the old soldier in that ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away, an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the sight to see that duty.’’
34-35
On 28 July, the conflict opened with the Austro-Hungarian invasion of Serbia, followed by the German invasion of Belgium, Luxembourg and France; and a Russian attack against Germany. After the German march on Paris was brought to a halt, the Western Front settled into a static battle of attrition with a trench line that changed little until 1917.
In the East, the Russian army successfully fought against the Austro-Hungarian forces but was forced back by the German army. Additional fronts opened after the Ottoman Empire joined the war in 1914, Italy and Bulgaria in 1915 and Romania in 1916.
36-37
38-39
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918. It involved all the world’s great powers, which were assembled in two opposing alliances: the Allies and the Central Powers.