Constructivism, Dada and the Bauhaus 1919- 1933
Historical Context ● ● ● ●
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Russian Revolution: March – November 1917 Begun by workers strikes in St. Petersburg Tsar removed and Soviet Union begins Old autocracy replaced by Bolshevik (Communist ) government led by Lenin (Oct) Lenin bases his ideas on Marx’s Red vs white Bolsheviks in civil war Redistribution of land in rural areas
Pre-revolution Russian icon
The term Construction Art was first used as a derisive term by Kazimir Malevich to describe the work of Alexander Rodchenko
Malevich The Reaper 1912-13
Rodchenko Red and Yellow 1918
Stalin makes Socialist Realism state policy in 1932
Constructivism â—?
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an artistic and architectural movement that emphasised art as a practice for social purposes Reflected in architecture, graphic and industrial design, theatre, film, dance, fashion and to some extent music.
Album cover influenced by Rodchenkos poster
Alexander Rodchenko ●
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Artist, painter, sculptor, photographer, graphic designer, teacher In 1921 he exhibits 3 monochrome paintings and declares “the end of painting”
About this (1923)
Rodchenko photographs
Photomontage / Dada John Heartfield ●
He worked for two communist publications: the daily Die Rote Fahne and the weekly magazine Arbeiter-IllustrierteZeitung (AIZ)
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“Adolf, the Superman: Swallows Gold and Spouts Junk” (1932)
Dada 1918●
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Focused around Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich Switzerland (politically neutral) Writers, artists and poets met to make art which objected to war Tristan Tzara writes the Dada Manifesto Spread to Berlin and then Moscow
Photomontage Hannah Hoch Dada Dolls 1916
Raoul Hausmann ABCD self Portrait 1923-4
Christian Shad (1918)
Bauhaus ●
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Innovative German school of design Existed in Weimar, Dessau and then Berlin between 1919 and 1933 Teachers/Artists: Kandinsky, Mondrian Architects: Mies Van der Rohe, Walter Gropius Closed by Hitler in 1933
Laszlo and Lucia Moholy-Nagy â—?
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Photography should move beyond reproducing the appearance of reality and produce something new Photograms
L谩szl贸 Moholy-Nagy Berlin Radio Tower and Light Space Modulator 1922-1930
Herbert Bayer â—?
The Lonely Metropolitan (1932)
Key Features of Constructivism and Photomontage Subjects/Themes ● ● ● ● ●
The body and the city Technology/machinery architecture Science Politics/the workers
Visual Language ● ● ●
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Often Black and white Use of geometric shapes 2- dimensional picture plane Use of text and type Reuse of found images Posters/ graphic design
Artists for Research ●
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A Rodchenkophotography, the city Gustav Klucsis El Lissitzky Hannah Hoch- collage Raoul Hausmann John Heartfield
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Moholy- Nagy Herbert Bayer Germaine Krull Christian Schadrayograms/shadographs