constructivism

1. Constructivism
• Art and architectural movement in
Russia from 1914 ( after October
revolution) to the 1940’s.
• Pioneered by Vladimir Tatlin.
• Artistic outlook aimed to encompass
Cognitive, material activity, and
the whole of spirituality of
mankind
• Designs were a fusion of art and
political commitment, and reflected
the revolutionary times
• Theory of constructivism is derived
from Russian Suprematism, Dutch
Neo Plasticism (De Stijl) and the
German Bauhaus
Ivan Puni - 1920 painted wood metal and
cardboard on wooden panel

2. Constructivist art
• Constructivist art is committed to
complete abstraction with a
devotion to modernity
• Themes are often minimal,
geometric, experimental and
rarely emotional
• Three dimensional art broken
down to its most basic elements
• Orderly style of art which
suggested a need for
understanding, unity and peace.
• Influenced by, and used materials
from, industrial design such as
Sheet metal and glass
Il'ia Chashnik - The Seventh Dimension

3. Vladimir Tatlin
Constructivism is not a specific movement but
rather a trend within the fields of painting, sculpture
and especially closely conjoined artists and their art
with machine production, architecture and the
applied arts

4. • Combined a machine aesthetic with
dynamic components celebrating
technology
• Was to be a tall tower in iron, glass
and steel which would have dwarfed
the Eiffel Tower in Paris (1,300 feet
high)
• Inside the structure of twin spirals,
the design envisaged three building
blocks, covered with glass windows,
which would rotate at different
speeds. first one, a cube, once a
year; the second one, a pyramid,
once a month; the third one, a
cylinder, once a day
• High costs prevented Tatlin from
executing the plan.
Monument to the Third International (1920) -
Vladimir Tatlin
Tatlin tower

5. • Gabo publicly criticized Tatlin's
design saying Either create
functional houses and
bridges or create pure art,
not both
• This led to a major split in the
Moscow group in 1920 when
Gabo and Pevsner asserted a
spiritual core for the
movement. This was opposed
to the utilitarian and
adaptable version of
Constructivism held by Tatlin
and Rodchenko

9. Legacy of Futurism
• The Constructivist Movement had an enormous impact on the modern
masters of Latin America such as, Oscar Niemeyer
• Constructivism was the Source of inspiration for Deconstruction works
of Zaha Hadid & Rem Koolhas in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
• A number of Constructivist artists taught or lectured at the Bauhaus, and
some of the VKhUTEMAS teaching methods were taken up and
developed there