Constructivism

constructivism, Russian art movement founded c.1913 by Vladimir Tatlin, related to the movement known as suprematism. After 1916 the brothers Naum Gabo and Antoine Pevsner gave new impetus to Tatlin's art of purely abstract (although politically intended) constructions. Their sculptural works derived from cubism and futurism, but had a more architectonic and machinelike emphasis related to the technology of the society in which they were created. The Soviet regime at first encouraged this new style. However, beginning in 1921, constructivism (and all modern art movements) were officially disparaged as unsuitable for mass propaganda purposes. Gabo and Pevsner went into exile, while Tatlin remained in Russia. In theatrical scene design constructivism spread beyond Russia through the efforts of Vsevolod Meyerhold.

Bibliography

See G. Rickey, Constructivism (1967).

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constructivism

Theory that interprets mathematical statements as true if and only if there is a proof of them and as false just in case there is a disproof of them. Constructivism opposes the Platonist interpretation, which construes mathematical statements as referring to a domain of timeless mathematical objects existing independently of our knowledge of them (see form, Platonism). For the constructivist, certain classically valid forms of logical inference (e.g., the law of excluded middle, the law of double negation, the postulation of infinite sets) may no longer be employed unrestrictedly in constructing mathematical proofs (see logic). The constructivist therefore recognizes fewer mathematical proofs and theorems than does the Platonist. See also intuitionism.

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Constructivism

Russian movement in art and architecture, initiated in 1914 by the abstract geometric constructions of Vladimir Tatlin. In 1920 Tatlin was joined by Antoine Pevsner and Naum Gabo. Their “Realist Manifesto,” which directed their followers to “construct art,” gave the movement its name. The group, soon joined by Aleksandr Rodchenko and El Lissitzky, produced abstract works reflecting modern machinery and technology, using plastic, glass, and other industrial materials. Applying the same principles to architecture, they spread the movement's ideals throughout Europe and to the U.S. after Soviet opposition dispersed the group. See also Bauhaus; De Stijl.

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Constructivism

Constructivism: Tatlin’s project

A movement which originated in Moscow after 1917, primarily in sculpture, but with broad applications to architecture. The expression of construction was to be the basis for all building design, with emphasis on functional machine parts. Tatlin’s project of a monument to the Third International in Moscow (1920) is the most famous example.

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Constructivism 

a movement in Soviet art during the 1920’s (in architecture, stage design, poster art, book illustration, artistic design, and literature). The first group of constructivists, which included A. M. Gan, A. M. Rodchenko, V. F. Stepanova, and the brothers V. A. Stenberg and G. A. Stenberg, arose in 1921 at Inkhuk (Institute of Artistic Culture). The constructivists advocated the construction of an environment that actively guided life’s processes. They sought to interpret the aesthetic qualities of such materials as metal, wood, and glass and the formal possibilities of the new technology and of its logical, rational constructions.

The slogans of production art were partially realized in constructivist works. The constructivists contrasted the simplicity and the underlying utilitarianism of new forms, which personified to them democracy and the new relationships among people, with the ostentatious splendor of bourgeois life.

In architecture, constructivist principles were developed in theoretical statements by A. A. Vesnin and M. la. Ginzburg. These principles were implemented in the Palace of Labor project in Moscow, which was designed in 1923 by the brothers A. A. Vesnin, V. A. Vesnin, and L. A. Vesnin. The basis of this building’s construction—the reinforced-concrete frame—is revealed in the new exterior appearance; the building was constructed according to a precise, rational plan.

In 1925 a creative organization of constructivists, the OSA (Association of Contemporary Architects), was founded. Its organ of publication was the journal Sovremennaia arkhitektura (Contemporary Architecture; 1926–30). In this journal the constructivist architects set forth their creed, the so-called functional method, which required that architects take into account the particular purpose of buildings, structures, and architectural complexes when creating their rational designs and providing their equipment.

Along with other groups of Soviet architects, the constructivists (the Vesnin brothers, M. la. Ginzburg, I. I. Leonidov, A. S. Nikol’skii, M. O. Barshch, V. N. Vladimirov, and others) sought new methods and principles of urban design and planning, suggested projects for the restructuring of the conditions of life, and created new types of public buildings (Palace of Labor, House of the Soviets, workers’ clubs, and factory-kitchens). However, in both theory and practice the constructivists made a number of mistakes (the labeling of the apartment as “a material form of petit bourgeois ideology,” the regimentation of life in several communal housing projects, the failure to take geographical and climatic conditions into account, and the underestimation of the role of large cities that resulted from ideas of deurbanization).

To a certain degree, the aesthetics of constructivism facilitated the establishment of Soviet artistic design. On the basis of work done by constructivists, such as A. M. Rodchenko and A. M. Gan, new types of dishes, hardware, and furniture were designed that were convenient and could be mass-produced. The artists created designs for fabrics (V. F. Stepanova and L. S. Popova) and designed practical working clothes (V. F. Stepanova and V. E. Tatlin). New ways of mounting exhibits were also devised (El Lissitzky).

Constructivism also played an important role in the development of poster art (the photomontage of the Stenberg brothers, G. G. Klutsis, and A. M. Rodchenko) and typographical design (new ways of using the expressive possibilities of type and type-setting materials appeared in the work of A. A. Gan and El Lissitzky).

In theater, instead of a traditional set, the constructivists designed “scaffoldings” for the work of the actors, who were dressed in overalls. The design of these “scaffoldings” was governed by the stage action (L. S. Popova, A. A. Vesnin, and others—for the productions of V. E. Meyerhold and A. la. Tairov).

The usage of the term constructivism in the plastic arts outside of the USSR is rather arbitrary. In architecture it designates a tendency in functionalism that seeks to accentuate the expressiveness of contemporary constructions. In painting and sculpture, constructivism is one of the avant-garde movements which uses several of the formal experiments of early Soviet constructivism (the sculptors N. Gabo and A. Pevsner).

In literature, constructivist tendencies, answering the “leftist” demands for a “revolution of form” (transformation of language, poetry, and genres), was given impetus by the slogans of Lef, or the Left Front of the Arts (emphasis on the “construction of materials” instead of the artist’s intuitive style; on the montage style, or cinematic style, in prose; on propaganda poetry; and on journalistic language). In 1923, K. L. Zelinskii, I. L. Sel’vinskii, and A. N. Chicherin advanced constructivism as an independent movement primarily in poetry. Their manifesto appeared in 1924 in their collection Mena vsekh (Exchange of Everything). In that same year the Literary Center of Constructivists (LTsK) was formed. The group’s theorist was K. L. Zelinskii; its members included I. L. Sel’vinskii, V. A. Lugovskoi, V. M. Inber, B. N. Agapov, and A. P. Kviatkovskii. E. G. Bagritskii was also associated with LTsK.

The theoretical tenets of constructivism, unlike those of Lef, recognized the sovereign rights of poetry; however, the regularity of its development as a phenomenon of spiritual culture was replaced in many cases by the focus on the “technical rigging” of culture. An example is the principle of the “loading” of a word, or the design distribution of material—“the maximum required load of the indispensible per unit of the material, that is, brief, compact, saying much in a small space and everything in a point” (Mena vsekh [collection], 1924, p. 8)—which in its extreme form led to the style of the slogan and advertisement (experiments of A. N. Chicherin).

On the other hand, a topical principle became an expression of constructive organization. This principle was the construction of a theme from words and rhythms most closely related to it. In I. L. Sel’vinskii’s poetry laboratory the author’s language was transformed into that of the character or environment being described. For example, the poem The Thief (1922) was written entirely in the vernacular of the thief. Sel’vinskii used phonetic transcription with the designation of tone to convey the rhythmic correspondences of pronunciation (for example, song and dance rhythms).

The constructivists incorporated into poetry various devices of prose (inflation of prose) and distinctive lexical strata (professional terminology and jargon). They rejected lyrical emotions, preferring clearly organized narrative poetry and epic genres. However, the constructivists did not create a “style of the epoch” as they had intended. In 1930 the Literary Center of Constructivists disbanded. The role of LTsK in Soviet poetry was deter-mined not by its erroneous theoretical aims but by the creative work of its talented poets, who left behind them a rich legacy of poetry.

REFERENCES

Gan, A. Konstruktivizm. Tver’, 1922.
Kino-fot. 1922–23.
Sovremennaia arkhitektura. 1926–30.
Literaturnye manifesty (ot simvolizma k Oktiabriu). Moscow, 1929.
Iz istorii sovetskoi arkhitektury, 1917–1925, gg: Dokumenty i materialy. Moscow, 1963.
Sovetskoe literaturovedenie i kritika. Moscow, 1966. (Bibliographical index.)
Iz istorii sovetskoi arkhitektury, 1926–1932 gg.: Dokumenty i materialy. Moscow, 1970.

S. O. KHAN-MAGOMEDOV (introduction, architecture), V. I. RAKITIN (artistic construction, graphics, stage design), and A. A. MOROZOV (literature)