As ever, everything has a root, origin or history of how it came to be. Graphic design is an important aspect in the visual world of art and thus understanding the history of graphic design leads to better grasp of Art. Graphic design can be illustrated as a form of combining images, words, symbols and any other form of visual content to project wider abstract views, perceptions, methodologies or illustrations of real-life situations and events. Graphic design over the years has thus undergone significant evolution from the ancient forms that include: Cave writing for the Earliest forms of man e.g. Sumerian Writing which involved picture symbols representing animate and inanimate objects to evolution of 20th
Century Art Movements such as the; Art Nouveau, Cubism, Futurism, Russian Constructivism and many more, to the modern day graphic design has immensely advanced and greatly influenced by the emergence of technology and digitization. In a bid to understand this evolution, it is important to assess the value of the 20th Century Art Movements that also play an important role in the graphic design we have today.
Art Nouveau, Cubism, Futurism, Russian Constructivism, Dada, Ready-Mades, Surrealism-1924, Expressionism, Bauhaus and Art Deco are the forms that emerged and flourished in the 20th Century. We will Discuss Russian Constructivism that includes a brief introduction, Origin and development, its impact, the people who flourished in this form of art and the major characteristics of Russian Constructivism.
Ruzzian Constructivism: Brief Introduction
Ruzzian Constructivism is an art movement that sought to go beyond abstract painting by breaking the link to traditional art, it illustrated the shift of constructivism from laboratory work to practical application. Techniques include showing simultaneous action, superimposing images; using extreme close-ups and perspective images and rhythmically repeating an Image.
Origin and Development
Art in Russia arose at the end of the 19th Century when the traditional handicraft industries where revived, folk and kustar art. Motivated by the efforts of Savva and Elizaveta Mamontov who set up an artistic colony in their estate near Moscow in which many prestigious artists worked utilizing traditional techniques. Example Vrubel’ worked on some interior furniture of Mamontov estate. Other members of the intelligentsia involved in reviving the handicraft industries were Princess Maria Tenisheva and Maria Fedorova Yakunchikova had workshops in their respective estates. Such workshops were supported financially by the patrons in favor of creating beautiful peasant artifacts, such as embroideries, lace, tapestries, rugs and traditional furniture.
Constructivism was based on the political, social and economic bases of soviet life, its development began after the revolution. First Period 1917-1921 was referred to as the laboratory stage of constructivism, it was the analysis of their own activity, the consequent hypotheses about the elements and nature of art. After the October revolution, the Bolshevik administration invited artists to become involved with agitation and propaganda to spread their political messages to the people in their universal language of art. Key players were Alexander Rodchenko (1891-1956) centered on the manipulation of material elements, faktura, revealing the materials employed and their process of application, and the use of geometric forms, including the straight-line, to construct rather than to compose paintings. He employed geometrical elements because of the impersonality. His works with geometrics, such as wooden constructions of 1920 are impersonal, mathematical and have a certain unemotional purity. He also experimented with new architectural forms.
Vladimir Taitlin (1885-1953) Involved in the fusion of Industrial and artistic activities at the Petrogad Free State Artistic Teaching studio. His work “counter reliefs” merged creative work and production process into an organic whole. The studio was equipped with metal working machine tools’ and joiner’s benches.
The ideas and methodologies that evolved during these years due to working on the three-dimensional objects with a specific interest in the material use, taking into context the political and social ramifications of their work and technological constraints of mass industrial production came to be encompassed as constructivism.
IMPACT OF CONSTRUCTIVISM
FASHION DESIGN, 1917-1921
The Trade Emabargo imposed by Russia by her former allies of World War 1 brought to a halt the influx of French fashion garments which left the Russian Industry to fend for itself using its own devices. However, the state of the sewing industry which was centrally reorganized was chaotic and only had old machinery. Production was thus devoted to army orders. Education for people to work in the fashion industry was thus initiated and among the initiatives was opening of the first educational establishment VUZ in Moscow in 1919. Also important in the Education initiative was the Studio of Artistic Production Dress initiated by Nadezhda Lamanova (1861-1941) she produces an outline of the studios aims and objectives in line with the concept of the socialist dress which included, the construction of clothing using geometric forms as a way of solving problems. Her design principles evolved on lines similar to the constructivists as she was concerned with the constructive and logical approach to clothing design.
Characteristics of Ruzzian Constructivism Art
“Constructivism stood for three ideals—abstraction, functionalism, and utilitarianism. The movement focused on the construction of the art rather than the composition, which distinguished them from the traditional art movements. Constructivism art was devoted to modernity.
It tried to attain universal form. It consisted of three- as well as two-dimensional art forms. It consisted of themes that were often geometric, minimal, experimental, and rarely emotional. Constructivist artwork was usually broken down to its basic elements. This art form simplified everything on the fundamental level.
New media was used in the creation of artworks. Industrial materials like glass, steel, and plastic were used in the artwork creation.
This artwork would combine different sans serif fonts for their visual properties as well as their meanings. Colors used in the artwork would be simple, flat, and symbolic. A white space was a part of the design. Rather than a hand-drawn illustration, the photo-montage technique was often used.”
SUMMARY
Russian Constructivism was used as a tool of great social, political and economic impact to the Russian Community. It set them apart from others and although it had many challenges it still managed to bring the Russian community together, which is the sole purpose of art. It is therefore not only seen as a form of art but a tool of change.
Works Cited
Meggs, Philip B., and Alston W. Purvis. Meggs' history of graphic design. John Wiley & Sons, 2011. www.kettererkunst.com/dict/constructivism.php
http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/constructivism/
Bark, Wendy. Constructivist costume, textile & theatrical design, 1917-1934: a study of constructivism set in the socio-cultural, political and historical context of post-revolutionary Russia. Diss. Durham University, 1995.
