Constructivism

Aleksei Gan s Constructivism was the first theoretical treatise of post-revolutionary Russia s emergent Constructivist movement. Published in 1922, this iconoclastic blast of revolutionary zeal was a declaration of war on traditional Bourgeois art. By defining its three core principles: tectonics, ‘faktura ‘& construction, Gan recasts artist and architect as Constructors, no longer fretting about aesthetic or speculative problems in art but focusing instead on the fusion of art with everyday life to create a system of where everything will be conceived in a technical and functional way - a fitting contribution to the great task of building the new communist society. Christina Lodder s illuminating introductory essay examines the intriguing character of the mercurial author. Gan, the Mass Constructor, was a key figure among Russia s post-revolutionary avant-garde, working across theatre, architecture, graphics and cinema. Agitator, publisher, activist and promoter, he was a close friend of Rodchenko and Stepanova and was the foremost theoretician of Moscow s Working Group of Constructivists. Penned, typeset and printed by Gan, himself, this version of the text respects his original layout - one of the first experiments in Constructivist typography and graphic . With this slim volume, he announced the arrival of the Constructivists to the wider world with the power and immediacy of a clashing cymbal. This edition allows Aleksei Gan s contribution to one of the defining movements of 20th century art finally to be fully appreciated and understood. ‘