Style & Genre Essays Constructivism: Artist Research

Style & Genre Essays

Constructivism

A modern aesthetic movement, it was founded in Russia in 1913 by Vladimir Tatlin (1885-1953). The underlying theory is that a work of art should be an autonomous object with a life of its own and that it should reflect economy and precision. The style is non objective, and the materials are often iron, tin, wood, glass, plaster, and plastic, an attempt to bridge the gap between everyday life and art. It was first called Tatlinism when it appeared about 1913 in the work of Vladimir Tatlin. Another early name was Production Art with focus on creating artist engineers. Dynamism and kinetic art were outgrowths, and Antoine Pevsner, Alexander Rodchenko, and Naum Gabo brought the movement to the United States. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"