MoMA, Floor 5, 507 The Alfred H. Barr, Jr. Galleri
Location History:
Acquisition possible by the efforts of George and Zinaida Costakis, and through the Nate B. and Frances Spingold, Matthew H. and Erna Futter, and Enid A. Haupt Funds
At the time of the Russian revolution, the Bolsheviks opposed the Tsarist autocratic government. This social clash was also reflected in the visual culture of the time, where the imperial grandiosity and traditional religious mysticism began to be replaced by a language that used industrial materials. This was constructivism, developed by Alexander Rodchenko along with a few other contemporaries. Constructivists believed that art should have a primary goal of being a driving force in the development of the society, and its aesthetics should only be secondary to this. In accordance with this idea, constructivist art used non-conventional materials. As we see in the piece 'Spatial Construction No. 12', Rodchenko uses plywood and wire, partially painting them using aluminium paint. Rodchenko, born in 1891 in St. petersburg, Russia liked to refer to himself as a designer and visual communicator rather than as an artist. 'Spatial Construction No. 12' appropriately showcases his approach towards art. The peice isn't a conventional work and is suspended from the ceiling, by a wire, giving it a spatially unbounded character. With the wind, the plywood elements change postions and along with that the shadows also rearrange themselves making the peice visually fluid. The light weight of the material aids the movement and makes the peice non rigid. This in turn redefines the relationship between art and its environment along with it being a powerful instance of constructivist principles.
When you first look at this piece, Spatial Construction No. 12 it feels less like a heavy, solid sculpture and more like a drawing made of wood and metal floating right in front of you. Actually, wait, it is suspended, isn't it? Hanging by a tiny, almost invisible thread from the ceiling. It’s made of these nested, oval-like loops that curve beautifully around each other. The outer rings have this warm, sort of reddish-brown, earthy look to them. They loop around and around, and then as your eyes travel inward, toward the very center, the rings get smaller and change color, turning into this bright, metallic silver. It looks almost like a starburst or a weird, futuristic skeleton of a planet. Or maybe an atom, the kind you’d see in an old school textbook, but way more graceful.
There’s a real sense of balance to the whole thing, but not the boring, perfectly symmetrical kind. Every single loop is angled just a little bit differently, so as it hangs there, it feels like it’s about to spin, even if it’s standing completely still in the photo. It’s amazing how something built from simple plywood, I think it’s plywood, or some light wood anyway, can look so light and airy. And then there is the shadow it throws onto the plain white wall behind. It's like a ghost version of the sculpture, a soft, blurry echo that mimics the sharp lines of the actual piece. The shadow adds this whole other layer of depth, making you realize how much space this thing actually takes up. It’s not just a flat object; it's a hollow sphere of air and lines. There's a quiet rhythm to how the silver inner stars interlock with the outer brown bands. It just sort of sits there, suspended in a moment of perfect quiet, waiting for a tiny draft of wind to make it dance. It's simple, really, but it makes you stop and just... stare for a second.
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By: ARNAV DEY
The above given article is a fine example art in constructivism. Highly influenced by the cubist art form of Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, the constructivist art, pioneered and introduced by Vladimir Tatlin believed that art should reflect the social life, ideas and struggles of it'd contemporary period i.e the early twentieth century when industrialization was at its height in Europe and it had also began to shape the then Russian society. The above artwork, which belongs to the period of Bolshevik uprising against the Tsarist monarchy not only reflects the raised voice of a politically charged common mass, aware of its rights against an autocratic regime, but also reflects the changing socio economic fabric of the then Russian society which wanted to move from the age old stagnant feudal order to progressive, equitable industrial nation.
