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| Alex Rodchenko - Stairs 1930
After the Russian revolution in 1917 when the Bolsheviks came to power being replaced by the old autocracy. It was in 1921 when Alexander Rodchenko declared that 'painting was dead' after exhibiting 3 monochrome paintings, it seemed it was outdated by socialist realism. Rodchenko being an Artist,
painter, sculptor, photographer, graphic designer and teacher changed the organisation of the art schools and museums once he was appointed director.
Constructivism was part of making comments on civilisation and highlighting art as a way of expressing their views for society. Signifying intellectual constructs was what photography was about once Alexander Rodchenko challenged traditional photography after the 1920's, his slogan was "our duty is to experiment'. It was also the dada manifesto which spread to Berlin and Moscow that influenced Rodchenko where writers, artists and poets met to make art that was against war and were more focused on being politically neutral. 'Stairs' by Alexander Rodchenko shows the key features of constructivism, breaking away from tradition with the black and white image you are able to see the contrasts in the photograph emphasising the shadow areas on the step. It renders an everyday image, with it not been shot straight on, instead it has a slanted view to it where its almost diagonal.The noticeable shapes and patterns from the stairs become clear too. The politics behind this was that the stairs reminisces the Eisenstein 1925 film battleship potemkin with the famous step scene which was a key moment in the history of the Russian revolution. |
