MODERNISM AND REVOLUTION Soviet Art, Film and Architecture 1917-1937 • MODERNISM AND REVOLUTION • Soviet Art, Film and Architecture 1917-1937 ADVANCED SEMINAR SPRING 2019 ARC 388R ARC 368R REE 325 Dr. Danilo Udovički-Selb SYLLABUS Meetings: WEDNESDAYS 6:30 pm-9:30 pm Battle 1.118 lecture room Office hours: Tuesdays 4-6 pm and by appointment at [email protected] Cell phone 617 820 3745 Prerequisites: For SoA’s Students: Minimum two Surveys in the History of Architecture Information on instructor’s background as mandated by the University: Dr. Danilo Udovički-Selb is Associate Professor of Architecture and Architecture History. a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the History, Theory and Criticism of Architecture; an MA in Philosophy, Boston College; and an MA in Architecture and Planning, University of Belgrade. In 2003-2004 he held the CASVA Mellon Bruce Senior Fellowship, at the National Gallery of Art, Washington. He has published extensively on the 1930s in the Soviet Union and French Modernism, including in the Journal of Architectural Historians, 2009; Journal of Contemporary History, London; DoCoMoMo International Documentation of Modern Architecture, France, 2008; a Monograph, University of Trondheim, Norway); on the 1937 Paris International Exposition in the Journal of Architectural Historians, 2015); on Le Corbusier (Fondation Le Corbusier, Paris, 2011); Journal of Architectural Historians, 1996); on Charlotte Perriand (Paris: Centre George Pompidou, exhibition catalogue 2007; and NY: Abrams, 2004). His latest book : Narkomfin: Moisej Ginzburg and Ignatij Milinis (Berlin: Ernst Wasmuth Verlag). He is U.S. correspondent, architecture critic for, and board member of Il Giornale dell’Architettura, Torino, Italy. “L'Exposition de 1937 n'aura pas lieu: The Invention of the Paris International Expo and the Soviet and German Pavilions.» in Architecture of Great Expositions (London: ASHGATE) 2015; “Between ‘Proletarian Vanguard’ and Establishment: Boris Iofan’s Two ‘World Pavilions,’ Paris1937and New York 1939,” in Measuring Against the West: A History of Russian Exposition and Festival Architecture (Rutledge: Abingdon-on-Thames), Forthcoming. Currently writing a book on the 1930s Stalin “Revolution from Above” to be published by Bloomsbury—London. Method: Work will be done through lectures, reading responses, and student presentations of paper as work in progress GADING: A for excellence in research, insight, originality and quality of writing B Solid work, some issues with writing or insight C Lack of originality, poor writing 1 MODERNISM AND REVOLUTION Soviet Art, Film and Architecture 1917-1937 REQUIERMENTS • Student weekly written reports on readings (45%) --due every TUESDAY morning by 9am latest • A research paper (45%) (about 20 pages). Presentations of ongoing paper research in the last weeks of the semester (10%) Paper due in digital form Accommodations for Students with Disabilities Any student with a documented disability (physical or cognitive) who requires academic accommodations should contact the Services for Students with Disabilities area of the Office of the Dean of Students at 471-6259 as soon as possible to request an official letter outlining authorized accommodations. Main Reference Texts on Reserve: •S. Fitzpatrick, The Russian Revolution Fitzpatrick, Sheila. Oxford / New York : Oxford University Press, 2008.3rd ed. •S. Khan-Magomedov, Pioneers of Soviet Architecture (New York: Rizzoli, 1983) •Exhibition Catalogue, The Great Utopia (New York: Guggenheim Museum, Fall 1992) A selection of books is on reserve to facilitate your paper research Attendance at all meetings of the seminar is required. ONE UNEXCUSED ABSENCE FAILS THE COURSE. Absences are excused for health reasons only or personal unforeseen vis major (exclude weddings) ATTENDANCE IS WAVED FOR RELIGEOUS HOLIDAYS, on the condition that it is reported to the instructor on the first day of class. * PLEASE LIVE YOUR HORSE OUTDOORS * ALL the REQUIRED READING is found in the READER (a selection of texts) Available for purchase from printer who will bring the material to class Important visual material on reserve Consult possibly towards your PAPER • Khan-Magomedov, VHUTEMAS: Moscou, 1920-1930, (Paris: Centre Pompidou, 1990) (Moscow Avant-Garde Architectural School] • Collection: Mayakovsky (poems)/El Lissitzky (typography & design) For the Voice. With Voices of Revolution (primary and secondary critical essays) ed. By Patricia Railing (MIT Press, 2000) • C. Cooke, Soviet Architectural Competitions, 1919-1936 • Sophie Lissitzky-Küpers, El Lissitzky : life, letters, texts. / Reprinted with rev. / London / 1980 • Lissitzky, El, / El Lissitzky: : architect, painter, photographer, typographer. / Eindhoven / 1990 •A. Gozak & A. Leonidov, Ivan Leonidov, (New York: Rizzoli, 1988) • Khan-Magomedov, S. O.) / Rodchenko : the Complete Work. / 1st MIT Press ed. Cambridge, MA / •L. Zhadova, Malevich: Suprematism and Revolution in Russian Art, 1910-1930, (Thames/Hudson, 1982) • ----------------, Tatlin, (Rizzoli, 1988) • Tyrannei des Schönen: Architektur der Stalin-Zeit, Peter Noever, ed. (Munich•New York, 1994) • Architecture of the Stalin Era Tarkhanov, Alexei. (London / 1992) • Paper Architecture: New Projects from the Soviet Union, Exhib. Catalogue, H. Klotz, ed. (Rizzoli, 1990) SCHEDULE AND READINGS January 23 FIRST MEETING: 6pm, instead of 6:30pm. Introduction to the course 2 MODERNISM AND REVOLUTION Soviet Art, Film and Architecture 1917-1937 Film Screening “Reds” (1980), a film by Warren Beatty (with W. Beatty, Diane Keaton, Jack Nicholson) PART 1. Based on Ten Days that Shook the World by the American journalist John Reed who took part in the Bolshevik Revolution. He contracted typhus in 1921. He is buried in the Kremlin walls January 30 Was the Bolshevik Revolution Marxist? 1. From Philosophy to Manifesto Reading: • Perry Anderson “Modernity and Revolution,” New Left Review (1984) • Karl Marx, “For a Ruthless Criticism of Everything Existing;” pp. 12-15 • Karl Marx, “Thesis on Feuerbach,” pp. 143-145. in The Marx-Engels Reader, Robert Tucker, ed. (New York London: W. W. Norton & CY), 1978. •. Karl Marx, “The Communist Manifesto” in The Marx-Engels Reader, Robert Tucker, ed. (New York London: W. Norton & CY), 1978. Further Reading (Optional): • Karl Marx, “Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844” pp. 66; 70- 101 Film “Reds” PART 2 February 6 Defining the Revolution 2. From Manifesto to Revolution Film “The Battleship Potemkin” Sergei Eisenstein, 1925, 74 min (The recently discovered complete version, MoMA edition) Reading: • “Modernity as Break” in David Harvey Paris, The Capital of Modernity, p. 1 • Marx, “The Possibility of a Non-Violent Revolution,” pp. 522-524, • Marx, “After the Revolution: Marx Debates Bakunin,” pp. 542-48. • Engels, F. “On Social Relations in Russia,” pp. 665-676 in The Marx-Engels Reader, Robert Tucker, ed. (New York London: W. Norton & CY), 1978. • V. I. Lenin, State and Revolution (New York: International Publishers), 1935, “The ‘Withering Away’ of the State and Violent Revolution.” pp. 15-20. In The Lenin Anthology, R. Tucker ed. (New York London: W. W. Norton & Cy) 1974. 3 MODERNISM AND REVOLUTION Soviet Art, Film and Architecture 1917-1937 • P. Sedgewick, ed. Year one of the Russian Revolution (Chicago: Holt, Rinehart, Winston), 1972, 'Editor's Introduction' pp. 1-15. Further (optional) Reading: • Marx and Engels, “Address of the Central Committee to the Communist League,” pp. 501-51. • Marx, “The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte,” pp. 594-617. • Engels, F. “The Tactics of Social Democracy,” 556-573. • Paul Avrich, The Anarchists in the Russian Revolution (London: Thames & Hudson), 1973. • “April Theses,” pp. 295-299. “The Immediate Tasks of the Soviet Government,” pp. 438-459; in The Lenin Anthology, R. Tucker ed. (New York London: W. W. Norton & Cy) 1974. • A Lenin Chronology February 13 The Precursors Film: “October” S. Eisenstein, 1927 Reading: • Catherine Cooke, 1. “The Precursors…” pp 4-6, in Russian Avant-Garde, (Academy Editions), 1995. • Brumfield • Kollontaj Further Reading • February 20 Art in Revolution- Revolution in Art Film excerpts: “Earth” by Alexander Dovzhenko, 1927 “Arsenal” The Avant-Garde and Abstraction: The Role of Icons Readings: • John Berger Art and Revolution (Pantheon Books), 1969 pp. 19-47 (second edition 1997) • Catherine Cooke, “2. New Artistic Foundations,” pp. 6-14, in Russian Avant-Garde • John Bowlt, ed., Russian Art of the Avant-Garde: Theory and Criticism 1902-1934 (New York: Viking Press), 1976, pp. 110-158 • Peter Wollen, Readings and Writings: Semiotic Counter Strategies, (London: NLB), 1982. "Art in Revolution." pp. 65-78. • Jean-Claude Marcadé, “K.S. Malevich: From Black Quadrilateral 4 MODERNISM AND REVOLUTION Soviet Art, Film and Architecture 1917-1937 (1913) to White on White (1917): From eclipse of Objects to the Liberation of Space.” & M. Grobman, “About Malevich,” in Barron and Tutchman, The Avant-Garde in Russia: New Perspectives, 1910-1930 (Los Angeles), 1981 Further Reading • Anatolij Lunacharskij, “Revolution and Art, 1920-22” pp. 190-196. February 27 The Formation of the Architectural Language 1. The Formalist Method: A Theory for Art, and an Art for Theory The Birth of Suprematism and Constructivism. Theater “The Victory over the Sun,” (1913) Stage set and costumes by Kazimir Malevich (Excerpts from Theatrical Reenactment) Reading: • Viktor Erlich, Russian Formalism: History – Doctrine, Third Edition, (The Hague-Paris: Mouton),