Russian artists and utopian futures

In 1919 Russian architect Vladimir Tatlin designed the Monument to the Third International, commonly known as Tatlin's Tower.

Had it been constructed, its spiral steel frame would have been taller than the Eiffel Tower, the tallest structure at the time, and been recorded as the world's tallest building for over half a century.

The steel frame design contained three glass units, namely a cube, cylinder and a cone, which would rotate once a year, month and day respectively while housing a legislative chamber, conference hall and propaganda centre for the Third Communist International.

However, due to lack of funding - since Russia was in the midst of the civil war - and the lack of availability of steel, the tower, which could have been a symbol of modernity, was never built.



Even before the Blosheviks seized power, Tatlin was a radical avant-garde artist, soon becoming a chief proponent of revolutionary art who's purpose was to support the Utopian ideal of Soviet state, creating a new form of futuristic art for a new world, rejecting the past. The form came to be known as constructivism and co-existed with Kazimir Malevich's Suprematism.

Revolutionaries

Art and design during the first decade of the Soviet Union was dominated with designers and artists such as Lyubov Popova, a painter who had called for the abandonment of ‘bourgeois’ easel painting, declaring that an artists aim was to create work that benefitted people and the society.

In the first few post-revolutionary years there were many styles and movements; however, western curators were mostly interested in Russian avant-garde aesthetics, rarely paying attention to the underlying politics behind the works.



An exhibition held at London's Royal Academy aimed to re-correct the portrayed narrative. The exhibition showcased many artists, few known outside Russia, who had worked to promote the Soviet state. Traditional forms overpowered the new and one could see a nascent Socialist Realism in which workers help create a socialist utopia as they achieve heroic status.

The Soviet state was looking back over revolutionary triumphs by the mid-20s and by the early 30s Stalin had forced avant-garde artists to renounce their 'formalist' ways. During this time many artists, writers, designers, filmmakers had their work censored to a vast extent and the artists had no choice but to comply, resulting in the dynamic avant-garde spirit to be short-lived.

This article originally appeared on BBC