A.Rodchenko- Gears
1929
automobile.
Visual Language: close crop, light and shadow, repeated shape, pattern, mirroring, multiple, mass, lack of colour, viewpoint, landscape
Themes: Repetition, 'the object', constructivism
Technical Aspects: gelatine-silver print 28.8cm x 23cm
Research
I decided to explore Rodchenko's theories about art and photography and the reasoning behind his works.
This video talks about the driving forces behind Rodchenko's chosen aesthetic, he is concerned with perspective, form and graphic line and shape- all aspects that I wanted to subtly mirror in my homage.
Constructivism
Rodchenko was one of the founders of the constructionist movement, Its origins lay in the Russian Revolution of 1917, a time that prompted cultural experimentation following the abolishment of media censorship. A new way of viewing photographic practice with a modernization of ideas was initiated following the belief that photography should move beyond reproduction of reality and instead create something completely new.
Constructivist art is unlike any other artistic
movement, known for standalone pieces in which themes such as minimalism,
geometric shapes, graphic lines and architectural influences were explored. New
media was used frequently within much constructivist work which helped to produce
a style of art that was not fussy but simply arranged. The Constructivist theory of ‘ostranenie’ or the act of ‘making strange’
allowed complete abstraction, objective forms carrying universal meaning were
tools used by the movement as there was a desire for meaning and message to
translate across multiple countries and contrasting languages.
The Constructivists compared the artist to an engineer, arranging materials scientifically and objectively, and producing art works as rationally as any other manufactured object.
Rodchenko's photography was socially engaged, formally innovative, and opposed to a painterly aesthetic. Concerned with the need for analytical-documentary photo series, he often shot his subjects from odd angles—usually high above or down below—to shock the viewer and to postpone recognition.
He wrote: "One has to take several different shots of a subject, from different points of view and in different situations, as if one examined it in the round rather than looked through the same key-hole again and again."
I was influenced by the constructivist movement in terms of the idea of pursuing odd angles, the idea of 'seeking the ambiguous' as well as pursuing the delayed recognition of the viewer when they look at my image.
I also looked at the following websites:
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/photography/genius/gallery/rodchenko.shtml
- http://aleksandrodchenko.wordpress.com/
I plan on taking aspects of both the visual Language of this image as well as the overall theme of constructivism into my own homage.
His images eliminated unnecessary detail, emphasized dynamic diagonal composition, and were concerned with the placement and movement of objects in space. These are the elements I wish to pay homage to in my own image. The landscape format as well as the idea of repetition and mass are also mirrored in my response.
However the overall tonal values are completely opposite, rodchencko's has a great deal of black with a high amount of contrast whilst I have chosen to wash out my image, include a lot of white and show up the highlights. This has been done to reference the idea of a change in time and attitudes. Rodchenko's was done in 1929 during a time of media control, whereas this image was taken in 2014 in a time of freedom where artistic boundaries and creative responses are motivated by different reasoning. Also, the Idea of modernity is shown, Rodchenko was reliant upon film mediums however I have chosen to shoot in digital raw files to reflect this change in time and advancement in technology.
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