Legacies of Constructuvism

Today, Constructivism is an integral part of the process of modernization; its impact on the arts as well as on aesthetic theory is immense. As a specific movement, its origin is located at the threshold of modernity a century ago, and in the events surrounding the Russian revolution, but is soon spread to other countries, and its history is still in the making.

The term construction signals an emphasis on technology, not merely in the sense of machinery, mechanics, or industrial forms of production, but also, and more widely, in the sense of art objects being put together, made, assembled, from parts that in turn are open to analysis. Construction, from the Russian avant-garde to its German counterparts, thus implies a claim to demystify creation and subjective genius. In turn, this amounts to a rethinking of the subject, both as a creative agency and as receptive sensibility, which for some equals a straightforward eradication of its irrational and unconscious impulses, for others a refunctioning of processes of desire and fantasy that allows them to enter into new collective constellations. Thus, finally, this remodeling of object and subject opens onto a collective dimension that provides the work with a political agency.

Under the general rubric “Legacies of Constructivism,” SITE Zones will gather historical source material as well as current reflections that contribute not just to the writing of a highly complex history, but also address the implications of the past for the present. Contributions will be in English or Swedish. The series is edited by Tora Lane, Research Leader at the Center for Baltic and East European Studies at Södertörn University, and Sven-Olov Wallenstein, editor in chief of Site Zones.