Alexander Rodchenko and the Russian Avant-garde

Alexander Rodchenko, the Russian avant-garde artist, abandoned painting in the early 1920s in favour of photography convinced it would better express the new visual and social realities emerging at that time. His experiments in photography and photo-collage influenced artists and photographers throughout the 20th century. This film by Michael Craig of Copernicus Films is a compilation of extracts from a larger documentary film about Rodchenko's search for new visual frontiers.


Download the entire film at: http://filmdiy.com/movies/item/alexander-rodchenko-and-the-russian-avant-garde

Also available on Amazon http://amzn.to/poFymN

The film is part of a series of six documentaries about the Russian avant-garde. For more information about this series check our site at http://www.copernicusfilms.com

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• Rodchenko
• Avant-garde
• art
• constructivism
• photography
• Moscow

[Stardae]

This was interesting. During your study on Rodchenko did you find any information about his actual camera/post processing?

[Copernicussun]

@Stardae Apart from some basic retouching adjusting and cropping I think Rodchenko did very little to add to the actual photograph. Rodchenko 's compositions are made with light and shade volume,contrast space etc.Too much adjustment in post would have "falsified" the subject in Rodchenko's terms. He used the angle from which the photograph was taken to take into account the specifics of human visual perception to create a composition.1 second ago

[Copernicussun]

@Stardae He felt they were like hidden laws which impart visual information.

Copernicussun Just to continue the previous comment. Rodchenko would photograph scenes where the action or composition would continue outside the frame. This gave the impression that there was a continuation of the composition outside the frame. We cant see this but we "know" this from how Rodchenko has composed the shot. (See photo of gymnastics on Red square) It might seem obvious now - then it was revolutionary.

[Copernicussun]

@Stardae This is what I know but I am not the last word on Rodchenko. It is simply what I have found out about him.

[Lithethos]

Thank you very much for this concise and yet precise, tasty introduction to the artist. I really liked the format!

[Copernicussun]

@Lithethos Sorry for late reply. Thanks for your appreciation, very welcome and glad you enjoyed it

[acerb45666555]

no! the era of Painting has not died! i would say that the Artistic Metamorphosis was simply expanded by the inclusion of photography and film!.........therefore, the Brush and Canvas live on! :)

[Copernicussun]

@WC3POchannel10A

The music chosen was soviet avant-garde recordings from the period in question like Popov,Zhivotov, Mosolov, Roslavets etc, to try and give an atmosphere of the time. These composers would have been part of the circle that Rodchenko was invoved in so I think its quite logical in some ways to use this music as additional historical material. Where there was not enough I used similar styles for the same reason.

[patrujo]

@Stardae I believe he used leicas because they were faster in use than the TLRs and view cameras of the day.

[goodvibesallround]

Nice....

[Stardae]

@Copernicussun Ahh, very informative! Nonetheless, it adds to my knowledge. Thank you :)

[Copernicussun]

@magicalfairiesmoon Thats great, glad you liked it. Any questions please ask. Its always welcome when people show that they have got something from the film

[magicalfairiesmoon]

Fantastic docofilm; highly informative and entertaining. Enjoyed it immensely. Thank you.