From Poet to Engineer. From Less-Known Russian Avant-Garde Series

Abstract

The focus of this study was Aleksei Gastev (Russia, 1882–1939), a unique figure in the avant-garde culture of the 20th century. In the 1910s–1930s, many avant-garde creators in Europe and Russia were inspired by the machines and buildings of the industrial age. The engineer was the hero of the time. Architects, designers, filmmakers and poets were applying principles of efficiency and economy in their own fields. They developed new languages of design, visual communication and everyday material culture that were appropriate for the second machine age. Usually the influence ran in one direction – from the world of machines, the ideals of engineering and the latest scientific research into the arts and design. In the two essays, the authors showed the uniqueness of Gastev, for he was the only one who moved in the opposite direction. Instead of applying the principles and methods of work to the arts or design, he left his art (i.e., poetry) to become the director of an institute that aimed to further rationalize work and workers on a nationwide scale. The authors concluded that it was not merely a shift in one direction, from the arts to a factory, but rather the ultimate synthesis of the post-revolutionary artistic avant-garde and the ideas and methods of scientific management. The main source for the study was the exhibition Gastev: How to Work (2019) at Na Shabolovke Gallery, Moscow, curated by Dr. Alexandra Selivanova.