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| From Earth Art |
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| From Earth Art |
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| From Earth Art |
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| From Earth Art |
In Bolshevik Culture, Gleason et. al. elaborate on the drive behind this (in this instance, in regards to the Civil War going on in Russia at the time):
"The first such train, named after Lenin, went into action among Red Army units in August 1918. It proved to be so successful that Trotsky ordered five more… Each train was distinctively and brightly decorated with paintings and slogans…
Artists of the caliber of Mayakovsky, El Lissitsky, and Malevich were employed, but their efforts were not always rewarded with success. Some of the initial designs were too abstract or fanciful to be readily understood by a mass audience, particularly one composed largely of illiterate and backward peasants… Most peasants had never before seen a moving picture (or, indeed an image of an ordinary mortal!) and the effect was often very powerful."
What an impressive act! How wonderful it must have been to experience and see art for the first time in your life. Although the book notes that some peasants had a hard time grasping the more abstract paintings, one major advantage is that art does not require literacy. One does not need to be able to read War and Peace to understand or even feel moved by a painting!I think this is an excellent example of Earth Art. Simple, yet with extremely beneficial effects.
3 comments:
This is really interesting, but I think maybe in order for it to be considered Earth Art it would have to somehow incorporate nature.
I agree ... but the idea of trains and tracks - ie Smithson's statement in the Spiral Jetty - is intriguing ... but then, its the over-connectedness of tracks, and highways that has marked the earth and added to our (USA) Manifest Destiny...
Yes, I think Brad has hit where I see the connection between this and earth art. Particularly, it goes beyond just the tracks on the earth itself.
Look at who these paintings and really knowledge about the world were targeted at: the peasants. A peasant worker lived on the earth and dealt directly with the earth. Now these peasants had a way of communicating on national levels, by utilizing the earth... they take from the earth to harvest, yet they also are able to learn from it as well (beyond knowledge of simply harvesting).
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