Abstract

Boris Arvatov's Art and Production is a classic of the early Soviet avant-garde. Now nearing a century since its first publication, it is a crucial intervention for those seeking to understand the social dynamic of art and revolution during the period.

Derived from the internal struggles of Soviet Constructivism, as it confronted the massive problems of cultural transformation after 'War Communism', Arvatov's writing is a major force in the split that occurred in the revolutionary horizons of Constructivism in the early 1920s. Critical of early Constructivism's social-aesthetic process of art's transformation of daily life - epitomised in studio-based painting, photography and object making - Arvatov polemicises for the devolution of artistic skills directly into the relations of production and the factory.

Whilst acknowledging the problems of a pure factory-based Productivism, Arvatov remains overwhelmingly committed to a new role and function for art outside the conventional studio and traditional gallery. Addressing issues such as artistic labour and productive labour, the artist as technician, art and multidisciplinarity and a life for art beyond 'art' - finding new relevance amidst the extensive social turn of contemporary participatory art - Art and Production offers a timely and compelling manifesto.
'This is a great publication. It’s full of a mass of ideas that reads fresh and exciting, showing what artistic creativity the revolution released'
Socialist Review
'This invective against the decorative and contemplative role of art in pre-revolutionary society still provides today’s readers cause for reflection, if not inspiration'
Brooklyn Rail
'A passionate proclamation of the sovereign right of art to give a form not only to the artworks but also to society, state and everyday life of the people. Today's art tends to neglect this right - and that is why Arvatov's text is so relevant for our time'
Boris Groys, Global Distinguished Professor of Russian and Slavic Studies at New York University
'The appearance of an English translation of Art and Production is welcomed by all those interested in the relationship between art, politics and social change. It explores some of the questions we are still grappling with, such as the relation between cultural production and mass communication, fine and applied arts and the capacity of art to act as a base for the revolutionising of social consciousness'
Craig Brandist, Professor of Cultural Theory and Intellectual History and Director of the Bakhtin Centre, Russian and Slavonic Studies, School of Languages and Cultures, University of Sheffield