Vladimir Tatlin by Leah Armbrust

Research Paper Final Draft: Vladimir Tatlin

Through out history, there have been men and women who have awakened the subconscious and made it tangible, have seen that rainbow no one else could see, saw the answer to a mystery unimagined by anyone else. Vladimir Tatlin is one of these few, traditionally he is called the father of constructivism; but, he is the one who saw something none of the rest of us could see yet, he saw the initiative. A great breakthrough in the conception of usefulness and aesthetic, one of his premises explains the initiative- “The initiative individual is the collector of the energy of the collective, directed towards knowledge and invention. The initiative serves as a contact between the invention and the creativity of the collective.” My argument shall be stated thus: unlike the beliefs of many, Vladimir Tatlin’s greatest achievement was not the fathering of Constructivism, instead it was the task of making designers aware of the simple and ever important initiative.

Where did such new and conceptualized thoughts come from, how can such an ordinary man be one of the great minds of the 20^th century? Based on previous experience, human tendencies come from childhood and that is where we can discover Tatlin’s starting block of inspiration. Born in Communist Russia, Vladimir Tatlin was raised by his mother a poet, and his father a railway engineer. Book-ended by a creative mother, Tatlin was inspired to study art including painting and sculpture. On the other end of the spectrum, his father’s association with engineering gave Tatlin an inspiration for his later successes in architecture and mechanics. As a young man Tatlin also spent much of his time as a merchant sailor; accordingly we can see much inspiration from this in a few remaining sculptures he has produced. With such a varied background, Tatlin was well on his way to becoming a well-rounded and conceptually open individual in the realm of art and design. It could be easily plausible that his mother and father’s occupations helped Tatlin to accept the best of both worlds, now all that was necessary was to piece the two together and create the concept of the initiative. Before Tatlin could achieve his initiative revelation, he first would have to travel, learn and create with some of the best designers of the period including Pablo Picasso.

Pablo Picasso and some of the other artists that Vladimir Tatlin studied with really

opened up avenues for Tatlin, giving him new ways of thinking while also developing a worldly

mind to go along with his incredible gift as a designer and artist. When traveling to Paris in

1914, Tatlin visited Picasso’s studio. Immersed in sculptural cubism and constructional reliefs,

this was the point of no return; this is where Tatlin embraced and kindled the concept of both

radicalism and modernism. It was accounted that once Tatlin returned from Paris, his style

had completely changed. Immersed in structural reliefs,

synthetic assemblages and painterly reliefs Tatlin was

quickly moving away frompainting and towards his final

artistic end of Constructivism. The image shown here is one of Tatlin’s corner reliefs emphasizing usefulness as well as influence form his marine fishing as a young man. The reason Picasso was so fundamental in Tatlin’s initiative development was that he inspired the structural part of the concept. The glass, wood, metal, wire, were all inspired by Picasso that would later give Tatlin the edge he needed to connect inspiration and aesthetic with the desire to create something usable. Tatlin’s love for engineering and architecture would spur creation of useful art, thus blossoming the concept of initiative.

Just like any well-developed artist, Vladimir Tatlin embraced many different styles of art and design throughout his life. It is quite possible that the understanding of all these different styles allowed Tatlin to understand more deeply the connection between aesthetic and use, to later be able to teach others and he himself be taught by initiative. Ranging from traditional to radical, Tatlin experienced it all; the journey started with Russian traditional art in his school studies at the Moscow School of Painting. There he focused on traditional forms including western European realism and portraiture. After studying at Moscow, Tatlin traveled and met many inspirational artists that diversified his outlook on design; one such example is Mikhail Larionov whose Primitivist and Cubo-Futurist style was left engrained in Tatlin’s psyche. By 1910, he traveled back to Moscow School of Painting to study Post-Impressionism. Still mostly focused on painting it was only in the dates between 1912 and 1914 that Tatlin focused on Futurism and then Cubism through Sculpture. It is very likely that all the different styles that Tatlin adopted over his early life collectively brought him enlightenment.

Through the years of education, production and evaluation of art and its multiplicity of styles Tatlin was able to evaluate all his learning and apply it; now he could induce the idea of the initiative on himself and others. The initiative enables designers to assess what they create and how it is both useful and pleasing to the eye through awareness. Initiative can be described as a mentality, one that mediates between the creative conscious and the collective versatility of what is created. Tatlin himself came up with the name “initiative” in his theses “ The Initiative Individual Artist in the Creativity of the Collective.” There he describes that initiative is a relationship, one between not only the designer and the created piece, but also between the piece and the audience; usability was critical for Tatlin, no creation was to be just a painting on a wall anymore. Architecture and engineering was a great way to attach the initiative to creativity. Probably best well known for his “creation” of the Constructivist style, initiative and constructivism go hand-in-hand with each other.

Constructivism demands that art be non-representational relief construction, sculpture, kinetics and painting. It is not a belief in abstract ideas, rather an endeavor to link art with creative and tangible ideas; this is why constructivism and initiative are so tightly interwoven, there must be initiative to have constructivism. Initiative gives the ability to tie creativity with a collective consciousness about creation. Though constructivism found a niche in early 20^th century Russia and throughout modern history, initiative has been much more prevalent in every style and movement since it’s creation. Tatlin believed that art must evoke meaning and symbolism; art must also be useful, which was why he is so well known for his creation of the Communist building the 3^rd International.

The 3^rd International is a prime example of initiative, though it was never built drawings and models remain. Commissioned by the soviet government in 1920, this was supposed to be a government building made of steel with three encaged shapes that would revolve at different intervals of yearly, monthly and weekly while on the outside two gigantic spirals twisted towards the sky. This invention of Tatlin’s was one of the first ever completely abstract buildings but the first of it’s kind to be completely usable. If built the 3^rd International would have dwarfed the Eiffel Tower. Because of fiscal problems and the Russian Revolution of 1905, Tatlin’s dream of a building the 3^rd International was never realized. Considered his best work, many designers even today consider it a masterful piece of architecture, engineering and design.

As for a modern perspective on initiative all you have to do is look around you, whether it is a chair, a toaster-oven or a toothbrush initiative is overflowing from today’s design market. The reason initiative is so much more prevalent in today’s society is because it is necessary; there is much less demand for design that only serves one purpose. Now, initiative can be considered more than one way in modern society; instead of just serving a purpose couldn’t it also inform or persuade? If this is the case because it is both pleasing and useful, couldn’t advertising or photojournalism contain initiative? Of course there is still art around that does not hold initiative and there are still people that will pay for these works of art, but it is much more common to find objects that are both aesthetically pleasing and useful. Today’s world is much more complex artistically than Vladimir Tatlin could have ever imagined. With it’s common use initiative has become somewhat ordinary since in order to be successful something must have initiative. Modernity has changed many perspectives when it comes to design but initiative still holds strong; today’s architects, engineers and designers still hold some of the key beliefs in how their creativity should be embodied.

Some examples from modern time that embrace Vladimir Tatlin’s concept of pleasing and useful architecture are stated thus: the Seattle Space Needle, the Sydney Opera House and the Gherkin in London. The Space Needle is more or less a tourist attraction in Seattle Washington, it’s unusual design is necessary for it’s use as a vantage point for tourists. Containing a restaurants and stores it is fundamental not only for sales but also as a tourist attraction. The Space Needle was realized by John Graham and company for the 1962 Worlds Fair exemplifies every characteristic of initiative and Constructivism. Jørn Utzon the architect behind the masterful Sydney Opera House designed a very

different structure but still did well to embody the concept of use and beauty. Shown here it was finished in 1973, constructivism can still be seen in this piece of modern design through the arching, fan-like rooftops and prime location. The last example given for modern initiative and constructivism is the Gherkin tower in London. Almost completely faced with spiraling patterns of glass, the shape of the building could be compared to that of a Faberge egg: delicate, beautiful and yet extremely massive. Completed in 2003, it is the most modern of the three examples here and still holds true to the initiative. The Gherkin shows that initiative is possible, even on a skyscraper. Modern architects and designers in general have some very large shoes to fill; customers demand beauty and versatility that of which can be very difficult. And yet, designers still find the ability to do so.

Modern design has come so far from what it was in Vladimir Tatlin’s day and yet designers still are greatly indebted to him and his concepts. Tatlin bestowed a consciousness on artists that of which could not be measured, we now have the ability to draw more out of what we see and do because initiative is the basis for much of what is created. He inspired us to mix function with aesthetic, compelling us to be mindful of what we create and to make sure it is the best design for the purpose. No longer did people need to stick with what was rudimentary and bland. Tatlin helped people all over the world to become conscious of purpose, presentation and production. Initiative in today’s society has gone as far as to inform viewers in such cases of photojournalism and magazines, though some aspects of initiative have been used incorrectly for things such as advertising. Initiative can be seen in every aspect of creativity including but are not limited to: architecture, engineering, sculpture, painting and design.

As seen through this brief history of the man Vladimir Tatlin, he was not a man of physical power but instead had the unrestrainable power to educate and make artists aware of their abilities. Tatlin was known for his creation of Constructivism, but his greatest achievement was giving designers awareness of the initiative. Designers and consumers alike are indebted to Vladimir Tatlin for the beauty initiative has brought to daily life and to the ability for designers and artists to create it. Because of Tatlin, design initiative is found everywhere and has strove to benefit all people through aesthetic beauty and usefulness.

Works Cited

Caws, Mary Ann. Manifesto a Century of isms. Lincoln: University of Nebraska, 2001. Print.

Hauffe, Thomas. Design: A Concise History. London: Laurence King, 1998. Print.

Lewer, Debbie. Post-Impressionism to World War II (Blackwell Anthologies in Art History). Grand Rapids: Blackwell Limited, 2005. Print.

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