Boris Arvatov's Art & 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 & 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 & object making
- Arvatov polemicises for the devolution of artistic skills directly into the relations of production & the factory Whilst acknowledging the problems of a pure factory-based Productivism Arvatov remains overwhelmingly committed to a new role & function for art outside the conventional studio & traditional gallery Addressing issues such as artistic labour & productive labour the artist as technician art & multidisciplinarity & a life for art beyond 'art'
- finding new relevance amidst the extensive social turn of contemporary participatory art
- Art & Production offers a timely & compelling manifesto