Exploding Tongues: Language, Art, and the Russian Avant-garde Main Menu Back to Futurism: Russian Artist Books Introductory Page by Chris Gilman BookENDS: A Working Theory of Textuality as Cultural Dominant, 1912- An Introduction and Conclusion to a Semester's Investigation into the Book Arts as an Avant-garde Practice Book Case Studies Collaborative Research by Case Studies Big Bang: Timeline of Russian Avant-Garde Book Arts and Their Cultural Impacts A Timeline of Russian Avant-Garde Book Arts and Their Cultural Impacts CoaRse CaLIBration ARTS 227 "Introduction to Letterpress Printing" (Pedersen) and CSLC134/RUSN334 "Exploding Tongues" (Gilman) NthOlogy A limited edition collaborative book arts project by students of ARTS 227 (Pedersen) and CSLC 134/RUSN 334 (Gilman), Spring, '17 MANIFESTERS (AB & Kelly): A portfolio of process and products Appendix: A Path Through Russian Avant-Garde Books ILiADS (Institute for Liberal Arts Digital Scholarship)

Figuration:Collaboration

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General Idea: Inasmuch as hand-made books during the early Russian avant garde (1912-1915) were a uniquely collaborative effort--in that multiple artists, writers, and thinkers etc. were involved in the production of each text--so too were these books replete with figures and forms beyond simple geometrics. Collaboration, therefore, operates as a uniquely literary concept-- even in syntax, layout, and signification. Even more, the development and representation of collaboration as a radical literary action is evident in these text's construction of temporality. That is to say, in Mirskonsta ('world-backwards') the past and the future are not in some innocently new relation; instead, this occasion represents the reality that temporalities collaborate with each other to signify meaning in the immediate present. In the everyday relationships of artists, hauntingly sovereign female forms, and sense-restructuring poetry, these handmade books offer a new consideration for a literary theory that accounts for more than the author, the reader, and the narrative: A fourth dimension (temporality) of corporal intertextuality. 

Path Outline:

Introduction - Figuration:Collaboration
        Introduce history of Russian Avant Garde -- specifically, emergence from/relation to Formalism, Futurism, Suprematism etc. 
        Introduce concept of handmade books --- include list of texts to be analyzed, authors
        Introduce research question-- ensure connection to Prof. Gilman's class thesis from 4/20/17 class session and Jakobson 

Mirskontsa as Event
        Introduce big artistic events/achievements right before Mirskontsa was published (within 1-3 years)--- include people and relationships
        Dissect Mirskontsa -- poetry, images, names
        Where Mirskontsa directs, we must follow-- explain world backwardsness in theoretical terms (including relation to Jakobson and allude to fourth dimensionality theory

Sound-Image Shape: Nudes, Demons, and Zaum Poetry
        Connect Jakobson's theories of language to the nudes-in-nature images in handmade books -- particularly Pomada, V'zorval, etc.
        Explore through critical speculation the importance of handmade books as artifacts for the transformative reproduction of poetry/power --- specifically in dyr bul schyl and 13 instruments
        Discuss other figures in the texts-- birds, demons, nature--in similar comparison
        Transition into theories of the city vs the country -- little bit of history should be included here

Prostitutes and Peasants in Architecture
       Discuss connection between Rayism and Zaum poetry
       Compare and Asses the presence and juxtaposition of prostitutes, peasants, cities, and villages from the theoretical stance of reproduction and collaboration--- in this section it is important to explain the deconstruction/vilification of the city as a collaborative stance with the production of hand-made books 
       Transition into Neo-Primitivism with brief allusion

Handmade Neo-Primitivism
        Explain Neo-Primitivism and provide brief history of the concept in Russia
        Connect Neo-Primitivist theoretics with anti-Gutenbergianism in relation to handmade books
        Navigate the three theoretics (Mirskontsa as Event, Sound-Image Shape, and Neo-Primitivism) towards a discussion of artists

Artist as Collaborative Text
        Give brief history of collaboration across texts-- this should be really simple/curt
        If time permits, create an artist relationship map and then screenshot to include as a relevant image/figure
        Use and compare the back page of Mirskontsa that has credits--- ensure to include discussion of artist initials
        Walk towards a theory of collaboration and hand-made-ness as a theory of love in/as a mode of production

Conclusion: Towards Liber Viscus
        Explain how the artists are not simply in collaboration with each other, language/sound, and their hand-made texts -- in the creation of their books, they constructed a new way of seeing/hearing a text--- a text with necessarily physical/finite properties (lacunae, failure, decay, and uniqueness)
        Return to Fourth Dimensionality theory
        Speculate towards a Russian intertextuality -- barely, but briefly mention Julia Kristeva


 

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