Utopia by Mail: Komar and Melamid’s A Catalogue of Superobjects: Supercomfort for Superpeople

Autor:	Ksenya Gurshtein
Rok vydání:	2014
Předmět:	History Visual Arts and Performing Arts media_common.quotation_subject Museology Conservation Art Capitalism Emigration Visual arts Aesthetics Cold war Optimal distinctiveness theory Time capsule media_common
Zdroj:	Getty Research Journal. 6:203-213
ISSN:	2329-1249 1944-8740
DOI:	10.1086/675803
Popis:	This essay discusses how Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid's A Catalogue of Superobjects: Supercomfort for Superpeople (1977) was shaped by the intersection of dramatic events in the artists' private lives with their understanding of multiple failed utopias as the defining historic forces affecting their age. Created during the Cold War while the artists were trying to emigrate from the U.S.S.R., the work questioned the cultural polarization associated with this period by rendering as ludicrous certain basic assumptions of both Western capitalism and Soviet socialism. At the same time, however, despite its creators' desire to speak to both Soviet and Western audiences, the work remained very much a product of a Soviet worldview and material environment. As such, it serves today as a fascinating time capsule for a set of historical circumstances, ideas, and references that defined the U.S.S.R.'s cultural distinctiveness.
Databáze:	OpenAIRE
Externí odkaz:	https://explore.openaire.eu/search/publication?articleId=doi_________::ab228e2c3789544f5bd0f45c0311ced0 https://doi.org/10.1086/675803 Zobrazit plný text záznamu