Kino-Eye. Around Vertov and Constructivism
In the 1920s Russian Constructivists revolutionized the approach to artistic practices. A new way of seeing, demanded by them, involved radical photographic and filmic experiments. Dziga Vertov鈥檚 Kino-Eye project that followed liberated cinema from the power of literature and theatre once and for all. For the first time ever, a film was to be made without actors, directors, scenic or costume designers. The idea involved exploration of the potential of images recorded by the movie camera. Vertov believed that the camera can 鈥渟ee better鈥� than humans because it eliminates all deformations and illusions of the human eye. He insisted that the movie camera has a magical power and can reveal the truth about the world in a way never experienced by the physiological sense of sight. Kino-eye 鈥� the mechanical eye of the camera reflected the utopian faith in limitless possibilities of cognition, and film editing 鈥� in unbounded possibilities of creation. Kino-eye is also an eye outside of the human body. An eye that is a machine and can move freely, so it can be anywhere and record what is inaccessible for the natural eye. In the final frames of the film The Man with a Movie Camera (1929) Vertov ultimately and expressively identifies his own sight with the sight of the machine.
The exhibition Kino-Eye. Around Vertov and Constructivism problematizes the legacy of the ideas of Vertov and Russian Constructivism in contemporary Polish art. It demonstrates how the artist鈥檚 revolutionary ideas and the demands put forward by LEF (Levy Front Iskusstv 鈥� Left Front of the Arts) are fulfilled in the practices of contemporary creators. The show is hosted by the Arsenal Gallery in Bia艂ystok, Vertov鈥檚 hometown (his real name was Denis Arkadievich Kaufman); he lived here until he left for Moscow when he was nineteen. In Bia艂ystok he wrote his first texts and received artistic education, which led to more radical experiments in the years to come. It is in the sphere of ideas that Vertov is present at the Bia艂ystok exhibition; the show comprises very diverse artworks which, however, all explore new meanings of the avant-garde revolt. The exhibition poses the following questions: what remains of the Constructivist film aesthetics of the 1920s in contemporary culture? How do contemporary Polish artists assimilate and transform (consciously or not) the revolutionary ideas of Vertov and the Constructivist avant-garde in general? What do we owe to Vertov, Constructivists and their exciting discoveries? How far has Vertov changed our attitude to visual arts and moving pictures?
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In the 1920s Russian Constructivists revolutionized the approach to artistic practices. A new way of seeing, demanded by them, involved radical photographic and filmic experiments. Dziga Vertov鈥檚 Kino-Eye project that followed liberated cinema from the power of literature and theatre once and for all. For the first time ever, a film was to be made without actors, directors, scenic or costume designers. The idea involved exploration of the potential of images recorded by the movie camera. Vertov believed that the camera can 鈥渟ee better鈥� than humans because it eliminates all deformations and illusions of the human eye. He insisted that the movie camera has a magical power and can reveal the truth about the world in a way never experienced by the physiological sense of sight. Kino-eye 鈥� the mechanical eye of the camera reflected the utopian faith in limitless possibilities of cognition, and film editing 鈥� in unbounded possibilities of creation. Kino-eye is also an eye outside of the human body. An eye that is a machine and can move freely, so it can be anywhere and record what is inaccessible for the natural eye. In the final frames of the film The Man with a Movie Camera (1929) Vertov ultimately and expressively identifies his own sight with the sight of the machine.
The exhibition Kino-Eye. Around Vertov and Constructivism problematizes the legacy of the ideas of Vertov and Russian Constructivism in contemporary Polish art. It demonstrates how the artist鈥檚 revolutionary ideas and the demands put forward by LEF (Levy Front Iskusstv 鈥� Left Front of the Arts) are fulfilled in the practices of contemporary creators. The show is hosted by the Arsenal Gallery in Bia艂ystok, Vertov鈥檚 hometown (his real name was Denis Arkadievich Kaufman); he lived here until he left for Moscow when he was nineteen. In Bia艂ystok he wrote his first texts and received artistic education, which led to more radical experiments in the years to come. It is in the sphere of ideas that Vertov is present at the Bia艂ystok exhibition; the show comprises very diverse artworks which, however, all explore new meanings of the avant-garde revolt. The exhibition poses the following questions: what remains of the Constructivist film aesthetics of the 1920s in contemporary culture? How do contemporary Polish artists assimilate and transform (consciously or not) the revolutionary ideas of Vertov and the Constructivist avant-garde in general? What do we owe to Vertov, Constructivists and their exciting discoveries? How far has Vertov changed our attitude to visual arts and moving pictures?
Artists on show
