Avant-Garde and Psychotechnics: Science, Art and Technology in the Early Soviet Union

In the 1920s, the Russian avant-garde interacted with the sciences, leading to the development of psychotechnics. This movement, led by artists like El Lissitzky and Vassily Kandinsky, influenced modern art and continues to this day. Avant-Garde and Psychotechnics challenges the established notion of socialist sciences and provides a new understanding of Russian arts in the 1920s.

Format: Hardback
Length: 240 pages
Publication date: 31 July 2023
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

A groundbreaking exploration into the Russian avant-garde and its captivating cultural exchanges with the sciences during the vibrant 1920s, Avant-Garde and Psychotechnics offers a fresh perspective on this artistic movement. The book delves into some of the lesser-known intersections between architects, filmmakers, and philosophers, on the one hand, and experimental psychologists and physiologists, on the other. In Russia, renowned avant-garde artists like El Lissitzky, Vassily Kandinsky, and Dziga Vertov played a pivotal role in propagating a movement known as psychotechnics, which emerged in Germany and the United States and eventually led to a psychotechnical boom. As the narrative unfolds, it becomes evident that this boom continues to thrive even in the present day. By meticulously analyzing concrete projects undertaken by Russian artists and scientists in collaboration with one another, and by drawing on previously unpublished archival material, Avant-Garde and Psychotechnics boldly challenges the established notion of socialist sciences. At the same time, it presents a wholly new and captivating portrayal of what was once considered modern art, thereby demonstrating that artistic experimentation held profound significance in Russian arts during the 1920s.

Recognized for its interdisciplinary research, Avant-Garde and Psychotechnics received an award from the Wilhelm-Ostwald-Society, Großbothen, in 2007. In 2011, the book received funding from the VolkswagenStiftung to be translated into English and Russian, with the Russian edition published by NLO books in 2019. The original German edition also garnered favorable reviews in esteemed publications such as NZZ, NTM, Derive, Junge Welt, and Sehepunkte.

Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781032532646