Red Aesthetics: Rodchenko, Brecht, Eisenstein

Red Aesthetics offers a new perspective on art and politics, challenging current left orthodoxies and arguing that empathy is not the solution to our problems but rather the source of them.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 204 pages
Publication date: 15 September 2023
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Red Aesthetics presents a fresh perspective on art and politics, delving into the revolutionary creations of Aleksandr Rodchenko, Bertolt Brecht, and Sergei Eisenstein during the interwar period. Todd Cronan explores how these three artists, through their photographs, plays, films, and writings, which revolve around class conflict, depart from contemporary left orthodoxies that are rooted in empathy. Challenging liberal pieties, Cronan argues, in line with Brecht's notion, that empathy is not the remedy for our issues but rather the root of them.

Red Aesthetics offers a new way to think about art and politics,focusing on the revolutionary work of Aleksandr Rodchenko,Bertolt Brecht,and Sergei Eisenstein between the wars. Todd Cronan shows how these three artists photographs,dramas,films,and writings—centered on class conflict—differ from current left orthodoxies rooted in empathy. Writing against liberal pieties,Cronan contends,following Brecht,that empathy is not the solution to our problems,but more like the source of them.

Red Aesthetics presents a fresh perspective on art and politics, delving into the revolutionary creations of Aleksandr Rodchenko, Bertolt Brecht, and Sergei Eisenstein during the interwar period. Todd Cronan explores how these three artists, through their photographs, plays, films, and writings, which revolve around class conflict, depart from contemporary left orthodoxies that are rooted in empathy. Challenging liberal pieties, Cronan argues, in line with Brecht's notion, that empathy is not the remedy for our issues but rather the root of them.

Weight: 331g
Dimension: 231 x 153 x 13 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781538147108