ꗇ History in Images ꔀ Soviet Posters ꗇ

Through propaganda and educative posters, Soviet iconography permeated into Russian society with relative ease. Lenin is the one who takes the responsibility of creating the first truly propaganda machine, the fate of Communism depended on keeping people close to the party and with a high enough morale to face all the shortcomings that came with building socialism. Artists from all-over the land participated in this field, giving many excellent examples of posters that transcended the boundaries of political tools and became works of art in their own right. The basic philosophy was to make various subjects appealing to the mases, they didn't necessarily have to be simple, but universal. They needed to make war seem heroic and working the fields as relaxing as a stroll in the park, with young and blond Russian women happily waiting for their working men while they take care of the kids or, even better, working beside them.

Six main eras have been identified in the development in the field of propaganda posters:
1. the Bolshevik Era (1917-1921) - key features are the revolutionary fervor with a strong emphasis on symbolism, more than 3500 poster designs were created.
2. the New Economic Policy (1921-1927) - key features are the Avant-garde Constructivism Style and a feeling of slightly more freedom even if faced with famine and discontent.
3. the first two "five year plans" - key features: Stalin wanted to industrialize Russia as fast as possible with an emphasis on heavy industry; in the first part of the period, photo-montage was used.
4. the Great Patriotic War, or World War 2 (1939-1945) - key features of the period are the revival of the Bolshevik style.
5. the Cold War (1946-1984) - key features are the use of Social Realism and posters promoting peace.
6. Perestroika (1984-1991)

Posters began to cover all areas of social and private life, from culture to work, from politics to war, they were the "bibles" of common soviet people, or at least this was the idea. Some of the more well known artists and designers are Alexander Apsit, who created the famous hammer and sickle symbol and the red star, Irakili Toridze knwon for his "Motherland is calling", Victor Karetsky, Victor Ivanov, N. Treschenko, Victor Govorkov, M. Heifitz, etc.

Two possible directions from which we will continue in future articles are the similarities with political posters from National Socialist Germany and the other being advertising posters mainly from the United States and consumerist society.

For now however let's look at some examples.

1917 - "The Loan of Freedom" by Kustodiev B. M. This poster refers to the bonds issued by the provisional government in order to stabilize the economy, the measure however did not manage to garner much support from the people.

???? - "Stop" by Karetsky V. B.

1919 - "May Day, workers have nothing to lose but their chains" by A. P. Apsit

"1940" - "Moscow is the capital of the USSR" by L. M. Lisitsky

1942 - "Red Army Soldier, save!" by V. B. Koretsky

Marjatta Cajan (visual) and Johnny Hollow (audio)

I don't remember how I discovered Johnny Hollow but most probably it was part of my "musical education" back in the days when I composed music on my own. This band is much more than music, it even surpasses all standards of emotion because what you will hear is something totally different. Depending on your own musical preferences you will find "This Hollow World" as either revolutionary, intriguing or weird. The band members are: Janine White (vocalist), Vincent Marcone (digital artist), Kitty Thompson (cellist) and Steve Heihn (guitarist). The song is the fourth track from the 2009 album entitled "Dirty Hands".



Marjatta Cajan is an amazing visual artist from Helsinki, Finland and as you will see, her works are like puzzles, mysteries waiting to be discovered. You are going to enter into a land of secrets and symbols. First and foremost you will sense the strangeness of it, maybe not even understanding what it all means but take some time and go through the ten pictures with great attention to every element. Let the atmosphere overwhelm you and take you into the land of dreams, of endless possibilities, but be careful, the land of dreams also contains nightmares. No doubt you will recognize such things like the fight between good and evil, decline and rebirth, search for wisdom and search for knowledge. "Dove and Raven" and "Light Returns" have the clearest dualism of this set.

"Lilith" most probably is about the first woman, I'll have to explain this one. Some mystics believe that prior to Eve, Lilith was created along with Adam but because they couldn't get along she left and only after that did God create Eve, much more loyal and not as independent. Well, this is what the image made me think at, although to be honest, to achieve a message like this we would also need an Adam drinking his sorrow away in a makeshift bar.

"Privacy", another great image, this time the artist exploring an area of eroticism with great ease and mastery.  "The Chaser" and "Confusion" although different share a feeling of unknowing, in "Confusion" pay attention at the rays of light.

Birds are an often used symbol, most of the time as crows, although as you can also see doves, swans and maybe even seagulls. We should not forget to pay close attention to colors, in fact this is useless to mention because colors clearly play a huge role in each and every image. Marjatta Cajan shows a great ability in combining colors to achieve an optimum effect along with the use of symbols and evidently the underlying themes.

These are my opinions but I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Clerk

The Chaser

Faithful affiliate

Privacy

Confusion

Light returns

After Midnight

Almost Tragic

Dove and Raven

Lilith

Johnny Hollow website: http://www.johnnyhollow.com/
Marjatta Cajan website: http://frama.deviantart.com/

The gate to hell

Somewhere in the middle (slightly to the west) of Turkmenistan there is a hole. What gave this hole such a tourist magnet name is not the size, although at 60 meters in diameter is no pothole, but an engineering accident. Also, in close vicinity is a small village called Derweze, which means "the gate". What is known is that in 1971 a team of soviet geologists while drilling in the desert of Karakum found a cave filled with natural gas which they unwillingly managed to collapse. There is no information about any victims in this accident. After the collapse, the geologists were faced with a big problem because all that gas was now being released into the atmosphere. Now comes the "fun" part, one of the team members maybe wanted to smoke some Belomorkanal and that is when he realized they can fix the problem by burning the problem.

After 30+ years they are still waiting for the problem to fix itself apparently.

[With this I launch a new section of the blog entitled simply "various", a collection of impressive or strange things or events. I was planning to name it 'what the fuck' but some people found it inappropriate to use the word fuck, so "various" it is]
[I don't know who is the owner of the photos]

The Rally of Honour and modern day geopolitics

One of the lessons we must learn from the Nazi moment is that democracy is a good soil for the emergence of totalitarianism (popular support legitimizes authoritarian power). Hitler, nazi thinkers and those who backed them found an excellent occasion to come to power through using the need of the German people to regain their glory and honour. Even more, the promise of becoming a master and superior race surely caught the attention of many, while the threat of the 'Jewish race', real or not, is not much different from the threat posed by terrorists in our time.

The major difference is that Nazi Germany was heavy around race, so it needed a 'race enemy' (with no home country, but powerful enough to be credible) while America is 'land of the free', so it needs an enemy that opposes this freedom (formerly it was Communism). We must learn history so that we will not repeat the (intentional) mistakes. Perpetually condemning or victimizing a country or a race is just wrong. Evidently, things are not as simple as I made them appear, but one thing is clear, when people perceive a danger (real or not), they naturally unite in order to oppose that danger, and usually they partially give up on their own liberties. The same psychology also applies to objectives. After learning this, apply it to modern day events and politics and see where this leads you. What are our real enemies and what should be our objectives?

This image is from the 8th party Congress, known as the "Rally of Honour" because of the re-militarization of the Rhineland, and so, the restoration of German honor.

    Nazi Party rally at Zeppelinfeld, Nuremberg, Germany, 8 Sep 1936; the structure was designed by Albert Speer - German Federal Archive

WWI - Meuse-Argonne offensive

Soldiers of Headquarters Company, 23rd Infantry Regiment (2nd Infantry Division) firing a 37mm gun during the Meuse-Argonne offensive, or the battle of the Argonne forest. Here, the American soldiers fought their most difficult battle in World War I. This whole offensive was planed by Marshall Ferdinand Foch with the intention of forcing the Germans to capitulate by breaching the Hindenburg line. It lasted between September 26 and November 11, 1918. Here, the Browning Automatic Rifle was first used in combat, in fact, it was popular among both US and French troops.

Click image for larger version

This article is extended in the second issue of Awil-um Magazine (June-July 2010)

The old... the new...

This painting was created by Turner, the famous English romantic artist, as a way to show the changing times. The title is "The Fighting Temeraire tugged to her last breath to be broken up" and it dates from 1838. The sun is setting, the sea is calm. A sensation of peace seems to overwhelm you as you watch this scene, at least this is the case for me. In the right side of the painting we see darkness, shadows, these await the old ship that will soon be replaced. The industrial Revolution was well underway by this time so the feeling of change could not escape the field of art.

J. M. W. Turner, the painter of light.