Cubism in action – Deconstructed statue.
May 28, 2009
The Soviet-era statue Worker and Kolkhoz Woman has always fascinated me. I see it as a kind of counterpoint to New York’s Statue of Liberty, a big hunk of industrial strength communism in contrast with the more subtle curves and classical lines of democracy (if you can call a 300ft tall green lady subtle). The statue normally stands in Moscow and you can click this Wikipedia link to see it in all of its OTT glory.
This discovery for the Keep Pile has made it even more interesting for me – it appears that the statue has been cut into bits and put into storage for cleaning, but never reassembled due to budget cuts. The original plan was to restore it to glory, but these best intentions have instead left it obliterated and in limbo. It looks as if it has been put through a surrealist cheese-grater. It has been remixed, abstracted and re-presented in a compelling new way. It is an unintentional work of cubism – a ‘happy accident’ as my art tutor would say.
The core value of the ‘Soviet Realist’ style was to be purely figurative and teleological – the complete opposite of the state in which the statue now exists. You could now see this statue as an allegory for the Western victory in the Cold War – the ordered Soviet system has collapsed and capitalist abstraction has replaced it, claiming the sculpture as a prize and re-forming it in its own disjointed, chaotic image.
Personally I think that it looks amazing. All credit to the Russian photographer who has documented this strange, stunning sight. Follow the link below for the many large and excellent pictures.
The link -> http://community.livejournal.com/ru_sovarch/175556.html
