Art and Production

Now nearly a century since it was first published in 1926, Boris Arvatov’s Art and Production remains a classic text of the early Soviet avant-garde. This is the first English edition of this influential work—a crucial intervention for those seeking to understand the social dynamic of art and revolution during the period. Derived from the internal struggles of Soviet constructivism, Arvatov’s writing played a major role in the split that occurred in the constructivist movement of the early 1920s—Productivism. Arvatov acknowledges the problems of a factory-based Productivism, and he presents a new role and function for art outside the conventional studio and traditional gallery setting. Dealing with issues such as artistic versus productive labor, the artist as technician, the multidisciplinarity of art, and the struggles of finding new relevance amidst the contemporary participatory art trend, Art and Production offers a timely and compelling manifesto for contemporary debates on art and politics.

Boris Arvatov (1896-1940) was a leading theorist in the post-revolutionary Soviet avant garde. He critiqued art, literature and film, and was one of the founding members of the influential Left Front of the Arts journal. John Roberts is professor of art and aesthetics at the University of Wolverhampton, in England. He is the author of a number of books, including Philosophising the Everyday, also published by Pluto Press.
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