Final Outcome Evaluation

My Final Outcome

Evaluation                                           Candidate name: Dominique James

Final outcome evaluation              Candidate number: 11030

Project: Memories                            Centre number: 5080

In creating my final outcome I had to support the theme of memories. My final concept of the piece was to show how overtime memories are distorted showing that you remember fragments, and each section in my final piece signifies key experiences I had over the summer. This concept developed through my various experiments and artist research.

The client who commissioned me for this outcome was chestnut grove school; the idea was to make a window installation which could break the boundaries of a relief, by interestingly documenting my summer holiday.

The artist from the LIFT project did influence my work as they provided insight of conceptualising art. Although I experimented with various methods of art whilst they was with us I didn’t get to use all of them however it was extremely useful in broadening my outlook of art. The main influence out of these artists was Edward George who played a significant role in my method of documentation. I really like his concept of how everything is an archive which allowed me to collect an extensive range of primary sources which link to all my senses.

In creating my experiment I looked at a range of other artists. Of which my main artist I decided to link my final outcome to be Boris Tellegen a Swedish artist who created reliefs from materials such as paper and cardboard to express the constructive and deconstructive nature of architecture. I implemented his idea into my final outcome to depict the development of Lanzarote where it contains both newly built architecture and areas that seem untouched and deserted nothing but the remains of the rocks from volcanoes. The colours of his art work the various tones of greys and blues signify the surroundings of Sweden. This conveyed more ideas for my outcome where I will use colours to depict the natural elements that inhabit Lanzarote, for example red represents the volcano rock I collected, cream the manmade sandy beaches, and  turquoise to signify tranquil ocean.

My experiments also helped to achieve my aim of producing a relief reflecting my experience over summer. Line tone and colour experiments I created linked to JW Turner and John Craxton. This was useful in representing the formal elements that I was able to see through the duration of my holiday.  By focusing on line, tone and colour it enabled me to gain a deeper understanding of the underlying shapes and forms that existed in my primary sources. This helped me to select specific pieces which worked well and push them further in other experiments and include them in my final mix medium outcome to represent the basis of my experience.

The collage experiments that I made a technique which I later implanted in my final outcome, ties in the concept of de-constructivism and constructivism conveyed by Boris Tellegen where, I reduced my primary sources in to partial remains then reconstructing them to form an abstract interpretation of my experience. This also links to Sandra Meech where she has reduces her journey in to strips where the gaps signify the space in time, and the gaps in memory.

There were many ideas that I had throughout this projected which helped me to develop my final outcome. The ideas that instigated this outcome where initially with the LIFT project, where I discovered this concept where not everything has to be one thing and that straight forward. This along with my range of experimentations and outcomes that are inspired by different artists evoke different meanings which can represent different parts of my experience.

Overall, I think my outcome was a success as I was able to create a balance between conventional arts which include sculptures and paintings and created an unconventional response of a relief which combines the two. I also think it met my aims by interestingly depicting my summer holiday using the techniques I developed through my experimentations. However I would have liked to include sound and text, which I touched on in my primary sources but would have made my installation even more effective if it was pushed further.

Sandra Meech

My responses :

Tate Britain Gallery

                       



Photographs

Collected Items

During summer and my holiday to Lanzarote I have collected an assortment of items which both capture the memory and the essence of that place. The things that I have collected vary from rubble I collected from the floor to souvenirs I bought at the shops.  As I reflect upon the items I notice that each item contains a key feature, which I would like to include in my final installation in order to preserve my holiday memories.

Diary of Summer Holiday

Here I have decided to document two and a half weeks of my summer holiday as most days included me lounging around stuffing my face whilst watching TV.

The first half week

Friday

Me and my friends struck with boredom decided that we should go on a little day trip out to M&M’s world. The day consisted of me waking up following my daily routine then getting a train to Balham where I met my friends, then taking various tube lines as we discovered none of us knew exactly how to get there. Finally we got there!!!! YAY…as I continued to walk out the station I heard the repetitive sounds of trampling as people flooded out the station, everyone dispersed in their own directions almost in sync with each other, strangely walking in a symphony. As we continued to walk together we realised we was lost, this meant asking complete strangers for directions who we weren’t sure spoke any English. At last we saw the recognisable logo of M&M’s, I was overwhelmed with relief of the fact I can finally stop walking. In excitement we burst in M&M’s world welcomed by the sweet smell of chocolate sifting through the air drawing me in. Walking aimlessly throughout the shop I found myself picking up all sorts of merchandise from soft furry stuffed toys, to shiny plastic cups, all of which followed the constant theme of vibrant colours. After all this walking around I got hungry and decided to go to subway to get an Italian meatball sub nothing compares to the taste of  gooey melted cheese and steamy hot meatballs doused in Bolognese sauce slowly disintegrating in my mouth..YUMMMMM

Saturday

Though the combination of my countless days of boredom and being a girl I decided that a perfect way to cure this state of lassitude is some much needed retail therapy. This meant going in to countless shops buying countless amounts of clothes, but not just any types of clothes. No this was holiday shopping. The only time of the year where I’m able to buy shorts and vests, summer clothes!! Clothes that often get neglected due to the adverse weather of Britain. This built up of excitement was later deflated by the brutal reality that I had to travel on the bus. A four wheeled red tin, where people have a sudden dose of amnesia as they forget all their common courtesy. It begins with shoving and pushing to get on, and then when I finally found a seat which is not under the residence of some ones bag I have to listen to the outrageously loud conversations of my fellow passengers, weirdly everyone finds it important to speak at the same time forming little constellations of conversations that all blend together to make noise. With my headphones I was able to drown out the noise until I got to the shopping centre. And this was where the fun began, going in to different shops looking at all their items from start to finish then moved on to the next. Looking into shop windows I was captivated by the large signs of sales which instantly pulled me in, I continued to examine every sale item in my size, focusing on the style and diverse texture. After 4 hours of shopping I realised I had very limited amount of strength to carry anymore clothes and thought it might be best to go home.

Sunday

As a result of me spending all my money on shopping I decided that it would best if me and my friends hang out on the common. As we all met up at the common we were situated upon open grass and surrounded trees and roads that followed the outskirts of the common. As I sat down I was constantly running my hands through the slightly prickly grass and then engaged in conversation. Tying to listen to my friends I often found myself paying attention to the other sounds around me, cars passing by with the occasional siren, birds tweeting and the comforting sound of the ice crème van. I then zoned back in the conversation and found myself laughing taking huge amounts of air; from this I was able to taste the fresh slightly moist air.

2 week holiday to Lanzarote

Week 1

Tuesday

Today was the day I was looking forward to all summer the day where I get to go on holiday for two whole weeks, doing nothing but sunbathing by the pool and relaxing which may be hard to do as there was 28 people In total who was said to be coming to this resort. I was full with anticipation and excitement; however this was masked by fact that I was forced to wake up at 4am to get ready to go to the airport, a time of day which I hope never to see again. Me and my family got cab to the airport where I drowsily looked out the window noticing the vast amount of greenery from the motorway.  After check in we made our way to the plane I heard the sound of the constant rolling of my suitcase as I pulled it across the floor. As I sat on the plane there was a rush of adrenalin as the plane reached high speeds and began to take off. The airhostesses brought around various snacks to passengers; I could smell the strong coffee wafting through the air. Although I was in a plane going thousands of miles per hour it didn’t feel like that, it seemed as though I was suspended, stagnant. Time passed as I played games on my iPod touch whilst listening to music, and before I knew I was listening to the reassuring sound of the pilot telling me we were about to land soon, followed by the stewardess’s instructions. We then got off the plane and I was hit by the humidity.

Wednesday

Like most days on holiday, I spent the day sunbathing by the pool. It began by laying down my towel on a sunbed in a way of marking my territory, then the rest laying on it. As I laid on the sunbed I looked at the luxurious view of the pool before closing my eyes to get some tan. The smell of scented sun lotion was all over my body, I slowly began to heat up as I felt the sun submerge in to my skin, rudely interrupted by breaks of wind. The sound of children screaming and splashes brought me back to the memories of when I was a child and spent most my holiday in the pool playing with my cousins. I then reached my boiling point and decided that I should go for a swim, within 5 second I realised the water was absolutely freezing and dashed back out, I continued this process a further three more times till finally jumping in . The ice cold water penetrating my skin sent shivers down my spine but I stuck it out, finally got used to temperature then got out and continued to sunbathe. The smell of chlorine lingered on me, the sun went down and I got ready to go out.

Thursday

The day was exactly like Wednesday sunbathing by the pool, swimming water fights. However at night we decided to go to the resorts bar called the Soliel bar, which both my family and I would soon become to love. The night began with us entering the bar greeted by the smell of popcorn, then sat down and watched children up on stage alongside the entertainers doing a range of children songs in both Spanish and English, a night which regretfully I had to do the agadooo with my younger cousins as there were too shy to up on stage. To brighten up the evening I had a fruit cocktail which was both sweet and acidic it was nice and cold as when I grabbed it I felt the water vapour slowly drip on to my hands. Then I danced to some more children songs which I found strangely ………….. talked to my cousins danced some more but this time to some real music.

Friday:

Today was an important day, well for the boys as football was on, I wasn’t too bothered because my team weren’t playing but I tagged along anyway. We went to a breakfast bar and had nothing less than a full English fry up. The smell of cooked bacon and scrambled eggs reminded me of the food back in England, I then tucked in to my one sausage off a heart attack grease filled breakfast. We sat on wicker chairs watching the football listening to constant cheering and booing commonly due to poor refereeing decisions.  We then traipsed back to the resort, where I took settlement on my sunbed once again.

Sunday

This was a great day as me along with the rest of the females in my family went to the Sunday market in Lanzarote. We travelled by a coach where we had to listen to the tails of a tour guide I tended to block this out until she informed us about an artist Cesar Manrique. Who was the main artist of Lanzarote and how he was the one who built various wind sculptures situated within many roundabouts. She also told the story of how he was the first to build his house upon lava rocks. Through the endless walking around the market I begin to notice the repetition of the products that they were selling. I also felt my shoulders beginning to burn as I neglected to apply sun lotion, despite the constant nagging of my mum, I forgot and I wasn’t about to tell her. Whilst going around I noticed a stall offering free samples at that moment I didn’t care what it was, it was free.  It was Aloe Vera crème, instantly my hand felt soft and I was seduced by the strong perfumed plant like smell which meant I had no choice but to beg my mum to buy it for me. To which she said NO. Filled with disappointment I continued to shop and soon forgot being distracted by the constant yelling of …………enticing you to look at their stall. When I finally found some items that I wanted I needed to use my haggling skills. After haggling/arguing to get the price I wanted we all went and got some lunch, I had a hamburger which tasted like minced bacon, along with an ice cold drink call Aquarius lemon taste like lemon flavoured water and it was EXTREMLEY refreshing. Then as we exited the market my mum noticed the same Aloe Vera crème but at half price. YAY and now my hands are silky smooth.

Monday:

This was my favourite day on holiday. I was one year wiser, one year better, one year older. It was my BIIIRRRRTTHHHDDAAAAYY!!!! I was so excited because not only did I get to celebrate it with my family around me but on a beautiful hot island. The day began like no other except with the constant reminder through variously family members singing happy birthday to me. The afternoon consisted of me and my family dressing up in Hawaii themed outfits, tacky shirts, hula skirts and flower garments (which I found quite itchy). And a party at one of my cousins apartment on the complex we blasted music from our iPod dock this often led to people around the pool staring at us but we didn’t care. The smells of sweet cocktails and food platters wafting through the air, then I had chocolate cake where the soft sponge melted in my mouth.

Week 2

Tuesday

From sunbathing all day we all built up an appetite so we went to La Chiminea  for starter I had salmon stuffed with crème cheese I liked the contrast between the slimy texture of the fish against the soft crumbly cheese. In anticipation for my main course I was teased by the smell of food coming from the kitchen blends of smells and strong garlic. I heard people talking which sounds like soft mumbling and glassing clanging together. I finally got my meal and was extremely satisfied with my chicken and chips. We then left the dimly lit restaurant which through using candles was able to create a tranquil mood.

Wednesday:

From realising that we are nearing the end of our holiday and all we have done is spent time at the pool my mum suggested we should go to the beach. So we moved from laying on a sunbed by the pool to lying on the sand by the sea. Which made a huge difference? Okay not really. But I was able to listen to waves breaking, the wind blowing palm trees people having fun. The beige sand and deep turquoise ocean created a calm and serine atmosphere, allowing you to relax. Slowly ran my fingers through the soft grainy sand heated by the sun.  After I sunbathed I went in to the warm salty sea. But my experience of the beach wasn’t complete until I had a vanilla ice crème, immediately cold slowly melting in my mouth. But my favourite part was where the sun melts my ice crème forming a milkshake which I gracefully slurp up.

Thursday:

This was the day I was able to live one of my dreams, to be like Mario and drive a go kart. From the moment I sat in the go kart my adrenalin started to build up as I heard the engine humming, the smell of petrol and my cousins cheering me on. Before I knew it I was off, I kept increasing my speed wind blowing in my face and the vibrations from the wheel, and then I crashed in to the barrier which was red and white tires. I heard the sound of karts passing as it got fainter as they got further away. Once getting unstuck I was able to continue the course twisting and turning. Once I came off my hands were still shaky from the vibrations of the wheel.

Friday

To take a break from the excitement from the day before, we went to the Mai Tai bar at sands beach resort. This was a restaurant sited next to a heated pool with a Jacuzzi, which I knew at some point I would have to take advantage of. It had a smell of cooked food mixed with chlorine, as we ate lunch I realised that you could see a volcano in the distance, which didn’t surprise me as it was a volcanic island. Then when I least expected the resort entertainers came out and started playing a Spanish dance song enticing people to dance along with them, this song was often played around Lanzarote and represents the summer and this idea of fun and excitement.

Saturday

We went on a day trip out to the Gran Hotel, which is the largest building in Lanzarote. We took the bus there and then my mum decided that we should get off the bus however we weren’t at the hotel or the bus shelter, this meant we had to walk through the city till we got to the beach and walked alongside it. After half an hour of walking we ask for directions and realise we was walking the wrong way, so we turned around and continued walking up until we got to the hotel. I started taking loads of pictures and got moaned at as I was holding everyone up. As we went inside we went up the hotel and saw the most amazing views of Lanzarote similar to the things you would see on a postcard. I saw the volcanoes in the distance various buildings compacted into one another separated by narrow roads. The golden man made beaches, and bright blue sky. The repetitive sound of camera flashes and people talking whilst point told me that is so much to see. The buildings seemed layered almost like a relief coming out. The smell or rich coffee filled the room. As we went outside I collected some volcanic rocks as I was interested in their diverse colour and the fact that by taking the rocks I’m taking a small part of Lanzarote with me.

Sunday

The day that I have dreaded has finally arrived I have to begin to pack and face the reality that my holiday has come to an end and have to go back to England and their rubbish weather. I did a last minute souvenir shopping going to a perfumaria where I it  was my duty to try on a range of different perfumes making me smell like ………………. I bought different rocks and crystals that are both rough and shiny.

Monday

I stayed at the resort around the pool sunbathing then doing that……dance as I burnt my feet on the hot tiles. I then went in to the pool and did a dive off of the stairs, I was then got told off by the life guard. Well I think he was angry and talking Spanish. I returned to my apartment finished packing stuffed my face with Cheetos, the most amazing cheesy crisps similar to watsits but it came with a free tattoo which makes it more awesome. Being the responsible mature adult that I am, I rushed in to the bathroom to put on the tattoo and watched tv.

Construction

Joseph Mallord William Turner

Background:

Joseph Mallord William Turner RA (23 April 1775 – 19 December 1851) was an English Romantic landscape painter, watercolourist and printmaker. Turner was considered a controversial figure in his day, but is now regarded as the artist who elevated landscape painting to an eminence rivalling history painting. Although renowned for his oil paintings, Turner is also one of the greatest masters of British watercolour landscape painting. He is commonly known as "the painter of light" and his work is regarded as a Romantic preface to Impressionism.

Techniques included:

Sponging, scraping or blotting out colours or highlights (he especially liked the absorbency of dried breadcrumbs for blotting washes); using papers heavily sized with gelatine to assist in blotting or lifting colours and to increase colour brilliancy; and mixing transparent watercolours with a small amount of white gouache to enhance the paint handling and intensity of colour.

This range of techniques gave him an unparalleled ability to describe the effects of atmosphere and light, which he made more dramatic by increasing the size of his paintings to three feet or more.

Styles:

His mature work is characterised by a chromatic palette and broadly applied atmospheric washes of paint.

He produced series of small-scale topographical watercolours in which he evoked forms by layering blocks of colour according to a classification system of "light" and "dark" colours that challenged many assumptions of contemporary colour theory.

Turner believed that landscapes could convey a full range of artistic, historical, and emotional meanings, and presented himself as an heir to the great history painters of the past. As a young man, he learned to imbue his paintings with powerful expression by studying Piranesi's imposing architectural fantasies.

Turner aimed to make watercolours the equal of oil painting in visual drama and impact, which he achieved through many technical and design innovations

This Lake District scene was shown at the Royal Academy in 1798 along with several other North of England subjects, following Turner’s first tour of the region the previous year. It is based on a sketchbook study (Tate) worked up in watercolour to show the stormy conditions he presumably witnessed, writing ‘Black’ on the surface of the lake. This was his cue for the mood of this dramatic painting, enlivened by the rainbow which would become a frequent motif. Turner is making a consciously ‘Sublime’ statement, intended to evoke the viewer’s awe at the grandeur of Nature.

My First Impressions:

My first impression of his Buttermere Lake is that his use of watercolour creates a dark ambience of the lake. The use of the dark shades of blue and black creates a bleak atmosphere; against the bright rainbow that breaks through the clouds that slowly fades connoting hope. The juxtaposition between the storm and the rainbow demonstrate how he is challenging preconceptions of art. The force of wind and water was conveyed both by his open, vigorous brushwork, against the delicately painted rainbow. It shows both the harsh reality of the destructiveness of nature as well as the beauty. This contrast shows how he is painting both what is real and what he imagines to create a sense of drama.

Looking at his painting Gisors from inside the chateau, with the church of St Gervis and St protais in the distance, his use of colour creates subtle tones blocking out large areas, showing his main focus is to use colour to create an impression of that place. In this particular piece it looks as though he has simplified the churches down to basic shapes abstracting what could be considered the main attraction forcing us to focus on his blend of colours that slowly draw us in.

Context:

Romanticism is sometimes viewed as a reaction to its more serious predecessor, the Neoclassical movement. As Neoclassical artists focused on properly accounting history through close attention to detail, Romantic artists flirted with themes of man's self glorification, man's part in nature, divinity found in nature, and emotion.

Though Neoclassicism is generally associated with the history genre, Turner is credited with having embarked on a subject matter so great that it actually rivaled the history genre. His subject matter accounts for recording history, but in a different style than ever seen before. He used color to intensify emotion in portraying the passing of events.

Quotes:

suggesting that if he could create anything darker and more dramatic he would, therefore his artwork is the darkest it could possibly be.

He used deep colours as he became more fascinated with the effects of light (rather than light and dark), his palette changed to embrace a more prismatic range of hues  saturated violets, reds, oranges and pinks over a basic tonal structure painted in Turner's favourite yellows contrasted to complementary blues and green greys.

Many of the early sketches by Turner were studies of Architecture and exercises in perspective and it is known that the young Turner worked for several architects including Thomas Hardwick (junior), James Wyatt and Bonomi the Elder.

In turner’s early works he used a range of colour washes to form underlining tones of the structures he was painting, he the outlined the shapes with a pen to hint at the detail. By adding layers he gave his work more dimensions and through his use of light washes he was able to create a bright impression of that place. In addition within this collection he also produced various sketchbooks containing line and tone. Even through his line drawings he still captures the essence of the landscapes he draws.

 The Grand Canal by the Salute,Venice (1840),Echoes of Turner's interest in architectural drawing as a young artist are found in this late work, which celebrates the unique atmospheric qualities of Venice. Details in pen and ink define the seventeenth-century church of Santa Maria della Salute which appears through a fine haze, evocative of bright sunlight reflecting off the white marble walls and the water of the Grand Canal. This drawing is characteristic of the work Turner produced during his third and final visit to Venice in 1840.

My reflection:

In response to Joseph Mallord William Turner, I focused on line tone and colour from a selection of my primary sources. I experimented using a combination of recording techniques to create different textures mixing line with tone, and colour seeing the range of effects it generated. I found the use of soft tones and lines were most effective. When painting I looked at using colour to block out the basic forms within my photographs simplifying the architecture down to its fundamental structures. I then pushed myself further and used colour to give an impression of the landscapes of Lanzarote, like turner my use of colour was to exaggerate the atmosphere. I then looked at colour which I imagined to be there making it seem surreal depicting both the reality and imaginary side of my holiday.

When constructing my window installation I will implement his idea of using colour to create a specific atmosphere, each colour will represent a certain mood I was in during my summer.  



De-constructivism

De-constructivism is a development of postmodern architecture that began in the late 1980s. It is characterized by ideas of fragmentation, an interest in manipulating ideas of a structure's surface or skin, non-rectilinear shapes which serve to distort and dislocate some of the elements of architecture, such as structure and envelope. The finished visual appearance of buildings that exhibit the many de-constructivist "styles" is characterized by a stimulating unpredictability and a controlled chaos.

De-constructivism features a lot of chopping up, layering, and fragmenting. Initially, the De-constructivist architects were influenced by the philosophy and ideas of French philosopher Jacques Derrida. The theory of deconstruction from Derrida's work argues that deconstruction "is not a style or 'attitude' but rather a mode of questioning through and about the technologies, formal devices, social institutions, and founding metaphors of representation.

In the 1970s, architects that embraced De-constructivism as they saw it as a means to assess the supposedly unifying and idealistic ways of the Modern movement, and sought to break apart the concept of classical order and space. In architecture, the use of deconstruction attempted to shift away from the restrictions of modernism which involved ideas of "purity of form" and "form follows function". "Purity of form" refers to "purism" which is actually a form of Cubism, another art movement that was brought upon by the French painter Amedee Ozenfant. Artists under purism were precise in their use of geometric form and interested in proportion that was pure. The "form follows function" is a principle stating that a form of architecture is designed for its purpose.

De-constructivism is about changing preconceptions and distorting the way we think of forms, there for generating an alternate points of view.

Constuctivism

Constructivism was an artistic and architectural philosophy that originated in Russia beginning in 1919, which was a rejection of the idea of autonomous art. The movement was in favour of art as a practice for social purposes. Constructivism had a great effect on modern art movements of the 20th century, influencing major trends such as Bauhaus and the De Stijl movement. Its influence was pervasive, with major impacts upon architecture, graphic and industrial design, theatre, film, dance, fashion and to some extent music.In contrast to De-constructivism it focuses on the purity of form.

Constructivism describes post-Revolutionary work characterized by the use of industrial materials such as glass, sheet metal, and plastic to create nonrepresentational, often geometric objects.

The primary graphic motifs of constructivism were the rectangular bar and the triangular wedge, others were the more basic geometries of the square and the circle. In his series Prouns, El Lizzitzky assembled collections of geometries at various angles floating free in space. They evoke basic structural units such as bars of steel or sawn lumber loosely attached, piled, or scattered. They were also often drafted and share aspects with technical drawing and engineering drawing. Similar in composition is the de-constructivist series Micromegas by Daniel Libeskind.

The term Constructivism was first coined by two of the movements leading artists, Naum Gabo and Antoine Pevsner. The Constructivist art movement was very much intertwined with the political situation in Russia at that time. The Bolshevic Government’s Commissariat of Enlightenment effectively set out the basis for teaching of the new movement. Naum Gabo commented that the teaching at the Institute of Artistic Culture in Moscow at that time was more concerned with political ideas than creating art.

As with Futurism, one of the main characteristics of Constructivism was a total commitment to and acceptance of modernity. The art was typically totally abstract, with the emphasis on geometric shapes and experimentation. Constructivist art was optimistic, but would not tend to be emotional in any way and subjectivity and individuality were subsumed in favour of objective, universal forms.

The theory and practice of Constructivism were worked out in a series of debates at the Institute of Artistic Culture in the early 1920s by the First Working Group of Constructivists. The original chairman of this group was Wassily Kandinsky, but he was ousted for his interest in mysticism. The first definition of Constructivism concerned the combination of material properties with spatial presence.

The first Constructivist art consisted of three dimensional constructions, but Constructivism would later extend to two dimensional art such as graphic arts posters and books.

In 1921, the New Economic Policy was established in the Soviet Union, which reintroduced a limited state capitalism in the Soviet economy. Rodchenko, Stepanova, and others made advertising for the co-operatives that were now in competition with commercial businesses

The lettering of most of these designs was intended to create a reaction, and function emotionally – most were designed for the state-owned department store Mosselprom in Moscow, for pacifiers, cooking oil, beer and other quotidian products, with Mayakovsky claiming that his 'nowhere else but Mosselprom' verse was one of the best he ever wrote.

An advertising construction additionally, several artists tried to work with clothes design with varying success: Varvara Stepanova designed dresses with bright, geometric patterns that were mass-produced, although workers' overalls by Tatlin and Rodchenko never achieved this and remained prototypes.

The Soviet Constructivists organised themselves in the 1920s into the 'Left Front of the Arts', who produced the influential journal LEF, (which had two series, from 1923–5 and from 1927–9 as New LEF). LEF was dedicated to maintaining the avant-garde against the critiques of the incipient Socialist Realism, and the possibility of a capitalist restoration, with the journal being particularly scathing about the 'NEPmen', the capitalists of the period.

The Constructivists were early developers of the techniques of photomontage. Gustav Klutsis' 'Dynamic City' and 'Lenin and Electrification' (1919–20) are the first examples of this method of montage, which had in common with Dadaism the collaging together of news photographs and painted sections. However Constructivist montages would be less 'destructive' than those of Dadaism. LEF also helped popularise a distinctive style of photography, involving jagged angles and contrasts and an abstract use of light.

Constructivist architecture emerged from the wider constructivist art movement. After the Russian Revolution of 1917 it turned its attentions to the new social demands and industrial tasks required of the new regime. Two distinct threads emerged, the first was encapsulated in Antoine Pevsner's and Naum Gabo's Realist manifesto which was concerned with space and rhythm, the second represented a struggle within the Commissariat for Enlightenment between those who argued for pure art and the Productivists such as Alexander Rodchenko, Varvara Stepanova and Vladimir Tatlin, a more socially-oriented group who wanted this art to be absorbed in industrial product.