2 thoughts on “Art is a branch of Mathematics: Zamyatin and Soviet Socio-Fantasy”
Hung Te Tjia
This was a great essay. I particularly enjoyed the point raised about the accelerated use of glass as a viable building material around the time when Zamyatin was writing his novel. In glass is contained, for some, the dreams of a clean, sterile, transparent, and democratic future. In the art, fashion, and music of the 20th century is contained the infinite possibilities of the present. It is tangible and real in contrast to the unreal dream of cities of glass.
Also, I was reminded of Howard Roark’s desire to do away with the ‘useless ornamentation’ of the past in his buildings in exchange for clean and practical lines. (Sorry for referencing Rand, don’t hurt me.)
Matthew BlunderfieldPost author
We’ll definitely be looking more at the relationships between art and technology in this course, in addition to unraveling and exploring the kinds of ideas you’re raising about the effects and meanings of materiality.
And nothing wrong with bringing up the fountainhead! – as crazy as Rand is, her book makes for a good depiction of what modernist architecture entailed, and particularly in north america. The shift away from ornament and towards functionality is a defining principle of the movement, and one that shows itself readily in elements of Zamyatin’s text as well.
This was a great essay. I particularly enjoyed the point raised about the accelerated use of glass as a viable building material around the time when Zamyatin was writing his novel. In glass is contained, for some, the dreams of a clean, sterile, transparent, and democratic future. In the art, fashion, and music of the 20th century is contained the infinite possibilities of the present. It is tangible and real in contrast to the unreal dream of cities of glass.
Also, I was reminded of Howard Roark’s desire to do away with the ‘useless ornamentation’ of the past in his buildings in exchange for clean and practical lines. (Sorry for referencing Rand, don’t hurt me.)
We’ll definitely be looking more at the relationships between art and technology in this course, in addition to unraveling and exploring the kinds of ideas you’re raising about the effects and meanings of materiality.
And nothing wrong with bringing up the fountainhead! – as crazy as Rand is, her book makes for a good depiction of what modernist architecture entailed, and particularly in north america. The shift away from ornament and towards functionality is a defining principle of the movement, and one that shows itself readily in elements of Zamyatin’s text as well.