Red Aesthetics

Synthesizes the work of three titans of mid-century art and critical theory, proposing an aesthetics of the political and artistic left with a deft authority.

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“WHAT’S NEEDED—IS NO REST,” Aleksandr Rodchenko declared in the “Manifesto of the Constructivist Group.” We must “go out into all kinds of production anywhere where there is an artistic need.”



This book is a synthesis of Rodchenko, Brecht and Eisenstein. Amongst the most influential artists of the interwar period, and among the most influential political artists of the century, between them they tried to develop a socialist theory of art, and a red aesthetic centered around removing barriers to ‘production’. The book is an urgently needed intervention into mainstream interpretations of political art in the twentieth century — and therefore, into the understanding of the relationship between aesthetics and politics. Working in different media—sculpture, posters, photography (Rodchenko), theater (Brecht) and film (Eisenstein)—and in different but often overlapping geographical contexts—Russia, Germany and in Hollywood—they shared a vision of artistic will as the defining quality of leftist art in an age defined by political extremism. This is a deeply controversial and deeply convincing set of arguments, that go right to the heart of contemporary philosophical debates about the relation between aesthetics and politics.