HAMMER & TICKLE

More good TV this week...Right now i'm just watching Hammer & Tickle on BBC2.

"Ben Lewis's documentary tells the real history of Communism through the jokes told by ordinary people about the oppressive Communist regimes of the Soviet Union and its satellites. Jokes became the language of truth in a society denied free speech and confronted daily with the gap between political propaganda and reality."

Not keen on this documentary. It's got awful, really unfunny animations in the middle and re-enactments. I guess it's supposed to probably be a little younger audience friendly or something. The jokes alone are funny and it's interesting to see . I guess it's all about Jokes but after reading about Stalin so much lately & the cold war in general it's hard to see the funny side. NEED A BREAK!

It's just touched on a newsreel from when Sputnik 1 was launched... hurraaay

Found a pretty good PDF on the theme.

A man dies and goes to hell. There he discovers that he has a choice: he can go to capitalist hell or to communist hell.
Naturally, he wants to compare the two, so he goes over to capitalist hell. There outside the door is the devil, who looks a bit
like Ronald Reagan. "What's it like in there?" asks the visitor. "Well," the devil replies, "in capitalist hell, they flay you alive,
then they boil you in oil and then they cut you up into small pieces with sharp knives."
"That's terrible!" he gasps. "I'm going to check out communist hell!" He goes over to communist hell, where he discovers a
huge queue of people waiting to get in. He waits in line. Eventually he gets to the front and there at the door to communist hell
is a little old man who looks a bit like Karl Marx. "I'm still in the free world, Karl," he says, "and before I come in, I want to
know what it's like in there."
"In communist hell," says Marx impatiently, "they flay you alive, then they boil you in oil, and then they cut you up into
small pieces with sharp knives."
"But... but that's the same as capitalist hell!" protests the visitor, "Why such a long queue?"
"Well," sighs Marx, "Sometimes we're out of oil, sometimes we don't have knives, sometimes no hot water..."

Sheeeesh......

SPACE DAWGS!

1960: Sputnik 5 was the first spacecraft to send animals into orbit and return them safely back to Earth... Belka & Strelka

Check this out

Space Bitchezzzzz!
All the space dogs were female as they didn't have to cock their leg up to wee! As they had to sit for hours and hours in small compartments. They were all trained up to do this... read allll about it! Turns out that one of the space dogs was called Lisa!

CUBA CRISIS

Was having a chat with my dad about the cold war and he said I ought to research the Cuba Crisis... He was right!

Definitely worth a read

CONSTRUCTIVE LINKAGE!

Thanks Kate for this flippin' brilliant link... Couldn't be more appropriate really!

TV ON MY SIDE

The lost world of communism was on tonight,

'Documentary series on the fall of the Iron Curtain and its legacy. 1989 marked the collapse of communism in Eastern and Central Europe and an end to a way of life for millions of people. Having lived through extraordinary times, they tell their stories of life behind the Iron Curtain, looking beyond the headlines of spies and surveillance, secret police and political repression, to reveal a rich tapestry of experience.
Firstly, a look at the 'socialist paradise' of communist East Germany.'

Although the focus was on East Germany, there was a lot of relevance to my research. There were stories told by people who had been victims of Stalin, there was some horrific realities and it really hit home to what it must have been like.

Thank God for critical studies as I wouldn't be able to relate back to Marxism and be aware of Lenin's contributions to Marxist Theory (Leninism) Also to link Panopticism with the concept of surveillance.

The best thing about it was my discovery of Sandmännchen or Sandman. It was amazing. Good old stop motion animation with models & handmade characters. Really incredible and inspiring.







IGNORE THE END's OF EACH ONE!!!!!! You can see what i mean by this if you dare watch past the Sandmannchen video's, it just turns into completely awful animation. awful.

Goodbye Lenin was on tonight too...

TIMELINE SOVIET UNION

SOVIET UNION TIMELINE

BOOK WORM

CHECK IT OUT!

THE SILENT FILM POSTER

I've been scouring the library since seeing all that amazing Russian 1920's art on the Culture Show. I've come across some incredible work! Mainly by the Stenburg Brothers.







As i've been comparing American & Russian contrasts in Animation from around the time of the space race it's really interesting to contrasting film posters. These Russian exmaples are really reminiscent of Constructivism but also I feel when compared to American film posters from the same time they almost almost express the contrasts between art nouveau & art deco.



This 1920's Nikolai Prusakov poster of 'The Glass Eye' from 1929 is a really good example of what an Art Deco inspired piece may represent. Although when compared to a poster from the 1920's in America like this one... Hells Angels in 1928. The angular use of line, shape and blocks of colour are still apparent but there is still a softness reminiscent of Art Nouveau. This is just a small observation but I feel it kind of represents the constraints of Russia at the time where as America expresses the opposite approach



It's really hard to express what I mean, but the contrasts I have highlighted are ones i've seen throughout the comparisons I have made in my research. America's expression of "free thinking" through art & advertising and Russia's stricter approach is always really obvious in early representations of culture.

CULTURE SHOW

"Andrew Graham Dixon goes behind the Iron Curtain at Tate Modern's exhibition of Russian constructivist art, featuring the work of Aleksandr Rodchenko and Liubov Popova. Andrew reveals how constructivism has long outlived Russian communism on album covers and magazines.

Good stuff...

How Russian Constructivism revolutionised art...
I usually forget to watch the culture show but every time I see it I think "I would have really missed out if i'd have missed this!" It was so useful to me!
Having looked at Rodchenko's & Popova's work myself, it's hard to make the connections that Dixon makes as he has a better informed knowledge of art history & history in general.
He explains that Constructivism in art was a way of escaping the bourgeoisie. My favourite medium of work in Rodchenko's practise are his Photomontage pieces. Dixon describes them as "stark & aggressive" & "A style routed in violence"

A point that Dixon expressed whilst talking to Nevil Brody is that when he looks at the art in the exhibition (from 1920's), he finds it hard to enjoy because of what happened next in history, under Stalin's regime.

It also features Rodchenko's 'Space Construct' sculptures that i've researched before. HERE'S MY PASTICHE! It'd be great to catch the exhibition whilst it's on at the TATE.



This LINK will only last for a certain amount of time (as it's BBC iPlayer)

WANNIT!

SHOULD HAVE SAVED MY CASH!

GOOD READS

The Film Factory:

Although 1939 is not quite as close to the 1950's as I'd have liked...It has some really in depth and useful analysis of Soviet Film history. It's quite startling the amount of information in it. It's got plenty of stills along with newspaper articles, letters and interviews (amongst other useful propaganda). I've been looking to buy it from Amazon but it's a bit pricey for me at the minute, but whilst searching I found it on Google Books. This is a different cover to the one I got from the Library but it's the whole book by the look of things... wont have to buy it after all!

I ♥ GOOGLEBOOKS

Film Propaganda: Soviet Russia & Nazi Germany:

This book explains how Soviet Russia & Nazi Germany used film as 'a weapon for mass political propaganda'.

I STILL ♥ GOOGLEBOOKS

TIMELINE RUSSIA

RUSSIAN HISTORY TIMELINE

CHUNK OF JUNK

BRAIN FOOD

These books are like carrots & banana's, good for the eyes & the brain!

Cold War Years:

Oh god look at the pt size.

This is more brain food than eye food...I did say good for the brain, but in small doses! It's a bit intense and includes such a sparse and diverse history that I just can't seem to grasp. A bit too...Soviet?! At least it's keeping with the theme of the information in it! Too wordy for my liking. It does have really good information and is complete with maps, keys and diagrams. But, i've got to admit, I've been having to re-read everything and I'm not getting a hell of a lot of info stay in my brain, just thinking "shit, there's a hell of a lot I still don't know!" This book would definitely laugh at me if it could...It's certainly not a beginners guide!

I'm in desperate need for some visual treats here!!! Big headings and synopses are more my cup of tea on this subject...

Red Star Over Russia:

This is more like it... I definitely prefer carrots. Lots of information that has seeped through my eye sockets and curled up for what I hope will be a long time.



Lenin & Stalin...





This is just a bit of insight into Stalin's regime...

LAIKA LOVE

CLICK ME

COLD WARRIORS: LAIKA

"Laboratory researchers in the United States were measured and even awkwardly supportive of their Soviet counterparts’ Laika mission, as reflected in this November 1957 wire release from the National Society for Medical Research, written before news of Laika’s death, and the absence of any plans for her safe return, became known."

While the debate over animal experimentation still rages, the fading of the Cold War tempered at least one prominent voice. Speaking of Laika in 1989, Gazenko declared: "Work with animals is a source of suffering to all of us. . . . The more time passes, the more I’m sorry about it. We shouldn’t have done it."
Read more...

I think that this is just a bit of verbal proof that Laika was probably more of a cold war casualty than Russia would have liked to admit. The space race was fueled by bitterness between the US and USSR during the cold war, so much so that Laika may have been sent up into space without the full knowledge that she would survive and Russia being very aware of the fact that she would be more likely die. Laika is still a hero to many though and it's hard to think that she was probably sent up into space to get one up on the US.

SPACE IN THE FACE

My tea tastes funny...hmm

Rodchenko, an artist from slightly before the era i've focussed most of my research on but still is the resounding inspiration from the Bauhaus, Nevil Brody, Kraftwerk, & even Alfred Hitchcock! Also, his works represent Constructivism holds a large place in Russian cultural history.

I've come across his work a lot in the past but never really the sculptural side of things. I've been far too wrapped up in his photomontage and poster work. I found this work of his whilst scouring the Library after countless "Russia" searches on the library catalogue. After moving away from constructing my own set for an animation this put my right back on that route! I think if I were to create any kind of a set it would be a little abstract and use inspiration from these Spatial Construct's by Rodchenko...








These especially would work really well, to maybe represent the space station in which Laika in sputnik 2 would be launched from...

COLD WAR

Episode 1 of the Cold War Series, covering the origins of the tensions between the capitalist west and the communist Sovjet Union. Starting with revolution of 1917 followed by the events of WW II, which outcome brought the Red Army into eastern Europe.

Sputnik

WHAT? All of a sudden loads of Laika videos have just started APPEARING on youtube. I must have been searching for the wrong thing. I've found them all through links from other ones...

Sputnik 1


Sputnik 2


This is the best of the three... Not only is it translated (hurrayyy) but it's quite emotive too. I was yet to find a really good Russian video from 1957 (Laika's Launch) but now I think I've found one. Apart from the stupid music someone has put over the top - the imagery is (if muted) quite sad. Only sad because I know what happens to Laika.

ARCHIVE.ORG

Here's another video from 1957.

"Newsreel stories reformatted for classroom use. Includes: United Nations Condemns Russia; Carrier Landings by Mirror; Arctic Ice Cap Adventure; Hummingbird Sanctuary; Low-Level Crop Dusters; Centuries of Telling Time; Old and New in Guided Missiles, showing a jet engine exploding when metal is dropped into it; and New York State's Erie Canal." - Taken from Archive.org

I find this funny how one end of the news to the other, it gets nicer. It's serious to start with... then it's talking about doves & humming birds... then clocks. It then gets a bit serious again. It's just funny transitions and it's narrated alongside an epic soundtrack like a movie! It's incredible, worth a watch.