Overview
In his lifetime, ""Xanti"" (Alexander) Schawinsky (1904-79) was best known for his work in the theater department at the Bauhaus. Fleeing Germany before the beginning of the Second World War, he landed at Black Mountain College in North Carolina, where in the 1930s he developed his theory of the ""Spectodrama."" Involving multimedia productions examining elementary phenomena such as space, motion, light, sound or color from scientific, technical and performance-based perspectives, the Spectodrama represents an early form of the ""happening."" Beyond the avant-garde utopias of the Bauhaus and his proto-happening art, Schawinsky also worked as a painter and graphic designer. Protracted legal disputes over the artist's estate meant that Schawinsky's work was until recently almost inaccessible; Xanti Schawinsky is the first survey of Schawinsky's extraordinarily prolific output over the course of five decades, and a long-overdue resource on the work of this key figure.
Full Product Details
Author: Xanti Schawinsky
Publisher: Benteli Verlag
Imprint: Benteli Verlag
ISBN: 9783716506677
ISBN 10: 3716506672
Pages: 120
Publication Date: 01 December 1989
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Awaiting stock
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Reviews
How could an artist and designer as prolific, gifted and charismatic as Xanti Schawinsky -- a central figure in mid-20th-century avant-garde circles in Europe and the United States -- have come close to being forgotten?--Alice Rawsthorn The New York Times Schawinsky went on to produce a body of visual work that still looks remarkably fresh. It has the clean, formal discipline that gives away his architectural training, but with a sense - thanks to comic touches, surreal flashes and experimentation - of an artist constantly pushing at the boundaries of genre. Cut-outs, optical tricks, the repurposing of brand identities and early mechanical graphic treatments: all contribute to work which manages to be genuinely avant-garde without snobbishly pushing the viewer away. Schawinsky deserves to be a better known name, both in art and also in the world of graphic identity which now permeates almost all aspects of modern life.--Justin Quirk Huffington Post
How could an artist and designer as prolific, gifted and charismatic as Xanti Schawinsky -- a central figure in mid-20th-century avant-garde circles in Europe and the United States -- have come close to being forgotten?--Alice Rawsthorn ""The New York Times "" Schawinsky went on to produce a body of visual work that still looks remarkably fresh. It has the clean, formal discipline that gives away his architectural training, but with a sense - thanks to comic touches, surreal flashes and experimentation - of an artist constantly pushing at the boundaries of genre. Cut-outs, optical tricks, the repurposing of brand identities and early mechanical graphic treatments: all contribute to work which manages to be genuinely avant-garde without snobbishly pushing the viewer away. Schawinsky deserves to be a better known name, both in art and also in the world of graphic identity which now permeates almost all aspects of modern life.--Justin Quirk ""Huffington Post ""
