Socialist Realism

Do not search for social realism - that's a completely different genre.  Socialist realism is a school of art that emphasizes the positive aspects of communism while blatantly ignoring the harsh reality.  If it wasn't propaganda, it would probably be called realism, but that's why it's called socialist realism.  Applebaum touches on the role of socialist realism (when will I stop referencing that book? idk) in the 1940s and 50s and how Stalin's preference for straightforward representations (i.e. not abstract) that glorified the struggle of peasants and the forward motion of socialism.  Similar to the "entartete Kunst" movement of Nazi past, socialist realism refused to recognize negativity of any kind.  Sad feelings do not a comrade make.  This applied across music, paintings/art of any kind, and writing.  The Soviet propaganda posters of WWII helped start the school of art and it progressed until it ossified during Stalin's reign of terror. (This is a great resource to search for posters and get a sense of the artistry.)

This website was the best example of socialist realism that I found (minus doing a general Google image search).  Take a gander and explore the wonder that is unrealistic socialist realism.  Smiling peasants, machinery, and agriculture.

A Few Good Things

I am up and running after a month of wedding related insanity.  To top it all off, I am being pushed to a new job.  It's a tiring time, but I have a few fun bits to share.


German Acceptance?
I am a follower of the Chicago Goethe Institut since I spent lots of money continuing my German there, and they posted this article.  I have mentioned my total love of all ethnic things (a reason why anthropology jived so well with me) and it delights me to no end to see Europeans embracing diversity without being threatened.  Europeans are facing a lot of existential crises right now, at least on a political level, and the idea of embracing a cross-cultural understanding is a big one.  Europe's general stance has been one-sided adoption and fretted about "integration", which was a PC code word for "assimilation".  This ethnic-loving American is thrilled to pieces, even with such a small gesture.


Hungarian Tradition - Redesigned Beautifully

I originally came across this on Design*Sponge, but it also had an appearance on Design East, which I referenced during my Design Week.  This is from the design shop Dombon a tanya and it is a fresh take on Komatál (Platter or Friendship).  I read up a little bit on komatál here and it's such a cute tradition!  I'd love to pass it along even though I have no Hungarian lineage.  This would be such a cute housewarming or dinner party gift.  When you give it, you can tell people the culture behind it and sound really sophisticated as well.  Win!

from designeast.eu

Hungary, Again?!
Never a dull moment with Orbán at the helm.  Looks like the EU has "bullied" Magyarország enough for its own purposes.  Is he really surprised at the EU's tough stance in the midst of the Greek crisis?  C'mon.  We all knew it was going to play tough guy, especially when it comes to democratic issues.  I continue to be interested in what it will to take to push Hungarians to the point of revolution.  It almost seems like they learned from their failed revolutions, but learned the wrong lesson.  It's still worth fighting for what's good and right, even if it fails.  History will prove you a hero.


Tune in for more updates in the near future!  Maybe even an op ed.  Ooooh...

A Cute Extra from Croatia!

Croatian Mail & Sail postcards (pogledaj.to)

I found this through the website pogledaj.to and loved the design. They are postcards and are then constructed into little paper boats.  Isn't that the cutest idea?  I love it.  The designers are Katarina Eljuga and Iva Rodić.  If you want more information on the postcards and where to buy them go to the website.

Mail & Sail postcards (pogledaj.to)

Kontrastika- Slovenia

This Balkan state has largely been neglected in the month since this blog started. It is finally being recognized.  Finding product design in Slovenia was no easy feat.  I navigated a dozen design reference sites until I found a company that fit in the theme this week.  CEE is all about perserverance.  (Don't forget that FASHION WEEK starts Monday!)

Kontrastika logo (kontrastika.com)

The design firm of interest is Kontrastika.  It is based Ljubljana with Mojca Janželj Tomažič (graphic/spatial designer and photographer) and Matjaž Tomažič  (graphic designer, illustrator, and information architect).  The breadth of their skills allows them to do more than simply design things like furniture.  They also offer visual arts and design.  Their logo is a mystery (which is acknowledged on the website), but the company jokes that no one gets what is means, so they will reveal it at a big party.  I like their style.  

Petr Jakubik

Today's designer is Petr Jakubik from Slovakia. I came across his work at the designeast.eu website.  The chair to the right is a "DIY Panton" chair that he designed.  Verner Panton is an influential 20th century Danish designer whose S shaped chair is similarly famous.  The video explaining how to make the DIY Panton chair is in a language I do not know, but the visual seems cheeky enough (see below).  I'm not exactly sure what it's trying to accomplish.  The commercial was done by Tomcateden, a "young European creative art studio".  They also did another commercial, but for a cabinet with chalkboard paint on it.  It's part of Jakubik's DIY furniture series.  When I looked more into the matter, I came across the name "Comunistar", which naturally attracted my attention.  After following the trail of links, I found a page on Facebook that explained far more than the domain web site.  It's a Slovakian brand of design and for reasons I am unsure of, is impossible to track down on the internet.  The main page only connects to their Facebook group and websites only summarize their mission.  I don't know about you, but I have a feeling I'm not welcome in their design club.

DDR Design

I can't go a week without having a post on something German.  It's fate, deal with it.

QL, a fan (spiegel.de)

Today's post is on East German design, which I have found fascinating.  The design aesthetic of the GDR (which I usually write as DDR, the German abbreviation) was rather modern.  Of course, the Communist consumer products were pretty dismal at first, but as soon as Stalin bit the dust, the New Course went underway.   This meant that the standard of living improved because the economy was no longer dominated by heavy industry and now served its working populace.  A big part of the new consumer products was the introduction of plastic.  It was viewed as top quality instead of an imitation because of its novelty to DDR citizens.  The overall effect was an incredible jump in lifestyle.  Many East Germans adopted a very middle class lifestyle with Trabants (if they could get one), plastic egg cups shaped like chickens, and very mod looking furniture.

Svilen Gamolov and Petar Zaharinov

My weekend was a bit crazy, so the post meant for Saturday will be posted in the past.  It will conclude the fantastic Music Week, which I loved because Niemen was a fantastic find.

Today begins Design Week!  Next week's theme will be FASHION.  I'm keeping it fresh and creative over here because they attract more interest than the political posts (not that they will disappear forever).

Today's post is on the only Bulgarian designers I could find anything on: Svilen Gamolov and Petar Zaharinov.  I hadn't highlighted Bulgaria yet and today was the day.  Design is a bit of a tricky topic because that includes a lot of mediums: architecture, interiors, products, graphics, industrial, etc.  I decided to focus more on products and furniture because I want to do a separate week of architecture and the rest feel too unwieldy as topics.  The design of everyday objects will be a great foray into the artistic yet pragmatic side of CEE. 

Poison Bar Stool, Gamolov (cgart.bg)

Gamolov (cgart.bg)

The first designer is Svilen Gamolov.  He is located in Varna, Bulgaria and designs primarily furniture.  His CGA profile is here, but you can also see a great breadth of his work via Googe image search.  The CGA profile keeps listing his work as "concept design", which means the products have not yet been produced.  I think this is a great shame because the designs are funky, modern, and playful, and they're designed by someone from Eastern Europe––I can think of a few demographics who would buy it.