Learning from Lissitsky: Illustration and the new objectivity

Embury, Gary

Abstract

El Lissitzky believed the artist could be an agent for change. The Russian avant-garde artist declared a break with traditional modes of representation, and embracing geometric abstraction aiming to revolutionize artistic practice. The Creator of ‘Beat the whites with the red wedge’ also created ‘About Two Squares’ a children’s book about a black square and a red square symbolizing the superiority of the new Soviet order (the red square) over the old (the black square).

In this paper/presentation I will show the outcomes of undergraduate illustration students who are encouraged to use non-figurative /non-objective visual communication to create diverse multi-disciplinary innovative experimental and idiosyncratic visual narratives illustrating a wide range of traditional and contemporary texts, including fiction, nonfiction, news reports, poetry, documentary and spoken word to tell stories.

Through a series of weekly lectures and workshops students learn how to communicate non figuratively thinking more deeply about the relationship of image and text, image as text, text as image and how they can communicate through non-figurative means. This in turn also encourages a much deeper engagement with research into the broader context of the story, the author, history, and wider issues, including political and social issues such as immigration, and race.

The Module attempts to deconstruct visual language and promote a new methodology for ‘Illustration’ questioning, what is illustration? what is image and text and the role of the Illustrator? The lecture series and workshops including composition, colour theory, narratology, semiotics, and type as image
Encourage a collaborative and experimental approach with outcomes as diverse as Performance, dance, 3d making, film, installation, animation and puppetry.

• Presentation Conference Type: Poster
• Conference Name: Illustration Research methods symposium Kingston University
• Start Date: Feb 11, 2020
• End Date: Feb 12, 2020
• Deposit Date: Dec 2, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 2, 2022
• Keywords: Illustration, research methods.
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/10198341
• Related Public URLs: https://illustrationresearch11.kingston.ac.uk/
• Additional Information: Poster presentation for Conference Kingston University