DOI Artikel:
Lechowicz, Lech: Awangarda wobec statyczności obrazu fotograficznego
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14575#0038
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LECH LECHOWICZ
„obsceniczną i brutalną"33, dyskwalifikującą artystycznie czystą fotografię. W surrealizmie natomiast stała
się jedną z najcenniejszych jej cech. Była wysoko cenioną właściwością łączącą się z ważnymi problemami
programowymi surrealizmu, z explosante fixe czy z „pięknem konwulsyjnym". Dla dadaistów migawkowa
fragmentaryczność podkreślała chaos i bezsens obrazowanej rzeczywistości. Dla konstruktywistów ta sama
właściwość fotografii służyła poszerzeniu wiedzy o świecie oraz porządkowaniu jego obrazu.
Mimo że pomiędzy poszczególnymi nurtami awangardy występowały poważne różnice w ujęciu oma-
wianych problemów, to ich wspólny wysiłek związany z włączeniem fotografii w krąg sztuki awangardy
sprawił, że została ona na stałe wprowadzona do sztuki XX w. Wielki eksperyment awangardy dokonany na
początku ubiegłego stulecia przygotował grunt w jego drugiej połowie do rosnącej aktywności medialnej,
fotograficznej, filmowej i wideo w sztuce neoawangardy oraz w sztuce po awangardzie.
AVANT-GARDE TOWARDS THE STILLNESS OF PHOTOGRAPHIC PICTURE
Abstract
Intensive sensation and perception of the perpétuai flux of phenomena, which seems to be a typical feature of our modern
civilisation, is neither new nor contemporary. For the first time this problem became a subject of interest of Avant-garde art move-
ments arising with Futurism.
Avant-garde occupies a signiflcant place in the history of art of the twentieth century. The resuit of its radical and total actions
was an extensive broadening of the area of art territory. Avant-garde, conducting such an extensive search and experiments, incor-
porated into the définition of art - both in theory and practice - the new phenomena, so far unknown to contemporary art, including
mechanic picture. Futurism gave rise to this interest, and its direct cause was the way in which photography depicted motion in mo-
tionless pictures.
In the early stage of Futurism, however, photography with its mechanic and shutter picture was not an object of fascination
or adoration among the futurists. They sharply criticised motionless photography as a false picture of fluidity and continuity of move-
ment which for the futurists was the essence of life. Only the development of photodynamism allowed photographie picture to bring
close to the capturing of movement in accordance with the Futurism doctrine. Photodynamism, recording - contrary to the chrono-
photography - fluidity and continuity of movement, was not so much a photographie représentation of the outside world as the com-
bination of its interprétation with the attempt to reflect a character of phenomena oceurring in the inside world of the author and the
audience.
Dadaism was interested in photographie picture for two basie reasons. A photograph, as a mechanical picture which could be
easily reproduced and at the same time functioning in large numbers in visual culture, was one of the tools of Dadaist anti-art, mainly
in the form of Dadaist expérimental techniques of photogram and photomontage. Whereas its method of depiction, brief and firag-
mentary, often disjointed, suited Dadaist poetics, raled by chaos and nonsense.
In photography constructivism valued and developed mainly its possibility to picture the world objectively and extensively.
The modern formai techniques of photography were to broaden visual knowledge of man and to develop his visual perception. Only
the chronophotography were able to capture clearly and explicitly in a motionless picture what a man was unable to see.
Surrealism, basing on the same media qualifies of photography which were valued by constructivism, used them to complete-
ly différent ends. Mechanicalness of its depiction and its objectivity allowed to transgress the restrictions of direct perception of the
world controlled by the rationalised reason. A convulsive beauty of the snapshot of violent movement captured in its climax was to
be a source of surrealistic picture springing into existence in the subconscious of the audience.
In the theoretical manifestas of the ail avant-garde movements the argument of photography was the reason for which many
radical changes oceurred in fine arts. The most often the fact of existence of photography and cinematography invalidated in various
ways the sensé of the previous forms of depiction in art.
Translated by Grażyna Waluga
Idem, Fotodinamismo..., s. 13 (7).
LECH LECHOWICZ
„obsceniczną i brutalną"33, dyskwalifikującą artystycznie czystą fotografię. W surrealizmie natomiast stała
się jedną z najcenniejszych jej cech. Była wysoko cenioną właściwością łączącą się z ważnymi problemami
programowymi surrealizmu, z explosante fixe czy z „pięknem konwulsyjnym". Dla dadaistów migawkowa
fragmentaryczność podkreślała chaos i bezsens obrazowanej rzeczywistości. Dla konstruktywistów ta sama
właściwość fotografii służyła poszerzeniu wiedzy o świecie oraz porządkowaniu jego obrazu.
Mimo że pomiędzy poszczególnymi nurtami awangardy występowały poważne różnice w ujęciu oma-
wianych problemów, to ich wspólny wysiłek związany z włączeniem fotografii w krąg sztuki awangardy
sprawił, że została ona na stałe wprowadzona do sztuki XX w. Wielki eksperyment awangardy dokonany na
początku ubiegłego stulecia przygotował grunt w jego drugiej połowie do rosnącej aktywności medialnej,
fotograficznej, filmowej i wideo w sztuce neoawangardy oraz w sztuce po awangardzie.
AVANT-GARDE TOWARDS THE STILLNESS OF PHOTOGRAPHIC PICTURE
Abstract
Intensive sensation and perception of the perpétuai flux of phenomena, which seems to be a typical feature of our modern
civilisation, is neither new nor contemporary. For the first time this problem became a subject of interest of Avant-garde art move-
ments arising with Futurism.
Avant-garde occupies a signiflcant place in the history of art of the twentieth century. The resuit of its radical and total actions
was an extensive broadening of the area of art territory. Avant-garde, conducting such an extensive search and experiments, incor-
porated into the définition of art - both in theory and practice - the new phenomena, so far unknown to contemporary art, including
mechanic picture. Futurism gave rise to this interest, and its direct cause was the way in which photography depicted motion in mo-
tionless pictures.
In the early stage of Futurism, however, photography with its mechanic and shutter picture was not an object of fascination
or adoration among the futurists. They sharply criticised motionless photography as a false picture of fluidity and continuity of move-
ment which for the futurists was the essence of life. Only the development of photodynamism allowed photographie picture to bring
close to the capturing of movement in accordance with the Futurism doctrine. Photodynamism, recording - contrary to the chrono-
photography - fluidity and continuity of movement, was not so much a photographie représentation of the outside world as the com-
bination of its interprétation with the attempt to reflect a character of phenomena oceurring in the inside world of the author and the
audience.
Dadaism was interested in photographie picture for two basie reasons. A photograph, as a mechanical picture which could be
easily reproduced and at the same time functioning in large numbers in visual culture, was one of the tools of Dadaist anti-art, mainly
in the form of Dadaist expérimental techniques of photogram and photomontage. Whereas its method of depiction, brief and firag-
mentary, often disjointed, suited Dadaist poetics, raled by chaos and nonsense.
In photography constructivism valued and developed mainly its possibility to picture the world objectively and extensively.
The modern formai techniques of photography were to broaden visual knowledge of man and to develop his visual perception. Only
the chronophotography were able to capture clearly and explicitly in a motionless picture what a man was unable to see.
Surrealism, basing on the same media qualifies of photography which were valued by constructivism, used them to complete-
ly différent ends. Mechanicalness of its depiction and its objectivity allowed to transgress the restrictions of direct perception of the
world controlled by the rationalised reason. A convulsive beauty of the snapshot of violent movement captured in its climax was to
be a source of surrealistic picture springing into existence in the subconscious of the audience.
In the theoretical manifestas of the ail avant-garde movements the argument of photography was the reason for which many
radical changes oceurred in fine arts. The most often the fact of existence of photography and cinematography invalidated in various
ways the sensé of the previous forms of depiction in art.
Translated by Grażyna Waluga
Idem, Fotodinamismo..., s. 13 (7).