Overview
In the 1970s and 1980s, a group of āunofficialā artists in Moscowāartists not recognized by the state, not covered by state-controlled media, and cut off from wider audiencesācreated artworks that gave artistic form to a certain historical moment: the experience of Soviet socialism. The Moscow conceptualists not only reflected and analyzed by artistic means a spectacle of Soviet life but also preserved its memory for a future that turned out to be different from the officially predicted one. They captured both the shabby austerity of everyday Soviet life and the utopian energy of Soviet culture. In History Becomes Form, Boris Groys offers a contemporary's account of what he calls the most interesting Russian artistic phenomenon since the Russian avant-garde.
The book collects Groys's essays on Moscow conceptualism, most of them written after his emigration to the West in 1981. The individual artists of the groupāincluding Ilya Kabakov, Lev Rubinstein, and Ivan Chuikovābecame known in the West after perestroika, but until now the artistic movement as a whole has received little attention. Groys's account sheds light not only on the Moscow Conceptualists and their work but also on the dilemmas of Soviet artists during the cold war.
This book title, History Becomes Form (Moscow Conceptualism), ISBN: 9780262525084, by Boris Groys, published by MIT Press (September 13, 2013) is available in paperback. Our minimum order quantity is 25 copies. All standard bulk book orders ship FREE in the continental USA and delivered in 4-10 business days.
Unlike Amazon and other retailers who may also offer History Becomes Form (Moscow Conceptualism) books on their website, we specialize in large quantities and provide personal service, from trusted, experienced, friendly people in Portland, Oregon. We offer a Price Match Guarantee, and QuickQuote form, to make purchasing quick and easy.
Prefer to work with a human being when you order History Becomes Form (Moscow Conceptualism) books in bulk? Our Book Specialists are standing by Monday-Friday 8-5 PST, ready to help!