SAE London

Analytical Essay

Alexander Rodchenko & Tuapc Shakur

Sonny Jaye

13969

AD1109

27/March

Word count: 3834

Declaration

I hereby declare that I wrote this paper on my own and without the use of any
other than the cited sources and tools and all explanations that I copied directly
or in their sense are marked as such, as well as that the paper has not yet been
handed in neither in this nor in equal form at any other official commission.

……………………………………………….
Date, Place, Signature

















Abstract






This study looks at two artists, Alexsandr Rodchenko and Tupac Shukar, who
were from different social backgrounds and differing eras of post 1600 AD,
and attempts to analyse works from their lifetime through cultural and social
influences that played a significant factor in their careers, while also
highlighting any technological advances that may have had any directional
impact on their works. Then there will be a comparison that illustrates any
similarities and or differences that each artist may share between them, finally
a conclusion will be drawn to summarise any significant points that arise
through the development of the paper.


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 Table of Contents

Introduction p.4

Analysis of Influences on Alexsandr Rodchenko p.4

Analysis of Influences on Tuapc Shakur p.7

Similarities & Differences Within the Artists Works p.10

Influences and Impact p.11

Conclusion p.12

References p.13























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Introduction

Each of the artists shall be studied in turn using a variety of

sources taken from their childhood and early career; this will
help to convey a broader and more representative picture of the
artistʼs own cultural influences and social character. Then while
drawing attention to defining examples of their works, taken from
different periods and movements in each artists careers,
highlighting the reoccurring influences and techniques they
applied, or changes in development of approach, as they both
mature culturally and socially, additional consideration will be
given to any technological advances that may of helped shape
direction and or creativity. Thereafter similarities and differences
that each artist may have between them, in their works or
character will be discussed and brought to light. Following this,
the understanding and knowledge gained will then be applied to
help convey observations of how the artists have influenced
todayʼs contemporary practices, trends, and social society before
finally offering a conclusion that will sum up some final
observations on what creates a artist, what motivates an artist
and how we ourselves perceive an artist.

Analysis of Influence on Alexsandr Rodchenko

1851-1956

Born in 1851 on the 5th of December in St Petersburg, which at

the time was Russiaʼs capital, into what would become a period
of unrest and revolution. A. Rodchenko was to become one of
Russiaʼs leading lights in Art, Sculpture and Photography. Russia
itself, on the one hand was a successful Empire and was in
control of much international territory, it had open relations with
Europe, active trade and all the apparent spoolingʼs of
imperialism, yet conversely it was also underlying with
discontent, its people were very much living a repressed
existence, the Czars of Imperial rule had long deprived its people
of its wellbeing, instead opting to ignore its peoples needs and
relevance and continue in its quest for greed and power, ignorant
to the struggle of most of its inhabitants. This had lead to two
previously unsuccessful attempts at overthrowing the repressive
Czar regimes, first in 1825 and then again in 1905, revolution
was definitely in the air and was bubbling under the surface, and
at the very heart of its population. Add to this a very bloody war


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with the Germans in World War 1 which Russia was grossly ill-
equipped and poorly prepared for, and would concede the biggest
loss of life of any one nation in any war, and also an economic
crisis, and you start to gain a perspective of why such unrest
was in fact present. Amongst all this A. Rodchenko would study
at the Kazan School of Art in Odessa up until 1914 under Nikolai
Feshin and Georgii Medvede, he was to be influenced early on by
Futurism, though short lived, and was to become more
significantly part of the Russian Avante Garde movement.
Russian Avante Garde challenged the very notion of aristocracy
through its works, and was by definition a challenge to the status
quo on structures and beliefs of society at the time, questioning
current thinking whilst posing as a spark to alternative ideology
and being very contrary to the then current social structure of an
Imperial rule, it was a movement very much of revolution, and it
would be revolution and progression that would provide a such
an important platform for A. Rodchenkoʼs career and his works.
Then in 1917 it came, the monarchy was overthrown early on in
the year, and later in the now famous month of October, the
Government fell too, a Russian revolt had succeeded, with Lenin
and the Bolshevikʼs storming into power. Soon after, A.
Rodchenkoʼs would produce what we mostly associate with his
rise to iconic status today.

In 1917 when Lenin and the Bolsheviks had decided that

Communism was to be the political catalyst for a new Russian
society, choosing to leave behind its Imperial past and the
ravages of the 1st world war in 1918, and to progress with a new
sense of optimism and solidarity. A group of artists known as the
constructivists, who were made up of various artists in different
disciplines lead by Vladimir Tatlin, a painter and architect, and
of course which Rodchenko was a leading figure, were to be
recruited to bear the responsibility of delivering Russiaʼs new
political agenda through the use of iconic images and
propaganda.

The idea of the constructivist movement was to provide a more

pragmatic use of art, gone were the wondrous pieces of work that
had incorporated mystery and beauty and represented current
Fine Art, and might be sold for high gains amongst the
aristocracy “By the lights of the Constructivist project, art had to
be everyday” Darwent (2009) it was art for everyone, not just
value and collectors, the art would instead lead a more
structured approach, offering geometry and a sense of
perspective, which you can really sense was a revolt against any
of the works of that time. Take for instance Non-Objective
Painting in 1917, everything is at an angle, nothing seems to be
seen head on and yet there is a kind of order to it too, but if you
compare it against something of a more traditional works of fine
art, it would definitely imply a sense of revolt and ante the status
quo. This was the very ideal that the new Russia would want to
employ and propagate, a new perspective, a new order and down
with the aristocracy and its power hunger and greed, new Russia


 5

was to be a representation of its people “For Rodchenko, design
was not a matter of aesthetics. It was a catalyst for social
change” Southbank Centre. (2008) Further unpinning an ideal of
structure and the bigger task at hand, the constructivists would
not just produce art for arts sake. Again the revolutionary cry is
at the center of the works to be produced by A. Rodchenko and
his comrades of constructivism. They would deliver the message
of a new Russia, with their art, to the masses.

This message is certainly evident in so much of the work that

was produced in this segment of A. Rodchenkoʼs life, both he and
his partners of constructivism were very much producing a
conveyer belt of promise, art was no longer for the pointless
purpose of the onlookers gaze but now had a mission to fulfill, it
would lead the way and help mould a society into a new ideal.
“Constructivists looked upon themselves as engineers and not
necessarily artists: they believed they were the engineers of
vision” (Art Knowledge News, 2010) Production was to be the
backbone of a new message; the use of printing machines and
presses would be incorporated into the operation to deliver the
works on a national scale, to carry Russia and its defiance of its
own imperialist past, and of the west, and its attempts to overrun
its land, Russia would now be reordered by its own society.

Then in 1920-21 a time known as “The Roaring Twenties” due to

the explosion of technology, A. Rodchenko would in fact abandon
painting altogether, declaring at an exhibition in Moscow in
September 1921 that this would be his final efforts using paints.
The Triptych “Pure Red Colour, Pure Yellow Colour, and Pure
Blue Colour “ would mark the end of an era for A. Rodchenko,
and this was conveyed by various observations on the works.
“Fine art could not get any plainer than this. This was painting
and colour at its purest, completely devoid of all meaning or
personality” (Encyclopedia.com 2010) This is quite clear when
you see the paintings because they have no obvious geometry to
them, which was typical of his works, there is no structure or the
customary feel of revolt, instead there is only a blank canvas
depicting the colour of each paintings titles. The paintings
suggested what he must of consciously thought at the time; there
is nothing more to say.

He would instead move with the progressions and inventions of

the age and start to produce work as a photographer, a new
revolution, which he believed to be the future for art and its
expression that would better suit his need to convey images with
more realism, capturing more of the light and angles that he
would always aspire to showcase. It would be this era of his life
that would prove to be the most pioneering, with many new
concepts being conceived, radical ideas on how to photograph
someone or something, he would always be seeking new
approaches and experimenting with different methods of taking
pictures. “A period when he revolutionised the medium by
pioneering a new vocabulary of bold and unusual camera


 6

positions” Southbank Centre. (2008) So what of these works?
Once again when analysing a variety of his collection there is a
clear evidence of the old influences that would again supplement
his works, ways of portraying angles and almost never actually
showing anything head on, and the lines of geometry from his
constructivism past are applied again and still, he finds room for
his closest alley, the revolution, often searching out
opportunities of revolt in the streets and lined orders of soldiers,
or mass groupings of geometrically organised people, this
observation is supported by the Museum of Modern Art, N.Y
which states on its website that “His style of oblique angles
extended into photography the dynamic diagonal compositions of
his early paintings” (Museum of Modern Art, 2010) Take for
instance his Girl with a Leica, 1934 piece, this photograph
depicts all of his customary techniques demonstrating the lines
of geometry, the angle of perspective, use of light to enhance
aesthetics. The only element of his techniques that seems to be
missing is a sign of revolution, though indirectly, you could
conceive the works as a being part of his latest revolution,
photography.

Sadly after Leninʼs death in 1924 and the rise to power of Stalin,
A. Rodchenko and the wondrous army of constructivists employed
under the rule of Lenin were all but banished of their freedom to
influence, and instead were subjected to producing only works
accredited by the new regime which was not at all sympathetic to
the wild works of the past. A. Rodchenko still produced works of
fine credit but the wave of wonder that they the constructivists
had brought was most definitely all but past.

Analysis of Influences on Tuapc Shakur

1851-1956

Born in 1971 T.Shakur was to become one of the worlds most

famous artists and some would even go as far as saying that he
has become an even bigger star since his death in 1996, though
it was a tough life early on for T.Shakur growing up he would find
himself often up ended and moved from place to place by his
mother Alice Fayne Walker AKA Afeni Shukar, who was a very
politically minded and Revolutionary individual, and active
member of the Black Panther Party which was founded in 1966 by
Bobby Steve and Huey Newton.


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The Black Panther Party was an organisation formed to combat
the racial discrimination and violence imposed against black
society by the police in America, and would defend the black
community and themselves with the use of force and arms if
necessary in the ghetto areas. This was born in response to
accusations of racial brutality and murder committed by the
police themselves, and would develop to include a list of polices
that were expected to be accepted and implemented, these
demands formed a ten-point program and put forward such
requests as social and political equality for all black people,
retrial of all black institutionalised prisoners, juried exclusively
by black people therefore representative of its own social
background and education, which had formed part of the original
Constitution of America. The party considered these demands as
lawful and realistic, however, they would only encounter
repressive actions against any attempts to substantiate
themselves, despite this, it very much maintained its political
stance, this movement would no doubt bear a strong influence on
T. Shakur himself, who would be surrounded by this as a child.

Tupacʼs mother would also have personal involvement with quite

a few men that were also members of the Black Panthers, most
notably Mutuliu Shakur, a poet, and Doctor of medicine, who
though not an active Black Panther member “Dr Shakur also
worked very closely with the Black Panther Party supporting his
brother Lumumba Shakur and Zayd”
(http://www.mutulushakur.com/about.html, no date). Still
maintained close ties with the party and is today, considered one
of the most important activists and revolutionaries of the black
American community. Mutuliu Shakur wasnʼt Tupacʼs biological
father but was as T. Shakur considered, his real father, his
biological father Billy Garland never really maintained any
contact with T. Shakur and so was not considered of relevance,
in Tupacs own words. Mutuliu Shakur though, was close to tupac
and played a significant part in his early development and had
been the one that had introduced T. Shakur to poetry. He would
later be convicted and sentenced to jail for robbery in 1981,
which would leave T. Shakur in a very lonely space at the time. It
was at this point that T. Shakur discovered poetry could help him
express himself and release some of his inner most thoughts,
this would be the first medium in which he really started to
explore the depth of his emotions that he had often keep hidden
from the chaos of the outside world, alone with his thoughts he
could connect with his soul and really convey the unseen side to
his personality. There is no cure 4 what I feel itʼs just the pain
that ails me, no prescription from the doctorsʼ modern medicine
has failed me (Shakur 1995)

T. Shakur would in 1985 study at Baltimore School of Arts and

this was where he would first be exposed to Rap which was a
perfect companion to his already gained poetry skills, and it was
here that he would begin to write his first Rap songs. Incidentally
Rap, forms one of the foundations of the Hip Hop movement.


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Hip Hop was born in America in New York in the Bronx in the
1970ʼs, though its foundation originates from Jamaica, and in itʼs
more recently known state is made up of four elements that
combine together to represent the movement, these are Rap,
MCing, Breakdance and Graffiti. The movement was born of, and
inspired by youths who had felt alienated by the social structure
in America that had often ignored the relevance of its views and
political standing, it would therefore give young people the
opportunity to speak and be heard whilst having a social medium
that represented what they stood for, however what also needs
attention drawn to it is that Hip Hop itself would be influenced by
that, what which it represented. To be more specific, it would
convey much of the gang mentality and violence of urban
American teenage culture, which would create a vicious circle of
exposure to its audience, the artists and its culture. This would
then convey an ever-escalating scale of violence and gang
culture, and T. Shakur would very much end up carrying this
influence in his own persona. Aggression and style had become a
part of the culture, which typified much of what Hip Hop and T.
Shakur would come to represent.

These two movements namely Hip Hop and The Black Panther
Party would influence heavily in Tupacʼs works. His first Album
was to be released in 1991 and would be a runaway success
shooting him to stardom, the album was called 2pocalypse Now,
and when you listen to it, you really get a sense of those early
influences coming trough, with the constant reference to the
police and how the streets would be considered the battleground
of war, between the locals dubbed as ʻsoldiersʼ against the
oppressive ʻpoliceʼ of the state, this very much illustrates his
early exposure to the Black Panther Party and many of the active
revolutionary men & women that Tupac would no doubt of come
into contact with. Songs such as Souljaʼs Story, Violent and
Trapped all very much lead in this direction of opinion, and are
almost direct representations of the message of the Black
Panther movement, it could be considered that Tupac had in fact
become a messenger of a political agenda and was conveying
this message for all to hear, later albums such as Strictly 4 My
N.I.G.G.A.Z. also carried the influences of his early life, and
what also started to emerge and be projected by his works was
the dark and violent side of Hip Hop “as gangsta rap moved from
the margins of Hip Hop culture to the center” Kitwana (1997,
p.31) albums such as Me Against the World, All Eyes On Me and
Thug Life are all very much demonstrate the role and influence
that Hip Hop culture was having on T. Shakur himself, and Young
urban America. This reality of ghetto life and East side, West
side, would grow to become more and more evident as time
moved on.


 9

Similarities & Differences Between the Artists Works

When observing both artists, An instance of similar bearing that

is noticed is the notion of Revolution, for example we see that T.
Shakur takes huge reference from his exposure to the Black
Panther Party which was very much an advocate of revolutionary
ideals, being, that it had a political agenda and wanted change to
the current structure of society, and T. Shakur propels this
message through his works calling for change to society which is
failing in his opinion, and which continues to ignore the problems
of its actions, he wants very much change to be brought to
society.

A. Rodchenko too, is also propelled forward by the energy of

revolution. He throughout his career is part of a revolutionary
movement of some kind, be it Avant Garde, Constructivism or
even Photography. “An avant-garde work pushes the known
boundaries of acceptable art sometimes with revolutionary,
cultural, or political implications”(National Gallery of Art, 2010)
All his motivations are very much a wave of revolution that he
rides along with, aiding in the delivery of his works.

Both men, are very much at the forefront of questioning society

about its ideologies and beliefs, this is evident again with A.
Rodchenkoʼs works for the Russian Avant Garde movement in
particular which denounces that art is for just the aristocracy, it
also constantly questions and provokes the higher state,
deliberately trying to call into question its authority. Then, his
later involvement and support of a Communist political
movement, which itself is the outcome of a Revolution, begins to
create a pattern of behaviour. T. Shakur too, has a similar
opinion and often remarks within his works and openly in
interviews about the imbalances of societies treatment and views
of different cultures and backgrounds, referring mostly to his own
African American culture while also posing questions of the
structure of society being deliberate in its attempt to hinder the
progression of a certain culture or race. “The American Dream
wasn't meant for me Cause lady liberty is a hypocrite she lied to
me, Promised me freedom, education, equality Never gave me
nothing but slavery” (Shakur, 2007) This is all evidence that
certainly does propagate an affiliation to Revolution.

Conversely the difference in the way in which the two artists

express themselves would be their motivations, by this I am
pointing to the underlying and most important agenda that both
had in their works. A. Rodchenko although quite political and
revolutionary in his work, still very much exemplifies a man and
his work. He is always seeking a new direction to follow or new


 10

perspective to portray his works from. Itʼs very much a case of it
is Art and the study of Art that is his main objective. Along with
this is his movement from one medium to another, new frontiers
of discovery and evolution, they all play a part of his
progressions and are right at the heart of his work, and although
he always seems to be amongst a revolution, he never really
sways away from his main concern, the study and development of
Art.

Whereas T. Shakur displays a different direction with his agenda,

the art is used as a catalyst for his message and plays a
somewhat secondary role in what is his main objective, politics.
This can be seen when watching interviews and listening to his
music works. His most important concern is the message, and it
is this message that is always reinforced and at the root of
anything that he might practice. Even when he was to perform for
motion picture, in all the interviews given, he would be pointing
to his own experience in the field of police behaviour, or life in
the ghettos, and how ill conceived the expectation of people with
such a background might be. His own personal agenda of society
re-evaluating, at the very least some of its principal structures
and foundations, never really halts and his works never really
sway from the political message that he is trying to provide.
Change. "I may not be able to change the world, but I guarantee
that I will spark the mind that will change the world." (Shakur,
1994)

Influence and Impact

The influence that these two artists have had is enormous; A.

Rodchenko is often studied, be it for Design Studies, Painting or
even Photography for which he pioneered so much. His influence
can be seen in everyday walks of life such as advertising, whom
which the constructivists played a significant role, theirs and his
works for the Russian government bears huge relevance on the
concept of mass media propaganda that exists today. Then there
is T. Shakur who has become one of Americaʼs cultural icons,
and is studied at establishments as renowned as Harvard, and
Berkley. His political voice very much put all that it covered at
scrutiny, and many positive things came as a direct result to his
life and sad death. This impact of the two artists will live on long
in the culture and structure of society, no doubt influencing many
generations of professionals to come, be it artists, the general
public or in any other indirect practices, that are unforeseen as
of yet.


 11

Conclusion

It is well understood and widely accepted common knowledge

that what happens to a person in the early part of their life will
bear significance and have impact on who they become and what
they believe in, later on in their life. This concept is supported
further when observing both T. Shakur and A. Rodchenkoʼs works
and lives, there is a strong indication that what the two artists
witnessed as a child and early adulthood played a significant
bearing on the influence and motivations of what was to become
their lives work and personal makeup. Both are examples of what
they were exposed to and surrounded by early on, both of them
depict strong characteristics of their childhood, and both of them
carried this light forward into their careers.

What also comes to light is that is seems everybody needs an

objective beyond the short term to produce works of a legacy. A.
Rodchenko and T. Shakur had an objective to meet; another way
to say this would be to say that they had both set a goal, be it
consciously or not. A. Rodchenkoʼs goal was the study and
development of art by means of which, to represent another way
of looking at things, a different perspective, a different ideology
even, not to just look at everything head on. Yet T. Shakurs
objective was Political reform, his works all very much calling
into question the then current structure of society, each piece of
work being a small part to his greater message, this is significant
in that it demonstrates that each of them was in pursuit of
something greater, than any of the individual works, a focus of
longevity that would propel them forward with hunger and
enthusiasm that one needs to meet and create such a legacy.
The interesting thing is whether this was born of conscious or
unconscious, whether each had set out an objective
systematically, or if that the passion had just burned so deep
inside that it drove them forward unwittingly?

Overall though what is most prominent when analysing such

works from the perspective of observer, is that to understand
what an artist creates, one first has to understand what creates
the artist.


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Cite Them Right The Essential Referencing Guide PEARS. S. R

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