The family of the famous master of the Russian avant-garde Lazar (El) Lissitzky was exiled to Novosibirsk after his death. Here his wife Sophie collected materials for a book about her husband. Here in 1967 the first exhibition of El Lissitzky opened. In the fall of 2012, an international competition was announced in Novosibirsk for a monument or environmental object dedicated to Lazar (El) Lissitzky.
“By announcing the Worlds of El Lissitzky project, we are not going to engage in 'museumification' of its heritage. El Lissitzky is not a “dead classic” handed over to the archive, but a living figure, a source of ideas and new approaches not only to art, but also to NEW Life-building. The ideology of the avant-garde, its focus on the future, is more important today than ever. And for Novosibirsk, and for Siberia, and for Russia as a whole,”the organizers write.
In total, 184 works took part in the competition. The short list included 50 projects (they can be seen at the virtual exhibition), three were announced as winners, taking first, second and third places. Their authors will be invited to participate in the second round of the competition, the work of the winner of which is planned to be implemented.
The jury consisted of architects, artists and art workers from various countries: Sergei Lissitsky, grandson of Lazar (El) Lissitzky (Israel), artist and sculptor Mikhail Shemyakin (France), architect Yuri Avvakumov (Moscow), director of the Van Abbe Museum Charles Ash (Eindhoven, the Netherlands), art historian, curator, author of books about the Russian avant-garde Professor John Milner (England), editor-in-chief of Project Russia magazine Alexei Muratov, director of the State Museum of Architecture. Shchuseva Irina Korobyina (Moscow), director of the Center for Contemporary Art Anna Tereshkova, architect Alexander Lozhkin, artist Vyacheslav Mizin, chief architect of Novosibirsk Vladimir Fefelov, chief artist of Novosibirsk Yuri Burika.
The competition officially ended on November 20, 2012. The premiere screening of the works included in the shortlist of the competition and the announcement of the winners took place in February 2013 in Novosibirsk as part of the Golden Capital architecture festival.
First place
Project “Black Currency. Portable monument ". Gabor Clarke (UK)
from the author's description of the project:
“The portable monument reflects the biogeographic exchange of ideas. Instead of creating a single monument in a specific location, a multiple and movable monument is proposed, which is a silhouette of an empty cube in perspective. Like proun, his visual and tactile perception is between two and three-dimensional spaces. The main stops of the Lissitzky's life are reflected on his ribs."
"The production process uses a local technological base based on the existing metallurgy, metalworking and machine-building industries of Novosibirsk."
Second place
Reveal Absence Project. Guillaume Mazar (France)
from the author's description of the project:
“It is proposed to build a monument that would reflect the different works of El Lissitzky. The goal is to make the depth of three-dimensional space palpable. This system will become a tool for revealing voids and projection depths."
“By subtraction, as in melting forms, we recreate the spatial presence of El Lissitzky's project, without realizing it physically. Those. the imaginary object remains invisible but tangible. Thanks to this form, the viewer's imagination completes the virtual project of the monument. At night, the lighting network shows the virtual contours of the "Horizontal Skyscraper".
"Depending on the location chosen for the construction, the scale of the monument can be changed."
Third place
Mobile application "Augmented reality". Konstantinos Mizidis and Georgios Anastaziatis (Greece)
from the author's description of the project:
“Lissitzky's paintings will be placed on buildings, projected onto walls, standing on the ground, hiding behind trees. The observer will be able to see them only through a mobile phone, if he points the camera correctly. Now people will be able to access Lissitzky's works in a way that has not been possible until now. They will even be able to create their own Proun using a set of preset shapes and colors on their phones. A small application with little cost and great impact."
More details about the competition and its results (PDF file provided by the organizers).