Poster for the film 'Kino-Glaz" 1924

Alexander Rodchenko designed this lithographic poster for the film ‘Kino-Glaz’ at an unknown date. Its imagery and form reflect the radical changes taking place in Russian society after the 1917 revolution. The poster is visually striking. The design incorporates Constructivist principles and abstract shapes and geometric forms. The stark monochrome palette reflects the austerity of the time. Note the large eye at the center, symbolizing Dziga Vertov’s vision of cinema as a means of revealing the truth. Vertov was one of the most important theorists and makers of documentary film in the Soviet Union. His films were intended to capture unscripted reality, to show life as it is lived. But what are the politics of this kind of imagery? In what ways did the Soviet state enable or constrain the work of people like Rodchenko and Vertov? A range of archives and publications can help us better understand the social and institutional conditions that gave rise to this compelling image.