Laputa I. Kingdom of the Absurd by Jonathan Swift 1977

Oleksandr Aksinin created this etching, "Laputa I. Kingdom of the Absurd by Jonathan Swift," but the date of its creation is unknown. It visualizes a scene from Swift's "Gulliver's Travels" and the absurd kingdom of Laputa. Aksinin, an artist working in Soviet Ukraine, uses the visual codes of surrealism and fantasy to create this image of the flying island. The oppressive political climate of the Soviet Union likely influenced his choice of subject matter. "Gulliver's Travels" is itself a satire of the British monarchy, but Aksinin has transplanted this critique to his contemporary setting, where the institutions of art were heavily monitored and regulated by the government. Aksinin’s work comments on the absurdity of power, using the safe distance of literary adaptation to make political statements. As historians, we examine Aksinin's artistic production and how the politics of the time shaped his work. Understanding the institutional and social context allows us to interpret the art and to reveal the complex interplay between art and society.