Joking Aside: Vladimir Tatlin and the Absurd

The article queries the conventional interpretation of Vladimir Tatlin’s oeuvre as rational and pragmatic by focusing on more “irrational” aspects such as the visionary and unfeasible Monument to the III International, Letatlin and other, parallel projects that were never constructed or, perhaps, were never meant to be constructed. While acknowledging Tatlin’s debt to Cézanne and Picasso and referring to Formalist critics Punin and Tarabukin and to his proximity to Constructivism, the article also emphasizes the common contemporary reception of Tatlin as an actor, a buffoon and even a Holy Fool. The article concludes with copious references to Tatlin’s support of Daniil Kharms and the OBERIU group of Absurdist writers and to his illustrations for the former’s “fairy-tale” Vo-pervykh i vo-vtorykh.