Picturing Socialism by J. R. Jenkins;

Author:J. R. Jenkins; [Jenkins, J. R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781350067158
Publisher: Bloomsbury UK
Published: 2020-12-09T00:00:00+00:00

Plate 19 Irmela and Martin Hadelich, ‘Die Erde hat Genug Brot für Alle’ [section of work] (The Earth has Enough Bread for All), Halle-Neustadt, 1968. Photograph © J. R. Jenkins 2011.

Interior works – ceramic works, painting on wood, stained glass, for example Johannes Wagner’s Kinder und Ihre Umwelt (Children and their Environment) for three large windows of the Second Polytechnic High School (POS) – typically had playful, optimistic themes; paintings or sculptures of animals were especially used for children’s facilities. The socialist realist tradition was present in the references to folklore, internationalism, everyday life, family relationships and the natural world. The artworks, with their largely ‘picturesque’ forms, offered an organic, humanist counterpoint to the template-made building blocks. Nonetheless the scale and number of artworks was modest in comparison to the breadth and space of the architectural environments; in most cases, for example, the scale of the sculptures Die Afrikanerin and Vater und Sohn would have been more fitting for a gallery setting. The Hadelichs’ beautifully designed ceramic series of figures was at the appropriate scale but with reduced natural light or appropriate viewing conditions due to its passageway placement. These deficits in the planning were also picked up on by members of the public and caused discussion in the local press.37

In these examples the subject matter and often modest sizes within the scale of the architectural spaces do not signal artistic departures into the breadth and spaciousness of the new landscapes. In Living Complex One the architecture was completed without the cooperation of artists at planning stage, but even an attempt to correct this in Living Complex Three, which was given to the Dresden group PG Kunst am Bau, encountered problems in practice. The records reveal that the artists felt unable to conceptualize the spaces for art before they had the architects’ plans.38 In spite of these ongoing logistical obstacles, there were new trends which were to shape the built environment of the GDR. Even as theorists continued to discuss synthesis and problematize the place of art within architecture, what was gradually taking place in Halle-Neustadt and elsewhere was a partial move towards Complex Environmental Design – the drawing on different design specialisms to understand the entire urban landscape in relation to needs for work and recreation. Industrial designers invented cheaply reproduceable modular elements which could be used for varied applications as required. The vast open spaces between the housing blocks also offered potential for three-dimensional and semi-functional works of design which could be focal points for communication and leisure to generate public enjoyment of outdoor space which seemed to be at risk in the planned developments. A common motif in GDR official photography displayed social life around works of design which encapsulated the ideals of wholesome play, community and communal ownership of space. Central to the representation of socialism, and in particular the promise of the modern era, were the optimal conditions of socialization and childhood; the physical centrality of children in these urban spaces was an essential corollary to their ideological significance.

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