“Technology is the mortal enemy of art”, is a statement from Aleksandr Rodchenko as potentially implying that machines are out to destroy art because artists now “relax with technology” (Danchev , 2011 p.220) thereby negating the need for them in the first place. Although Rodchenko may not be referring to Technology in its most commonly associated form, the definition of the word is “the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes” (English Oxford Dictionaries, 2017). Coinciding with the fact that Rodchenko “turned away from representational art and grasped firmly to beliefs in utility and industry” (Armstrong, 2012 p.22), this would not warrant reason to discuss Technology in a representational manner neither. Rodchenko firmly believed “art should not exist on it’s own, but serve a practical purpose” (Dorment, 2009). Which agrees with Rodchenko’s work post Representational and Abstract in style, visually using scientific use of colour, typography and composition visable in the advertisement for Red October Cookies. This knowledge was utilised in ways conveying messages in visually exciting ways, enticing them for the viewer. This is Rodchenko turning his own practice of art into a form of technology itself, that making life easier for advertisers and companies to promote anything with use of it.
Red October Cookies Advertisement (Rodchenko, A, 1923).
To me this evidence conclusively shows that Technology is the mortal enemy of art because society consistently barrages its inhabitants with the use of art as a technology to communicate messages through advertisements, music and more. What was once art is almost entirely just a means to just communicate ideas and opinions in both objective and subjective manners, thereby “murdering” art and creating a new kind of association with the phrase (Danchev , 2011).
Danchev , A (2011) 100 Artists’ Manifestos From The Futurists to the Stuckists. United Kingdom : Penguin Modern Classics
English Oxford Dictionaries (2017) Definition Of Technology [Online] Available at https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/technology [Accessed 25/10/2017]
Armstrong, H (2012) Graphic Design Theory: Readings From the Field. SanFrancisco : Chronicle Books
Dorment, R (2009) ‘Rodchenko & Popva at Tate Modern – review’. The Telegraph [Online] 02 March. Available at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/4928225/Rodchenko-and-Popova-at-Tate-Modern-review.html [Accessed 25/10/2017]
Rodchenko, A. (1923) Red October Cookies. [Online]. Available at https://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/1998/rodchenko/texts/graphic_design_2_jpg.html [Accessed 25/10/2017].