Part of the Show Machinery (Teil der Schaumaschinerie)

1923

This lithograph is one of ten scenery and costume designs by El Lissitzky for a puppet version of the 1913 Russian Futurist opera Victory over the Sun, a tale of the clash between technological progress and social order set in a utopian universe. In his interpretation of the opera, Lissitzky emphasized its power imbalances through severely abstracted sets and costumes. His new generation’s politicized avant-garde style, Constructivism, enlisted abstract art as a catalyst not just for spiritual experience but also for social change.