UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository) Writing and the ... · place..A tthisexhibition,Malevic'pamphle t From Cubism to Suprematism. New PainterlyPainterly 'Realism appeare d forthefirsttime.I

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Writing and the 'Subject'

Greve, C.

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44 MINIMALIS M AND PLAY I N ALEKSEJ KRUCENYCH' SS CAUCASIAN BOOKS, 1917-1918 8

Untill recently, littl e was known about the large number of books produced be-

tweenn 1916 and 1919 by Aleksej Krucenych. The books in question are very

smalll and consist of only a few leaves each. They have a homemade feel and

evenn simpler look than the lithographed handwritten books made just a few years

earlier.. Only a few copies were produced. Made in the Caucasus at a time when

Russiaa was undergoing the First World War, two revolutions, and finally a civil

war,, it is no wonder that there has been only the scarcest evidence as regards

theirr numbers and content. On top of this, the books preceded the formation

off 41 °, a futurist group of poets and painters in Tiflis, which as an avant-garde

movementt drew much critical attention.

Inn 1982, Rosemarie Ziegler wrote a significant article on Krucenych's produc-

tionn between 1916 and 1919. This was followed in 1997 by Tat'jana Gor'ja-

ceva'ss article 'K ponjatiju ékonomii tvorcestva'. Most recendy, the Majakovskij

Museumm in Moscow has issued a catalogue of its substantial collection.1 How-

ever,, this catalogue reproduces just the covers and occasionally one or two

pagess from a few of the books. Generally reproduction of the books remains

veryy scarce. With the exception of a few pages from various books, only the

bookss Tunlap, F/nagt, and Kaa/da%ha.ve been reproduced; the first in Ekaterina

Bobrinskaja'ss article Teorija "momental'nogo tvorcestva" A. Krucenych', the

secondd in Gerald J anecek's book The Look of Russian Literature, and the third in

thee 2002 catalogue for the exhibition "The Russian Avant-Garde Book, 1910-

1934"" at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. I have been able to study

thee books held at the Majakovskij Museum, and to reproduce pages from the

bookss Ba/os and Nestrofe as well as a few hitherto never reproduced pages from

FoFo Ijfa here. My analysis will be made on the basis of these and other books

fromm the collection at the Majakovskij Museum.

123 3

WRITINGG AND THE 'SUBJECT'

I tt is clear that these books represent a further development of some of the fea-

turess of the early avant-garde handwritten and illustrated lithographed books,

yett in a more radicalized and concentrated manner. The intertwined verbal and

visuall representation, the handwritten text, and the handmade appearance, are

featuress that are radicalized and simplified in the new books. Especially inter-

estingg is the close interaction between text and image, which becomes evident

fromm a mere glance at any of the pages. These pages not only reveal a minimal

expressionn but a radical relation to the space of the page: line, spaces, reading

direction,, and so forth. Moreover, they reveal an emphasis on the individual let-

ter,, which appeals to a visual perception but hampers any attempt at articula-

tion.. Rosemarie Ziegler has called these poems mute suprematist poetry. This is

partlyy as a result of the obvious similarity in (minimal) expression with the su-

prematistt (minimal) painterly expression. It is also partly due to Krucenych's

friendshipp with Kazimir Malevic and Ol'ga Rozanova, who were closely in-

volvedd in the propagation of suprematism in Moscow and St. Petersburg after

1915. .

However,, the casual, capricious and fragmentary appearance of the books, as

welll as the apparent inconsistency in poetic practice, is not in accordance with

suprematism.. I have chosen to analyze the books in which Krucenych seems to

attemptt to incorporate suprematist ideas into his book production. The books

inn question are Balos, Nestroc'e, Tunsap, and Kovka^t from 1917, and Fo-ly-fay

Kaalda^Kaalda ̂ Ra-va-cba, and F/nagt from 1918. In so doing, I hope to underline the

particularitiess of Krucenych's production and to reevaluate the significance of

thee interrelationship between text and image.

Futuris mm in the Caucasus, 1915-1920

Att the beginning of 1915, Krucenych moved to the Caucasus and started to

workk at a school for drawing at the women's gymnasium in Batalpasinsk.2 At

thee same time, he continued the publication of books in cooperation with his

friendss in Moscow: Malevic, Kljun, Jakobson and Rozanova. The result of this

cooperationn were the books Tajnyeporoki akademikov [Secret Vices of Academicians)

andd Zaumnajagniga{A Trans-rational hoog), which were published in Moscow.

124 4

MINIMALIS MM AND PLAY IN ALEKSEJ KRUCENYCH'S CAUCASIAN BOOKS

Thee first had texts by Krucenych, Kljun and Malevic and drawings by Kljun,

whilee the second had texts by Krucenych and Aljagrov (Jakobson) and was de-

signedd by Rozanova. At the end of May 1915, Malevic wrote to Michail Matju-

sinn and mentioned the plans to publish a new magazine, Supremus, for which

Rozanovaa was to be the secretary. She later mentioned Krucenych's possible

participationn along with Aljagrov and others (Ziegler 1982: 253 n. 13). In De-

cemberr of the same year, the "Last Futurist Exhibition of Paintings, 0,10" took

place.. At this exhibition, Malevic' pamphlet From Cubism to Suprematism. New

PainterlyPainterly 'Realism appeared for the first time. In the pamphlet, Malevic declared:

"N oo ja preobrazilsja v nule form i vysel za 0 - 1" ("But I transformed myself

intoo a zero-form and went beyond 0 - 1"; 1995: 34). In January 1916, the book

VojnaVojna (War) appeared in Petrograd with texts by Krucenych and linocuts by

Rozanova. .

Withh the outbreak of the war, Krucenych was drafted into military service. He

startedd working as a technical drawer on the building of the Erzerum railway

linee in the town Sarykamys. In his continued correspondence with Malevic, Ro-

zanova,, Matjusin, and others, he apparently expressed his concern about the

situation.. In a letter dated June 1916, Malevic wrote to Matjusin:

KpyneHwxx oneHb Macro rnmieT H3 CapMKaMtiuia. Bee napeHb roTOBHTbCfl rrocAee BOHHU 3aBepHyrb «Bepny». A^H 6or, a 6yAy oneHb paA 3a Hero. R TO>Kee nocHAaio einy, Kaic OH Ha3biBaeT, «BeTpormcH». UHmy eNty HOBhie CBOHH 3 M a H H H MbICA H O £4066, O KOMn03HHH H CAOBeCHblX MaCC (AO CHX

nopp KOMnoHHpoBaAacb pH(|)Ma, a He CAOBa). (Kovtun 1976: 190)

(Krucenychh writes me a lot from Sarykamys. All the time, the chap intends to turn thee coin after the war. God knows, I will be very happy for him. I also send him whatt he calls "windmail". I write to him about my new tasks and thoughts on the word,, on the composition of verbal masses (until now only the rhyme and not the wordd is composed).)

Krucenychh is unhappy about going to the Caucasus and the prospect of spend-

ingg a long time there which is also evident in another letter to Matjusin dated

Decemberr 1916: "A ja by tak sobralsja v Piter! [...] Ja t(ak) rastrepan vsem slu-

civsimsja,, cto napisu Vam eelovee'e pis'mo po uspokoenii" ("I would really like

125 5


too go to Piter [St Petersburg C.G.\\ [...] I feel so confused about all that has

happenedd that I wil l write you a more human letter for your tranquility"; Kov-

tun:: 175). However, on the way to Sarykamys, he spent the month of March in

Tifli ss where he made contact with local poets and painters:

RR nsicaA BaM c Aopora, HTO eA>' B Tnc|)AHce Ha npoAOA>KtrreAbHoe BpeMfl, T.e.. Ha secb MapT 1916 r. BOT H npHÖbiA. [...] 3Aecb o (|)yTypH3Me HHKaKOH AirrepaTypfaii HCT, a HecK. HCAOBCK BcrpeTHA, HTO HCKDCHHO HHTepecyioTCfl —— A H AaA HM Koe-HTO AAA npocBemeHHH. (OR RGB Sem. 10.4.1916)

(II wrote to you on the road, that I am on my way to Tifli s for a long time, i.e. for thee whole of March 1916. Well, IVe just arrived. [...] There is no literature on fu-turismm at all, but I met some people, who are sincerely interested - I gave them somethingg for their enlightenment.)

Inn 1916, Krucenych's book of collages VseUnskaja vojna (Universal War *b) ap-

peared,, a publication that seemed to initiate an extensive flurry of activity pub-

lishing,, organizing, and giving lectures on futurism.

Inn January of the next year, the book 1918 appeared, and he wrote to §emsu-

rin:33 "u-r-ra-ra: 1918 - vysla éto ne kniga a celaja vystavka" ("hu-r-ra-ah: 1918

hass been published: this is not a book, but an entire exhibition!"; OR RGB,

Sem.. 6.3.1917). Lithographed ferroconcrete poems by Kamenskij, poems by

Krucenych,, lithographs with colored collages by K. Zdanevic, and collages by

Krucenychh were included in the book. At the end of the spring, Ucites' chudogil

(Learn(Learn Arterst) appeared. This book is lithographed and includes a poem by the

Polishh artist Z. Waliszewski, poems by Krucenych (some of which he illustrated

himself),, and drawings by K. Zdanevic. As Ziegler notes, these two productions

indicatee that Krucenych, along with his continued orientation towards Moscow

andd Petrograd, now regarded Tifli s as a third cultural centre (1982: 232). In

19177 he also initiated the production of around 30 autographed books begin-

ningg with Golubyejajca (Sky-blue Eggs), Nosobo/ka, Balos, Kovka ̂ Tunsap, Gorodv

osadeosade (A Town Under Siege), and Nestrvfe.4

Inn November 1917, the Syndicate of Futurists was founded. Participants were

thee poets I. Zdanevic, Kara-Dardis, A. Krucenych, N. Cernjavskij, Z. Waliszew-

ski,, and the painters V. Gudiasvili (Gudiev) and K. Zdanevic. Characteristic of

126 6


thiss Tifli s group of artists and poets was an interest in primitivism, lubok, folk-

art,, the shop-sign painter Niko Pirosmanasvili, children's art and language, the

artt of the village, and fairy tales (NikoFskaja 1987: 91). Moreover, the group

wass similar to the Moscow group of cubo-futurists in its promotion of close

tiess between poets and painters. Thus, both Krucenych and Ilj a Zdanevic were

educatedd painters, the art of Cernjavskij was a mixture of poetry and painting,

thee artist Z. Waliszewski wrote poems, and Krucenych and I. Zdanevic pub-

lishedd articles about painting (Ibid: 92). In the period between November 1917

andd 1919, Krucenych gave a number of lectures. These lectures were primarily

dedicatedd to 320/9'and futurism and had titles such as: 'O Zaumi' ('About

Zaum'),Zaum'), 'Slovo kak takovoe' (The Word as Such ,̂ 'Éko-chud' ('Eco-art'), 'O

bezumiii v iskusstve' ('About Insanity in Alt') , 'O novom jazyke' ('About a New

Language*),, 'Istorija russkogo futurizma' (The History of Russian Futurism1)

(Zieglerr 1982: 234).

Inn December, the artists' saloon The Fantastic Littl e Inn was opened. Three

groupss used the inn simultaneously: The Poets' Workshop, The Blue Horns,

andd 41 ° (NikoFskaja 2000: 69). The inn became the center of a lively artists' en-

vironment t

Tblisii has become a fantastic city. This fantastic city needed a fantastic cornerr and one fine day at Rustaveli Prospect No. 12, in the courtyard, poetss and artists opened The Fantastic Litde Inn, which consisted of a smalll room designed for 10-15 people in which by some miracle as many ass 50 people managed to fit. The walls of the room were decorated with phantasmagoria.. The Inn was open almost every evening and poets and artistss read their poems and lectures. (NikoFskaja 1998: 167)

Inn the spring of 1918, the Syndicate of Futurists held two evenings. The first

onee was devoted to futurist poetry, while the second was devoted to futurist

paintingg (NikoFskaja 2000: 44). Shortly hereafter, the Syndicate of Futurists

stoppedd its activities and a new group under the name of 41° was formed. This

groupp was officially founded in May 1918. The participants were: I. Zdanevic,

Igor'' Terent'ev, Aleksej Krucenych and N. Cernjavskij (NikoFskaja 2000: 57).

Alsoo in the spring, from April 15 to 17, an exhibition of paintings and drawings

127 7


byy Moscow futurists, primarily from Krucenych's own collection, took place.5

Krucenychh exhibited collages from Universal War 1>'and %aum' poems (compo-

sitionss of words). During this time, he also produced 16 books including the

twoo printed books O^jrenie roi^ {Obesity of Roses) with poems by Igor' Terent'ev,

Ol'gaa Rozanova, Krucenych, and Malacholija v kapote {Malacholija in a Housecoat)

withh poems by Krucenych and drawings by K. Zdanevic. In 1919, Krucenych

continuedd the production of books, some of which appeared under the imprint

41°. .

However,, in the same year, Ilja Zdanevic left for Constantinople and subse-

quendyy for Paris, and Krucenych left for Baku. As a consequence, the group

411 ° fell apart. In Baku, Krucenych continued the production of books, some of

whichh were autographed, but the character of the books had changed. They all

hadd hard covers and often appeared in series like Zamaul' l-ï\A and the books

Mjate%Mjate% {Mutiny I-X). These were all published under the imprint 41°. Moreover,

thesee later books often included collages and color. These are elements that the

books,, which are the focus of this chapter, lack entirely.

Bookk production

Thee development of an active artistic and poetic environment and the propaga-

tingg of futurism and %aum'zre direcdy reflected in the appearance of the books

producedd during the first very short period from approximately the spring of

19177 to the summer of 1918. The production of these books came immediately

afterr the collectively produced lithographed books 1918 and Learn Ariërs! and

theyy were again followed by the printed books Obesity of Rases, Malacholija in a

Housecoat,Housecoat, and Lakirvvannoe triko {Lacquered Tights). What first strikes one about

thee books is their very simple appearance, next, the sheer quantity of books

(aroundd 30), all of which were produced in just 1-6 copies each. The tide of the

bookss often consists of either just a single 32/ww'word: Balos, Kovkatg, Coc,

F/nagt,F/nagt, Èftryc, or other %aum'word combinations: Kle^san ba or Ra va cha? These

weree features that Krucenych had not used formerly in his books nor did

hee employ them ever again.

Thee covers for the books are almost identical in design. Many of them have the

128 8


wordss "Na pravach rukopisi" [With manuscript-rights] written and underlined

att the top of the cover. Then follows Krucenych's signature, which is almost

exclusivelyy written with a small 'a' for Aleksej: "a. Krucenych". This is a signa-

ture,, which emphasizes the uniqueness and authenticity of each book (of which

noo two are exacdy alike). However, in 1919, beginning with the book Salamak

(possiblyy referring to die word "salamata" [a kind of porridge] and "durak"

[fool]) ,, Krucenych started signing his name as merely "A . Kru." (this may have

beenn a nick-name adopted in the group 41 °). Apart from the book Balos (bear-

ingg the imprint "Supremus"), none of the books bear an imprint until 1919 and

thee production of Lacquered Tights, Zamaul\ and Mutiny. This makes the books

easilyy distinguishable from the rest of Krucenych's productions. Sometimes

copiess of Tunfap, Kaa/da ̂ Kovkatg, or one of the other early Caucasus books

appearr with this imprint, but they were most likely not produced during this pe-

riod.riod.88 However, some of the books were included in later compilations dating

fromm the 1920s.

Thee books are made of between 5 and 7 pieces of paper, which are folded to

makee a book of 10 to 14 pages. They are sewn together with simple thread,

fixedfixed with metal staples or not fixed at all {MMcatalogur. 7). The paper is some-

timess plain white at others graph or file paper. The printing techniques used

cann hardly be called printing: hectography, blue, violet, and black carbon paper

copy,, typewriter, rubber stamp, or drawn with colored pencil and simple lead

pencil.. Of these methods, hectography is the most productive (with regard to

numberr of copies made at once). Compared to lithography, the process is very

simplee and was used in offices to duplicate documents.9 While making it possi-

blee to produce a large amount of copies without a printing press, the method

alsoo demanded the most technical material. Krucenych probably first used this

methodd in the book Te li k (1914) and he continued to use it in the production

off the Caucasus books.

However,, contrary to recent belief, the books in question were almost never

madee entirely by means of this technique. Often carbon paper was the main

duplicatingg technique, but more common was the mixing of different tech-

niques.. Thus, only two of the books in the MM collection are hectographed

129 9


throughout,, while others have been made with various other simple techniques.

Somee books even have pages drawn in lead pencil which adds to the fragmen-

taryy and uneven character of the books.10 For instance, in the first copy of

Tunsap,Tunsap, 3 pages are written with blue or purple carbon paper, while 8 pages are

hectographed;; in the second copy, 6 pages are written with blue carbon paper, 1

withh purple carbon paper, while 4 are hectographed; in the third copy (part of

thee book Coca, which appeared in Moscow in 192111), 2 pages are written in

leadd pencil, 1 with blue carbon paper, 8 are hectographed.12

Thee pages of the books seem to have been produced one at a time and then com-

piledd into a book. The different kinds of printing techniques and paper quality

weree symmetrically collected. This made it possible to use leftovers from previ-

ouslyy produced pages to produce new books. It also made it convenient to pro-

ducee pages along the way when a pressing creative impulse arose or when the

materiall or financial circumstances made production possible (as suggested by

Janecekk 1984: 109). Thus, most of the copies of a book included a variety of

differentt printing techniques, and different kinds of paper which renders the

notionn of copy questionable if this notion implies similarity. The simple method

off copying used also makes such a notion invalid. When simply writing a text with

carbonn paper, the technique allows a certain amount of copies to be made, how-

ever,, this simple technique does not guarantee two identical copies. Therefore,

itt must be concluded that as the exact copying of text (one of the main features

off the Gutenberg printing technique) is literally impossible, this was unlikely to

havee been a prominent concern in the production of these books.

Byy comparing the books held at the collection of the Majakovskij Museum, how-

ever,, it appears that, although production methods and paper quality varied

considerablyy from one book to the next, the content of the different copies of

thee same book is (with a few exceptions) always the same.13 The books were of-

tenn reissued in books compiled at a later date as were the books Tunlap and

F/nagt,F/nagt, which were produced in 1917 but reissued in Moscow in 1921. These

laterr issues sometimes had an extra cover, and though (in addition to the reissued

book)) some additional pages from other books were often included, the content

off the books was unchanged. It also does not seem likely that a single page from

130 0

MINIMALIS MM AND PLAY IN ALEKSEJ KRUÉENYCH'S CAUCASIAN BOOKS

aa book could appear in a different book from that in which it first appeared,

exceptt of course in the different editions oil^vsecb knig {From All'Books), which

aree compilations of different pages from different books, as the tide states. It can,

therefore,, not be doubted that these books were to be comprehended as closed

entitiess just like any of Krucenych's previous works.

Thee varying production method, paper quality and design are prominent fea-

turess of these books. Nevertheless, the simplicity of these factors gives the ap-

pearancee of the books a rather uniform visual impression. Apart from an occa-

sionall rubberstamped page, all of the books are handwritten on whitish paper

withh a simple (mosdy blue) line. Some pages have actual text written on them

andd no or very littl e visual design (a handwritten text, some lines, squares, or

zigzagg forms), while other pages consist of single letters spread over the page in

aa seemingly arbitrary fashion with a few lines or squares accompanying them.

Al ll the books have a postcard size of approximately 16 cm long and 11 cm

wide.144 This format reveals another characteristic of the books: they were pro-

bablyy meant to epitomize the aesthetic concerns that were discussed by Kruce-

nychh in his letters. The books were sent in envelopes together with letters to his

friendss in Moscow and St. Petersburg.'5

Thee letters of Roman Jakobson, Michail Matjusin, Kazimir Malevic and Ol'ga

Rozanovaa bear witness to the correspondence that Krucenych was anxious to

maintainn during his stay in the Caucasus. More than anything, continuous con-

tactt with Rozanova seems to be of utmost importance to him. She provided

poemss for the books halos and Nestroc'e (both from 1917), and she also func-

tionedd as a critic. Until her death in 1918, the two of them had an intense corre-

spondence.. This reciprocal relationship encompassed the years that Krucenych

spentt in the Caucasus while Rozanova lived in Moscow and subsequendy in

Vladimir.. Without a doubt, some of these books were sent to her. In a letter to

Krucenychh she writes about three of his books in a way which suggests that she

hadd definitely seen them: "V 'Fo-ly-fa' nacertatel'naja storona slabee, cem v

'Nestroc'e'' i 'Beguscee'. Oblozka chorosa i pervaja stranica..." ("In Fo-ly-fa the

graphicc outline is weaker than in Nestroc'e and Beguscee. The cover is good, and

thee first page ..."; Chardziev-Caga archive).

131 1


Anotherr important correspondent of Krucenych's was Semsurin whose opinion

thee former evidently valued. Not only did Krucenych give examples of this new

poetry:: "u/ku/mu/cku/ca/ku [...] Vse éto futurizm vernee éko-chud i éko-é2

(ékonomija-poézija)"" ("u/ku/mu/cku/ca/ku [...] All of this is futurism, or

ratherr eco-art and eco-poetry (economy-poetry)"; OR RGB Shem. 3.4.1917),

butt he also sent Semsurin examples of books: "Posylaju 2-ékz Tunsap - éto

samajaa zlaja i futurnaja kniga" ("I send you the second copy of Tunsap - this is

thee most evil and futuristic book"; OR RGB §em. 17.7.1917). Therefore, it seems

likelyy that these books were, at least to a certain extent, meant to epitomize Kru-

cenych'ss aesthetic ideas and theories of the time and to demonstrate these con-

cernss in vividly to his friends in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Thee simplicity of production may have been dictated of course by lack of finan-

ciall or material means. Apart from discussions on current work, the letters,

whichh Krucenych sent to his friends in Moscow, also include enquiries about

money;; this is especially true of the letters to Semsurin. This Moscow merchant

andd patron financed certain of Krucenych's productions as well as (on Kruce-

nych'ss request), Rozanova's production of the book War and some of her

paintings.166 From these letters, it must be assumed that the possibility of pro-

ducingg anything substantial was very limited. The First World War and the fol-

lowingg revolution and civil war meant a scarcity of paint and paper. In a letter

too Semsurin from 1916, Rozanova mentions this lack of materials:

I tt was necessary to order sheets with the tide at the printer's, and moreover alll the paper collages had to be done in Petrograd, since there was no col-oredd paper in Vladimir. Here it was difficult even to find black, for it had completelyy disappeared from the shops. (Gurjanova 2000: 192)

Evidendy,, the later production of printed books or books with a hard cover must

havee meant that an extensive network existed, which could support such a pro-

ductionn both financially and materially. But in the short period from 1917 until

latee 1918 or the beginning of 1919, Krucenych felt isolated from his old friends

inn Moscow and St. Petersburg and at the same time saw himself as a tutor for

hiss new friends in Tiflis. This meant that he also needed to demonstrate his ideas

vividlyy to these new associates. Because of his position as a technical drawer at

132 2


thee railway (which must have given him easy access to simple copy-book and

carbonn paper), this simple production method was ideal: it no doubt allowed

Krucenychh a substantial freedom to work and produce whenever he wanted or

neededd to, and the books could easily be sent by post to Moscow.

Thee method also answered some of Krucenych's more aesthetic concerns. Al -

thoughh the books apparendy consisted of self-enclosed entities, the production

methodd leaves an impression of a preliminary solution. I will argue that this im-

pression,, which might have been unintentionally created by a shortage and lack

off financing, is indicative of the very character of Krucenych's writing. This is

byy nature fragmentary, inconsistent and fluctuating. This inconsistency could

evenn be present within one text, which at times was an irritant to Rozanova:

B o o G m e,, B CHAy , OHeBHAHO , MOeH HHAHBHAyaAfcHO H OAHOCTOpOHHOCTH ,

MHee oueHfc TpyAHO acreTHHecKH Bocnpmurrb cMemeHHe (B OAHOM H TOM }Kee crnxoTBop(eHHii) 2-x 3aAaHHH — öecnpeAMeTHOCTb — c OAHOH cropo-HU:: Kana / AH KHM / KpHH 6a pan. (H TaK AaAee). H c Apyron cropoHbi 3KceHTpHHHyioo npeAMeTHOCTb: ToAcraa KOAÖaca / BaroH c ciraeio Myc|>-TOK),, [...] R Tenepb HcnoBeAyio, HTO npeAMeTHOCTb H 6e3npeAM(eTHOcn>) (BB >KHBonHCH) He 2 pa3HHx HanpaB(AeHHfl) B OAHOM HCKyccTBe, a 2 pa3-HMXX HCKyccTBa [...]. HnKaKOH CBA3HÜ! (Gur'janova 1999a: 73)

(Onn the whole, obviously because of my individual one-sidedness, I find it very difficultt aesthetically to grasp the confusion (in one and the same poem) of two taskss - non-objectivity — on the one hand: kapa / li kirn / kric ba rac (and so on). Andd on the other hand, eccentric objectivity: A thick sausage / A wagon with a bluee muff. [...] I now profess that objectivity and non-objectivity (in painting) are nott two different directions in one art, but two different arts [...]. There is no connectionn at all!!!)

Thiss quotation demonstrates the clash of interests between Krucenych's incon-

sistencyy and his fluctuating aesthetic concerns and Rozanova's more strict aes-

theticc system.

Furthermore,, this production method provides a second more consciously in-

tendedd possibility, namely, the unlimited experimentation with the intertwining

off visual and verbal representations. Such a concern was present at the very be-

ginningg of the production of cubo-futurist books and gradually became more

133 3


andd more explicit. Thus, in the books The Worldbackwards and Explodity, it be-

camee increasingly difficult to separate the verbal from the visual representation.

Inn a letter to Semsurin, Krucenych expresses a similar concern: "V torn cto

bukvaa - est' risunok-zivopis' vse bol'se ubezdajus' - no poka éto sekret dlja

vsegoo sveta" ("I get more and more convinced, that the letter is a drawing-

painting,, but for the time being it's a secret to the whole world"; OR RGB,

Sem.. 1.11.1915). Moreover, this was a major concern of Malevic', who was

clearlyy a great influence on Krucenych.17 However, I will argue that the limited

numberr of actual suprematist books in this period and the constant mix of non-

objectivee and objective poetry suggest that Krucenych did not always agree

withh Malevic and Rozanova, or was unable to subordinate his creative impulse

underr the suprematist meta-physical system of thought.

Fig.. 10

134 4


Thee automatism of reading

Thee first book that seems to be directly connected with suprematism is Nosoboj-

&zz (1917) in which it is stated: "Esli net zaumnoj (bezpredmetnoj supremus)

poéziii - to net nikakoj" ("If there is no %aum' (non-objective supremus) poetry,

thenn there is none at all"; Krucenych 1917b). The content of the book, how-

ever,, is largely polemical whereas the book Ba/osxs consists of poems that are

composedd as columns of %aum' words. Similarly, the word "supremus" is writ-

tenn in a vertical column: s-u-p-r-e-m-u-s, just as the tide is written in a column

withh a vertical line to its right side. This line is the only thing on the cover that

remotelyy resembles an illustration. The inscription "Supremus" on the cover

pagee (see figure 10) is unique in its direct reference to the suprematist move-

mentt in painting. The collaboration with Rozanova, who is credited for two

poemss in the book, also suggests that it was seen as a contribution to the

propagationn of suprematism. Nina Gur'janova has documented and noted this

point:: as the enthusiastic secretary of the planned publication of the journal Su-

premus,premus, Rozanova gathered material for the first release which was supposed to

includee among other things, the book Balos (1992: 93). However, apart from the

simplicityy of the columnar arrangement of the letters in tide and imprint and

thee simple line on the cover, there is nothing in the design of the book to sug-

gestt a suprematist influence. The cover design, however, introduces the colum-

narr design as a prominent feature of the poems that seem to consist of repeti-

tionstions of a minimal sound-scheme.

Thee title-poem 'Balos' consists of 9 lines, each of one word, some of them con-

sistingg of only one syllable: "Ballos / Kalóc / Galós / Balós / Sol / Va / Juk /

Cii / Malós". Four words are combinations of a consonant and a suffix made

upp of the consonants T and 's'/ 'c'. In the fifth line the word "valos" is inverted

too the syllable "Sol" followed by "va". Two one-syllable lines follow, which

havee an entirely different sound scheme: "juk", "ci" . The same method of repe-

tition,tition, sudden shifts and breaks is also evident in the fourth poem which con-

sistss of the repetition of one-syllable words with a simple sound combination

followedd by a "bum" in the end: "gér / bér / bez / géz / bum". These are sim-

plee methods of creating a surprising effect, by means of only a slight change in

135 5


thee sound pattern. More importantly perhaps, in the first poem the words "ka-

loc"" and "galos" could remind one of the word "kalosi" / "galosi" [galoshes],

andd the rhythm of the poem could indicate the rhythmic sound of heavy foot-

stepss interspersed by some lighter ones.

AA similar effect is created in the second and third poems. In these two poems

simplee repetition, inversion, the shift of a few consonants, and one single vowel

makee up a column of words as in the first poem: "zma / lzal / mzy / zmyl-

zym",, or in the second poem: "ryz / zyka / byzga / gryz / samka / ta / mka /

magacaa / ckarta". Here, the simple seemingly incomprehensible %aum' words

alsoo remind one of a real Russian word or of parts of words: "byzga" of

"bryzgat"'' [to sprinkle or splash], "zyka" of "muzyka" [music] or "zykat'" [the

shoutt or whisde, whiz] or "gryz" of "gryzt"' [to bite], "samka" is the word for a

femalee animal, "maka" reminds one of "makaka" [an ape], "ckarta" of

"Dzakarta"" [Jakarta]. These words could consist of distorted parts from some

exoticc scenario about animals that grind their teeth, scream, and whiz. Similarly,

thee word "lzal" in the last poem reminds one of "lizat"' [to lick] , "zma" of

"zmej"" [snake], or "zima" [summer]. The word "mzy" also brings to mind

wordss beginning with "maz-" indicating grease, paintt or smearing. These words

againn have connotations connected to a snake and so on. Evidendy, Krucenych

playss with our desire to (re-)construct a meaning of the âum' words and a con-

textt in which they can be understood. In this way the poems balance the com-

positionn of sound variables and the play with word associations that these

soundss invoke in the reader.

Inn the seventh poem, although the sounds 'c', 'ch', 'c', 'z' are forwarded and

thuss remove the focus from the meaning of the words to their sound structure,

thee first half s real Russian words seem to compose a part of a normal Symbolist

orr Akmeist poem: "Mecom barchata / ciferblat v / cvetach / zracki carapajut"

("Withh a velvety sword / a clock face in / flowers / pupils scratch"). This is

followedd by the words: "ton' / kom / pot" which could mean "drown / clod /

sweat",, but also compose the word "kompot" [stewed fruit]), and an absurd ef-

fectt is created. Similarly, the words in the book's last two poems (according to

thee credits written by Rozanova) play with the absurd.

136 6


Thee first poem, "fii r / fu / faj / ta / n / kaf / tan / fon / tan / iir / fuf', is

largelyy a construction over the sounds in the exclamations "fu" [ugh!] and "fi "

[pah!],, which interestingly enough in Russian are expressions of contempt,

whilee the words "fifi " [a bimbo] and "fufu" [taking things lightly or carelessly or

makingg a fool of someone] have connotations of fun and laughter. Moreover,

inn the middle part of the poem, two words with definite reference to real Rus-

siann words ("kaf-tan" [caftan] and "fon-tan" [fountain] are included.

Thee most interesting poem in this book is 'Krymkaja'. Nina Gur'janova has

shownn how the existing three different titles of this poem (given in three differ-

entt editions) can change the impression of it: first as being an imitation of the

soundss in the Caucasian language with the title 'Kavkazskij étjud' ('Caucasian

study'),, then as a self-contained poem with the wrong word "Krymnaja" as the

titlee (which has the word "Krym" [Crimea] and the adjective female ending in

it),, and finally to a âww'poem with the word "Kromnaja"19 as the title (Gur'ja-

novaa 1992: 91). The variant in halos reads: "Krym()kaja," with a crossed out let-

terr 's' in the Russian word "Krymskaja" [Crimean] (figure 11):

Fig.. 11

137 7


'KpwM M

Y HH aA AaMaA A A A A

O H H

bl l

Kaa' '

6w w 6MT T y y

('Krymm kaja'

Ucc al by Damall byt u Al l On n

Y) )

II am not in a posit ion to judge whether or not there is anything tartaric Crimean,

Arabicc or Georgian in the poem's sound structure, but it does seem to me that

thee sounds of the poem have much in common with Russian. In fact, it can be

seenn as a study in abstraction: syllables and letters have been part of actual words

fromm which (as the varying tides indicate) only these sounds remain.

Therefore,, the most interesting aspect of this poem is the missing middle letter in

thee tide, which the reader automatically assumes to be the Russian letter ' s\ This

letterr is not erased but crossed out and, presumably, left hidden under the black

leadd in this copy. In this way the reader's attention is drawn to the automatism

withh which readers readily fil l in gaps or correct words in order for the words to

conformm to a particular language code. This crossed out letter is a visual trace of

thee automat ism of reading which would not have been possible to demonstrate

soo vividl y without this graphic trace on the page.

AA very similar book in visual design and poetic structure is Kovkaî. However,

inn this book, Krucenych wrote all the poems himself. I n the tide of the book,

thee word "Kavkaz" [Caucasus] can easily be identified and the sounds seem to

havee been influenced by Caucasian languages and Russian. In the second poem

thee word "Tbl is i " [Tiflis ] seems to emerge in the word "tvilisi" :

Aacbapp (Lafar aAacc aAacbap alas alafar cbanapTT fakart TBHAHcbyy tvilif u THAHcbyy tilif u TBHAHCHH tvilisi Bepoo vero apacc Biipn. aras viri)

Thee word "fakart" could remind one of "fekalii" [feces], the ending "fu" ex-

138 8


pressess contempt, and the word "vero" could be Latin, which here would be an

expressionn of confirmation: "this is true". Of course other associations could

bee just as true. A much less complex and more repetitive sound structure is to

bee found on the fifth page: "kir i / krag / kab / kita / kitr / kir / kiros". In this

poemm all the words begin with a "ki " except the second and third words, which

repeatt the sound of the preceding "krag". A similar phenomenon is to be

foundd in the ninth poem, which has an even barer sound structure: some lines

onlyy consisting of one letter: "nu / kam / ku / cenuka / u / ku / su / uki / s /

bu". .

Thesee poems unfold different combinatory methods to vary a sound scheme

andd create sound effects that are structured, yet seem to be expressions of

chancee and play. The sounds enter a rather simple structure of repetition. In

thiss way, they refer to sounds within the structure of the poem itself and seem

too be motivated by their likeness to or contrast with the other sounds in the

poem.. In addition, the rhythm of the columnar design adds to the sense of

likenesss and repetition, which is sometimes broken by a change in sound struc-

ture.. Thus, the surprising effect of a sudden "bum" features against a back-

groundd of repetition and likeness. Moreover, the columnar design adds empha-

siss to each line and therefore to each syllable or single letter. This is true of all

thesee poems. While two out of three vowels in a three-syllable Russian word are

normallyy reduced, the chopping up of words into single syllables or letters in-

ducess these sounds with new emphasis.

Inn these poems it is the suggested meaning of the words that stand out. These

meaningss are often expressions of contempt, reminiscent of feces, or they bear

unpleasantt associations to grinding, scrubbing, biting and so on. These mean-

ingss are most often suggestive and the %aum' words give an impression of being

justt parts of real words, or the poems give the impression of being an abstrac-

tionn of a raz/poem. A curious example of this is included in the book Nestrofe.

Presumably,, both Krucenych and Rozanova wrote this (it was published here

underr both their names). The poem reads:

139 9


ITBCTKO MM HaMa3aB

ryöbi i KOAece e JKaAHM XX TAa3

H3MaAWBaf l l

BHH 33 TOAOBOH

nyy 3eMAio npoAOMM napBOHeii TpHOAbb Aeny Bbiury pHItHpK K naAaio o

(Afterr having painted with a flower lips s inn a wheel off greedy eyes izmalyvaja a headd down cuu the ground prolomm carvonec triol '' I fly high rycirk k II fall)

A ss Gur' janova has demonstrated on the basis of the letters from Rozanova to

Krucenych,, Rozanova's original version of the poem was very different:20

'Hae3AHHua' '

U,BeTKOMM Ha\ia3aB ryöhi ToAyGoaAaH H ÜAyöbb naAeHHH B KOAece >KaAHbix TAa33 H3AaMHBafl ,

B H H 33 TOAOBOH

i i e A y aa 3eMAK )

HanpOAOMM onacHocTH MepBOHeuu ynnexa21 npHeMAio. TpHOAHH yAapoB Konbrr CC TpHOAeTaMH cryKOB cepA.ua cnparafl l Aenyy Bwniy riaAaio o Buuiy y O TT MHAOCTH KOHCKOH 3aBHiny

(Gur' janovaa 1992, 103)

(Thee Horsewoman'

Afterr having painted the lips withh a flower Scarletblue e Breakingg the depth of the fall in aa wheel of greedy eyes, Headd down Kissingg the ground Straightt against danger II accept the coin of success. Tripletss of striking hooves Harnessingg together with triolets off the banging of the heart II fly high II fall II hang II depend on the mercy of a horse.)

Thee comparison of Rozanova's original poem and the version printed in Nestrofe

clearlyy shows that under the strong influence of Krucenych, the poem has liter-

allyy been robbed of its referentiality and changed into a âum'poem. The only

completee line remaining is "After having painted with a flower / lips". Words

havee been left out: "scarletblue", "depth", "fall" , "success", " I accept", " I de-

140 0

http://cepA.ua


pendd on the mercy of a horse" an so on, and syllables have been cut off words:

"(na)prolom"" and "tr ior(etami) '\ Letters have been left out in a word:

"c(el)u(ja)'\\ and a single letter in a word has been changed: "cervonec" - "car-

vonec"" and "izlamyvaja" - "izmalyvaja".22 Gone are the horse and the horse-

woman,, and with the horsewoman the somewhat high-flown pathos. The poem

hass become strangely quirky and more like a buffoonish act, which of course is

supportedd by the added ^ « w ' w o rd "rycirk" which is a change from "rycar"'

[knight]] to a word containing the word circus.

Thee skeletonizing of a text to its minimal units is a well-known technique of

Krucenych's:: it was used in his famous poem 'Vysoty' ('Heights') in which the

creedd is ribbed of consonants leaving only the vowels. This is the only case

wheree such a technique has been unveiled. However, countless attempts have

beenn made to decipher the poem 'Dyr bul scyl' and other %aum' poems. Kruce-

nych'ss own interpretations of this poem contribute to the belief that there must

bee a text hidden behind the text. Such an interpretation is given in Mabcholija in

aa Housecoat

Aup-6yA-muAA (dyr-bul-scyl (6yAe>KK AMpy (bulez dyru y6nAA meAH ubil sceli i irainn sis npwrr pryg IIIHIHKOB )) siskov))

(Rowelll and Wye 2002: 119)

Thee words in the brackets reproduce some of the sounds from the presumed

originaloriginal poem: "bulez" ["buleznik" is a cobblestone], "dyry" [in the hole], "ubi l "

[he/II killed] and "sceli" [cracks]. However, the "s is" is the final word in Ex-

plodityplodity and Siskov was a Russian sectarian who was also mentioned in this book.

Thesee last words have nothing to do with the poem 'Dyr bul scyl'. As I men-

tionedd in the first chapter, in the first published edition of the poem, it is a part

off the triptych of three %aum' poems with the epithet: " 3 poems written in my

ownn language and differing from the others! Its words have no specific mean-

ing".. In Zaumnyjjavyk u: Sejfullinoj {Zaum' Language Sejfullina), Krucenych wrote:

141 1


TaK,, CHMBOAHcraMH 6MAH HcnoAb30BaHii He Bee 3BVKH pyccKoro H3HKa, HOO HeKoTopwe, HanGoAee cAaAKO (He npHTBopHO AH?) H BbicnpeHHe (He HH3KonoKAOHHoo AH?) 3BeHHnme raMMM. 3ByKH ace, Ha HX BKyc rpyGbie, 6MAHH B 3aroHe. OyrypH3M BOcnoAHHA STOT npo6eA, AaB rAyxoH H TSÜKG-

AHHH 3ByKOKpHA AWp - 6yA - IintfA (c TaTapCKHM OTTCHKOM). (1925: 28)

(Thee symbolists did not use all the sounds of the Russian language, but some of them:: the sweetest (not feigning, I wonder?) and most high-flown (not servility, I wonder?)) jingling scales. But the sounds, which were too coarse for their taste, weree kept down. By giving the obscure and heavy line of sounds: dyr-bul-scyl (withh a Tartar hint), futurism filled in this gap.)

Indeed,, some likeness to Turkic languages can be found.23 However, in The

Wordd as Such', Krucenych and Chlebnikov wrote: "kstati v ètom pjatistdsii

bol'see russkogo nacional'nogo cem vo vsej poézii Puskina" ("by the way, in these

fivee lines there is more national Russian that in all of Puskin's poetry"; Chlebni-

kovv and Krucenych 2000: 47). Burljuk also gave his interpretation of the poem:

"Dyrojj budet urodnoe lico scastlivych oluchov" (Kovtun 1989: 16) meaning

somethingg like: "A hole wil l be the deformed face of happy fools". In a similar

manner,, on a page in Nesfrofe, Krucenych states: "V zaumi soversenno otkro-

venen:: tut zakryvaet zagadka (k-ruju legko otgadat' komu nuzno)" ("In %aum'\t

iss absolutely candid: here is hidden a riddle (which is easily solved for anyone

whoo needs to)". In this statement, the interpretive approach to Krucenych's

poetryy is encouraged in his own inverted way.

However,, can we take it for granted that such an interpretation is possible, just

becausee Krucenych says so? Of course the poem 'Heights' and Rozanova's

transformedd poem in Nestroë'e support such an approach. However, the reader

hass no way of knowing this and is bound to try to interpret the poem because

off the statement that follows (notwithstanding that such an interpretation may

nott exist). In a letter to Semsurin, Krucenych gives a similar but at the same

timee very different statement:

AA riddle ... the reader is curious first of all and convinced that zaum means something,, i.e. has some logical meaning. Hence one can sort of catch the readerr by a worm-riddle, by mystery. Women and art have to have mystery; too say "I love" is to make a very definite commitment, and a person never

142 2


wantss to do that. He is covert; he is greedy; he is a mystifier. And he seeks, insteadd of I - e (I love), something equal and perhaps special - and this wil ll be: lefanta chiol or raz faz gaz ... kho - bo - ro mo - cho - ro and darknesss and zero and new art! Does an artist intentionally hide in the tree holee of zaum? - 1 don't know .. ." (Janecek 1996: 250)

Inn this statement, Krucenych admits to a conscious strategy of obstructing the

interpretivee approach. He constantly undermines the interpretive efforts of the

reader.. Whether there is meaning or not in the %aum' poems, the chances are

thatt it wil l be so obscure that the reader will be thrown back onto the text and

ann endless chain of possible interpretations: tartar, Puskin, symbolism, Russian,

shamanism,, speaking in tongues, haiku, and so forth.

Inn almost all of the poems mentioned, each poem seems to construe its own

ruless according to the particular sound scheme of this particular poem. The

soundss and the sound associations are motivated by the inner structure of each

singlee poem. The auto-referentiality of the sound structure, the sensory effect

off the shifts and breaks, and the motivatedness of each sound within each

poem,, make these poems single instances of experience. This is underlined by

thee opening request in Kovkaig to read one page a day. Similarly, meaning asso-

ciationss are created in the reader's mind from the %aum' words. Based on the

similarityy of the %aum' words with real known words, the reader is inclined to

attemptt to interpret the poems. However, it is also evident from the poem

'Krym(}kaja'' that this is a deliberate strategy of Krucenych to point to the

automatismm of reading. None of the %aum' words seem to be constructed ac-

cordingg to any particular kind of system, whether that system embodies etymo-

logicall meaning associations or morphological or phonetic rules. Thus, each

poemm is an instance of experience motivated by a combination of sound struc-

turee and semantic associations (most often) of disgust, contempt, unpleasant

feelings,, animals, and so on.

Eco-poetryy - a minimal "economic poetic" language

Inn the preface to Universal War ï>, Krucenych emphasized the parallel develop-

mentt of âum'znd non-objective painting, or to be more precise, suprematism:

143 3


3 T HH HaKAeHK H pOMCAeHM TeM >Ke, HTO H 3ayMHM H H3HK — OCBo6o>KAeHHeM

TBOpHH OT HeHy>KHbix yAoöcTB (apafl öecnpeAMeTHocrb). 3ayMHaa >KHBO-

nHCbb craHOBHTCH npeo6AaAaK>meH. PaHbiiie O. Po3aHOBa AaAa o6pa3uu ee,, Tenepb pa3pa6aThiBaioT eme HCCKOABKO XVACOKHHKOB, B TOM HHCAC K. MaAeBHH,, Tlymt H Ap., AaB MaAo roBopHmee Ha3BaHHe: cynpeMaTH3Ma. [...] 3ayMHMHH H3UK (nepBWM npeAcraBirreAeM Koero flBAHiocb H) noAaer pyKy 3ayMHOHH )KHBOnHCH. (1916)

(Thesee collages are born from the same impulse as %aum' language: the liberation off creation from unnecessary conveniences (raging non-objectivity). Zaum' paint-ingg is becoming predominant. Previously, O. Rozanova provided examples of it; noww several other artists are developing it, among them K. Malevic, Puni, and others,, after having given it die unexpressive appellation: suprematism. [...] Zaum' languagee (of which I am the premier representative) extends a hand to spurn' painting.) )

Here,, Krucenych reverses Chlebnikov's statement from 1912: "My chotim, cto-

byy slovo smelo poslo za zivopis'ju" ("We want the word courageously to follow

painting";; Chlebnikov 1940: 334). By extending his hand to painting, Krucenych

oncee again reversed the hierarchical relationship between poetry and painting.

Inn his estimation, poetry and poetic language no longer lagged behind painterly

techniques:: painting had finally arrived at the same conclusions as had he in his

%aum'%aum' poetry. There is, however, strong evidence of Malevic' influence on Kru-

cenych'ss poetics at this particular period of time. This can be seen in the devel-

opmentt in Krucenych's poems of what seems like a minimal poetic 'language':

Xo o Bo o Po o

ro o Ho o Po o Ma a

ra a Pa a Co o Bo o Po o (Krucenychh 1973: 216)

(Cho o Bo o Ro o Go o Co o Ro o Ca a Ga a Ra a So o Bo o Ro) )

144 4


Thiss minimal "language" was probably introduced for the first time in the

lithographedd book Learn Arters! (1916). Except for the first lines "cho-bo-ro"

thiss chain of monosyllable words does not reappear in the same constellation.

However,, variations of this chain of sounds, fragments of it, and new supple-

ments,, appear in the books to come.24 In Zamaul' 777, it appears in the following

design: :

Xoo 60 po (cho bo ro Boo po MO vo ro mo Koo 60 po ko bo ro

JKAMHJKAMH zlyc)

Thiss design makes it possible to combine the chain after one's own choice.

Thee chain "cho-bo-ro" is repeated numerous times throughout the different

books.. The same is the case with the chain "raz-faz-caz" and "ryz-dyz-fyz".25

Ass Hansen-Löve remarks, these sound-chains appear as austere paradigmatic

variations,, in which the mechanical combination of sounds presents the most

basicc rules of repetition, substitution and alternation (1996: 103). The chains

consistt of combinations with one to three consonants and a vowel, and al-

thoughh the sounds 'i', 'u', and 'je' do appear, the most frequently used vowels

aree 'o', 'a', or the Russian sound 'y'. These sounds in combination with a con-

sonantt often follow each other in pairs of three as in Nestrofe and Tunlap. Other

slightlyy more complex chains appear as in Tun/ap: "sa-ma-ga-mak-glac-gak-sa-

ma-del"'' or "cen-men-ben-zen-rap-map-nap", and the technique is widely used

inn the titles of books. The first book with such a title was Te-Ii-le from 1914.

Laterr Fo-/y-fa, Ra-va-cba, and Gly-gly appeared.

Thesee paradigmatic chains stand out as purely auto-referential, but contrary to

thee poems in Baks and Kovkaî, they are not so self-enclosed as to refer to the

soundss within the limits of just one poem on just one page of a book: frag-

mentss appear in many books and on many pages. Therefore, these few very

austeree chains of sounds are closest to what might be called a "language" based

onn immanent laws and seem to be supported by a certain system. Contrary to the

previouss poems, there do not seem to be any associations possible with real

Russiann or foreign words. Therefore, the meaning of the minimal "language"

145 5


developingg from such paradigmatic chains is difficult to determine.

Inn the book Nosobojka, the simplest chain, "cho-bo-ro," appears to be program-

maticc of Krucenych's concept "éko-éz" (eco[nomic]-poetry) and "éko-chud"

(eco[nomic]-art)) and is put forward as an analogy to suprematism:

3KO-333 - caMaa Bceoöma» H KpaTKaa (3ayMHaa) no33HH [...]. MupcKOHua H

3KO-333 — 3Ko-xyA (xo-6o-po). A.KpyneHHX — reHmi, snoxa, HyAb [...] 3KO-xyAA (H) CynpeMyc AaioT BnepBHe (minimum) KpacoK H AHHHH. Y 4>yTy-PHCT(OB)) KpacKH BAfoÖAeHHoro nonyraH. (Krucenych 1917b)

(Eco-poetryy is the most universal and concise (gaum') poetry. [...] Worldbackwards andd eco-poetry is eco-art (cho-bo-ro). A. Krucenych is a genius, an epoch, a zero [...].. For the first time eco-art (and) Supremus give (a minimum) of colors and lines.. By the futurists there are colors of a parrot in love.)

I nn this statement, Krucenych dissociates himself from futurism and expresses

hiss agreement with the new movement in art that his friend Malevic introduced

too the Moscow art scene in 1915. It seems likely that Krucenych engaged in

somee of his most radical experiments with spurn' poetry and the intertwining of

graphicc design and sound under Malevic' influence.

However,, in 1916 in a letter to Matjusin, Malevic expressed some doubts about

Krucenych'ss poetry. He criticized Krucenych's poem 'Dyr bul scyl' for being an

accumulationn of letters, which do not constitute a word, but nevertheless pre-

tendd to be a "word as such". He argued that Krucenych's references to speak-

ingg in the tongues of the Russian sectarians, the nervous system, and religious

ecstasy,, were merely justifications of a continuing fight against thought in lan-

guage.. He added that because of this, Krucenych remains within the narrow

limit ss of thought without being able to transform the letter into something sub-

stantiallyy other than thought. According to Malevic, Krucenych and his follow-

erss "think when they were supposed to listen" and the letter never develops

intoo an entity in its own right (Kovtun 1976: 191).

Inn the system of Malevic, sound is a graphic letter, or a mystical "note", only

moree refined than a musical note:

HOBMHH nosT - KaK 6w B03BpaT K 3Byicy (HO He H3bPiecTBy). H3 3ByKa noAy-HHAOCbb CAOBO. T e i i e pb H3 CAOBa nOAyHHACfl 3ByK. 3 T OT B03BpaT He eCTb

146 6

MINIMALIS MM AND PLAY IN ALEKSEJ KRUÊNYCH'S CAUCASIAN BOOKS

HATHH Ha3aA- 3Aecb nosT ocraBHA Bee cAOBa H HX Ha3HaHeHHe. Ho H3T>AA H33 HHX 3ByK KaK 3AeMeHT I I 0 3 3 H H. H 6yKBa yJKe H e 3HaK AAÜ BHpaHfeHHfl

Beinen,, a 3ByKOBaH HOTa (He My3HKaAbHafl). H 3Ta HOTa-6yKBa, noKaAyfi, TOHfame,, «cHee H BHpa3HTeAbHee HOT My3MKaAbHMX, nepexoA 3Byica H3 6yKBHH B 6yKBy nepexoAHT coBepmeHHee, HOKCAH H3 HOTM B HOTy. [...] npHAHH K HAee 3ByKa, noAyHHAH HOTa-6yKBH, Bwpa>KaioiH.He 3ByKOBHe MaccM.. Mo^ceT 6hm>, B KOMno3HHHH 3THX 3ByKOBbix Mace (ÖMBHIHX CAOB) HH HaHAeTca HOBaa Aopora. (Kovtun 1976: 191)

(Thee new poet is like a return to sound (but not to paganism). From sound we ob-tainedd the word. Now we obtain sound from the word. This return is not a step back.. The poet left all words and their meanings behind him, but he took sound withh him as an element of poetry. And the letter is no longer a sign for expressing things,, but a sonic note (not a musical one). And this note-letter is perhaps sub-der,, clearer and more expressive than musical notes. The passage of sound from letterr to letter passes more perfecdy than from note to note. [...] Arriving at the ideaa of sound, we were given note-letters expressing sonic masses. Perhaps in a compositionn of these sound masses (former words) a new path wil l be found.)

Thus,, the letter is capable of expressing sound directly and distinctly. These

sound-letterss should be arranged in sound masses (in a spatial composit ion)

thatt give our consciousness the ability to penetrate space and reach "stil l further

andd further away from the earth". This is similar to the suprematist paintings in

whichh "a plane of paint (zivopisnyj cvet) is hung on a white sheet of canvas"

andd immediately gives "a strong sense of space" (Kovtun 1976: 192). Therefore

thee letters should be freed from the linearity of conventional reading-space:

TaKHMM o6pa30M, MM BbipMBaeM GyKBy H3 crpoKH, H3 OAHoro HanpaBAe-HHH,, H AaeM e i ! B03MO}KHOCTb CBOÖOAHOrO ABHHCeHHÜ. (CTpOKH Hy>KHH

MHpyy H:HHOBHHKOB H AOMaiHHeH nepenncKH). (Kovtun 1976: 191)

(Inn this way we rip the letter from its line and from one direction, and we give it thee possibility of free movement (Verse-lines are necessary in a world of clerks andd domestic correspondence).)

Thee sound of die poet — freed from referential meaning — is like a groan, which

hee does not dare to express. I t should be put into movement by rhythm and tem-

po:: "Est' poézija, gde ostaetsja cistyj ritm i temp kak dvizenie i vremja; zdes' ritm

ii temp opirajutsja na bukvy kak znaki, zakljucajuscie v sebe tot il i inoj zvuk"

147 7


("Theree exists a poetry in which pure rhythm and tempo remain as movement

andd time; here rhythm and tempo rely on letters like signs containing this or

thatt sound"; Malevic 1995: 142). Thus, Malevic' theory of the new poetry is

basedd on an idea of pure sound realized in the graphic letter and rhythm which

aree both founded in a bodily-emotional primal gesture, the groan. This gesture

iss an expression of economy, which he saw as the most fundamental concept

andd as governing all arts because of a necessary economizing of energy:26

(B)cHKoee AeücTBo coBepinaeTOi nepe3 SHepmio TeAa, a BaiKoe TCAO CTpe-MHTC HH K COXpaHeHHOCT H CBOeH 3HeprHH , a IIOTOM y BCflKO e MO e AeHCTBO

AOA>KHOO coBepinaTbCfl 3K0HOMHHecKHM nyTeM. (Malevic 1995: 155)

(Everyy act is accomplished due to bodily energy, and every body seeks to preserve itss energy. Therefore, my every act must be accomplished in an economical way.)

AA similar idea may have inhabited Krucenych, which his parallel concepts of

eco-poetryy and eco-art show. In this respect the book Nestroc'e can be seen as

programmatic.. The very tide suggests the elimination of the line in writing, and

onn a page he wrote: "Strocki nuzny cinovnikam i Bal'montam ot nich samo-

ubijstvoo u nas bukvy letajut" ("Clerks and Bal'monts need lines; from them we

gett suicide. We have letters that fly!"; Krucenych 1917g [see figure 13]). This is

aa direct quotation from Malevic' letter to Matjusin in which directions for a new

poetryy are given.

Theree is only scarce evidence left as to the meanings of eco-art and eco-poe-

try.277 But, Krucenych did take some effort in explaining the concepts in his let-

terss to Semsurin. In a letter from April 1917 for instance, he gives examples of

aa number of such poems and concludes: "Vse éto futurizm vernee èko-chud i

éko-ézz (èkonomija-poézija)" ("Al l this is futurism or rather eco-art and eco-

poetryy (economic-poetry)"; OR RGB, Sem. 3.4.1917). In another letter from

thee same year, he states: "cho-bo-ro mo-co-ro i mracnotst', i nul', i novoe iskus-

stvo"" ("cho-bo-ro mo-co-ro is both darkness, and zero, and the new art!"; OR

RGB,, §em. 12.7.1917), and in a third letter: "Pisu (v poézii i teorii) éko-chud i

éko-ézz - éto znacit (bystrota) óèonomija-poqija" ("I write (in poetry and theory)

eco-artt and eco-poetry - that is (speed) rawiomic-poetry"; OR RGB, Sem.

10.10.1917). .

148 8


Moreover,, a new and revised version of 'The Declaration of the Word as Such'

appearedd in 1917. This version had die following lines added: "V zaumnoj

poéziii dostigaetsja vyssaja i okoncatel'naja vsemirnost' i ékonomija - (éko-chud)

primer:: cho-bo-(ro)" ("The highest and final (universality) and economy - (éko-

chud)) ex.: cho-bo-ro is reached in Zaum'poetry"; Gorjaceva 1997: 237). How-

ever,, this sentence was left out in the 1921 edition, where it says: "7) zaum' —

samoee kratkoe iskusstvo, kak po dlitel'nosti puti ot vosprijatija k vosproiz-

vedeniju,, tak i po svoej forme, naprimer: Kuboa (Gamsun), Cho-bo-ro i dr."

("7)) Zaum'is the most concise art, both with regards the distance from percep-

tiontion to reproduction and with regards its form, ex.: Kuboa (Hamsun), cho-bo-

roo etc."; MMcatalogue. 77). Thus, however widely used in Malevich' theoretical

writingss in the years to come, this concept of economy of art had a short lif e in

thee writings of Krucenych.

Tat' janaa Gorjaceva argues that Krucenych developed his concept of economic

artt just after having received Sklovskij's 'Art as Technique' from Semsurin.28 In

thiss article Slovskij launched a polemic attack on the ideas of the still popular

philologistt Aleksandr Potebnja and his disciples. The economy of art was a de-

velopmentt of Potebnja's idea of art as a condensation of thought by the latter's

discipless (É. Mach, R. Avenarius, and B. Lezin). Lezin's article, 'Artistic Crea-

t ionn as a Special Form of Economic Thinking' (1911), contains some ideas

whichh closely resemble the ideas that Male vie' developed on this subject:

PHTMM HCXOAHT H3 opraHHnecKoro cymecrea neAOBeKa, ynpaBAiw BCCMH

ecrecTBeHHMMHH npoHBAemiflMH ero, KaK peryAHpytomHH 3AeMeHT (KpoBo-o6pameHHe,, onerine m/Abca, AHxamie, H T.A.) ] PHTM MH 3aMenaeM B H3MKe,, necHe, B paöoTe H Boo6me BO Bcex 5KH3HCHHMX npoflBAein>flx neAOBeKa.. PHTM MOJKHO onpeAeAHTb, KaK HBAemie, npe>KAe Bcero, Mexa-HHHecKoe,, qDH3HHecKoe, 3aKAK>naiomeecH B npaBHAbHOM HepeAOBaHtm COOTBeTCTByiOIHHXX ApyT A p y r y MOMei r rOB, KOTOpbie MOrVT HBAflTbCH H KaK

KpacKH,, H KaK 3ByKH, H KaK ABH>KymHecfl MacTHiihi. BcHKoro H3 Hac nopa->KaeTT HAeaAbHo-npaBHAbHoe TeneHHe BpeMeHH, ABH^CHHA; MO>KHO CMCAO

CKa3aTb,, HTO 3aKOHH, ynpaBAfliomHe BCCACHHOH, cyrb nponBAeHHe pimvia, 3KOHOMHH.. (Lezin 1911: 203)

(Rhythmm derives from the organic essence of man, which governs all his natural functionss as a regulating element (blood circulation, the beating of the pulse,

149 9


breathingg and so on) [...] We notice the rhythm in speech, in song, in the working processs and really in man's every vital function. Rhythm can be determined as a mainlyy mechanical, physical, phenomenon, which contains a regulated alternation off correlated moments. It can manifest itself as color, sound, and as moving ele-ments.. Every one of us is struck by the ideally regulated flow of time and move-ment.. It is safe to say that the laws, which guide the universe, are functions of rhythm;; of economy.)

Butt the futurists (and after them Sklovskij) rejected the noetic aspect of this

schooll of thought. Thus, Krucenych rejected die image as a constituent of po-

eticc language. He would, therefore, reject Lezin's claim that die origin of lan-

guagee be formulated in the following manner: sound + affect + image. Kruce-

nychh believed that poetic language should consist of sound and affect alone.

Moreover,, Sklovskij identified the idea of the economy of art with die automatic

perceptionn of practical language. Consequendy, "economy" was opposed to his

ownn idea of a "difficult " or "impeded" poetic language. Thus, either Krucenych

misinterpretss Sklovskij's main argument, or this is just an unfortunate term that

simplyy means a very minimal sound-expression "free from unnecessary comfort

(puree non-objectivity)" (Krucenych 1916). In this sense, "cho-bo-ro" emerges

ass a meta-language or a "pra-zvuk" - the primeval beginning of speech, as a se-

riess of emotional outbursts - in which "cho-bo-ro", "ni-ni-ni" , "kraz-faz-caz"

orr "ra-va-cha" represent different emotional states.

Thee page as an alternative visual-verbal space

Krucenychh comes closest to the suprematist poetry of Malevic in the scattered

liness and letters that appear throughout the books. In Kovhvg and halos the illus-

trationss are almost non-existent and, except for the tide of Rozanova's poem in

Baks,Baks, the visual impression of the handwriting does not add anything new to

thee poems. These two books appear rather uniform and bare. However, this is

nott characteristic of the books as a whole; the book Nestrofe sets an example of

aa new interaction of visual and verbal representation. The programmatic state-

mentt in Nestrofe, as mentioned above, prompts this new relationship. In this

statement,, no words or sounds are mentioned; instead the line and the letter are

realizedd as existing in an oppositional relationship (lines and letters exist for

150 0


clerkss and symbolists, whereas for "us" the letters fly - naturally, the "us" must

includee Krucenych).

Thiss is a development of the opposition between poetical and practical lan-

guagee that could be seen in Potebnja's aesthetic system and developed by the

earlyy Russian avant-garde into a dichotomy between poetical and everyday lan-

guage.. A similar statement is made in the book Coc from 1918: "Gde slovo-

pokojnikk bezsil'no pomozet tarn zarkij risunok! Raspjal' glaza milyj okurok!"

("Wheree the deceased word powerlessly assists, there is a burning drawing!

Openn your eyes up wide, dear stub!"; MMcatalogur. 45). Here, the term "the de-

ceasedd word" undoubtedly refers to Sklovskij's The resurrection of the Word',

andd inscribes itself in the same dichotomy of practical vs. poetic language, i.e.,

deadd vs. living. In Nestrofe this dichotomy is extended to include the page the

linee and the letter.

Inn the poem 'Cvetkom namazav...' ('After having painted with a flower.. .*) by

Rozanovaa and Krucenych. The page has the name of Krucenych and Rozanova

att the top just as on most covers of the books (see figure 12). The names are

underlined,, while a stipulated line towards the end could indicate a break or a

pause.. Between these lines the word "guby" [lips] is framed in a square box, the

wordd "kolese" [wheel] is written from the top to the bottom with one letter or

syllablee on interchanging sides of a zigzag figure. The words "vniz" [down-

wards]] and "golovoj" [with the head] are written on top of a curved line that in

factt indicates a downward movement. Finally, the words "glaz" [eyes] and "iz-

malyvaja"" (a neologism which reminiscences "izlamyvaja" [to break], and "ma-

lyj "" [little] ) have syllables, which are written on a vertical line. The vertically

writtenn syllables and the zigzagging of a word are techniques that break up the

usuall linearity of the printed word.

Thesee techniques distribute the letters in another spatial composition and

therebyy emphasize the conventionality of the linear reading process. In this

way,, the reading process is impeded but is also potentially richer in its variety.

Thee reader is never sure that the combination, which makes up these words, is

thee right one. This relative choice of combination gives way to play and chance.

151 1


Fig.. 12

However,, the convention of linearity is not entirely lost here. Although the

horizontall left to right movement of reading is obstructed, one letter still fol-

lowss the other in a linear way. In a similar manner, the two words on a curved

linee are still readable according to the convention from left to right (although

thee line is bent downwards). This technique is iconic and indicates the move-

mentt of the head. The visual design of this page demonstrates different tech-

niques,, which are used throughout the books.

Thee pages vary little, but they seem to include five basic principles: an iconic

relationn between text and illustration, the breaking up of the text by the empha-

sizingg of single syllables, letters or words, the breaking up of the line, of the

spacee in planes, and the creation of a purely graphic design (which (mostly) in-

cludess letters). The iconicity of the design can be found in the poem 'Gud

paravozaa na pod'em' ('Hoot of a climbing locomotive') from the book Learn

Arters!.Arters!. However, this poem is onomatopoeic in its very structure, which in it-

selff is rare, and its design supports this onomatopoeic structure by indicating

152 2


thee sound of the hooting steam-pipe of the locomotive. A similar technique

usedd on the cover of the first edition of Explodity indicates the movement and

thee roar of the masses. A last example is the cover-design for the book Ry/omu

rylurylu (To the Pock-marked Snout) (1918) on which marks of a pen spot the page like

aa pockmarked face.

Thiss iconic relationship is slighdy different on another page from Learn Artersl

Onn this page the iconic design refers exclusively to the forms of the letters

themselves.. A Cyrilli c letter 'c' is drawn in the upper left hand corner with a cir-

clee around it that iconically imitates the form of the letter. Similarly the letter 'k'

iss written in an hourglass form, which imitates the triangular shape of the letter.

Thee letter T is written in the top right corner with lines, which could indicate a

tiltedd capital letter 'A' but also follows the form of the letter T and so on. Here,

thee letters do indeed seem to fly freely. Another example of this is the cover of

FoFo lyfa, on which the curved lines of the illustration follow the curved lines of

thee letters.

Thee book A Town under Siege includes pages of primarily polemical content,

whichh is very similar in its pathos to the cubo-futurist manifesto 'A Slap in the

Facee of Public Taste':

(TTja^Kaioo naAbiiw B My3eax Hcnpa BMKHAaa BeuiH HeHpKHbie KaK HacMopK pe>Kyy BeHep Mapnio no ropAy CKOAI>3HT npbiTKHH pe3aK BWCKOHHA H3 pyKHH nonieA nAflcaTb He pa36wpaH KpacHBbix H nepHwx «ocraHOBHCb ocraHOBHCbb 6e3yMHbiH TecaK» — a B My3ee pa3AHBaAocb aciipHoe 3AO-BOHbe.. (Krucenych 1917f)

(II soil my fingers in museums of fat and throw out unnecessary things as snot; I cutt Venuses; Over the throat of Maria slide a sharp chopper; it fell out of my hand;; I went dancing and couldn't tell the red from the black; "Halt! Halt! You ravingg chopper" and a greasy stench spread in the museum.)

Onn this page, single letters are written in boxes, or a word or a syllable of a

wordd is framed by a geometrical shape and written vertically (in addition, a tri-

angularr shape in front of the words "prytkij rezak" [sharp chopper] indicates an

iconicc slicing of the page/canvas). This way of breaking up the text by empha-

sizingg single syllables, letters, or words, stops the - automatic - perception of

153 3


thee text and forces the reader to pause at the word to comprehend the visual

graphicc material sign. Similarly, the programmatic text in Nestroc'e has words

framedd by geometrical shapes and the word "letajut" [thev fly] is written in zig-

zagg shape (figure 13). In this way, the non-poetical text of practical language has

beenn taken to a halt and the perception obstructed by the visual design. In the

poeticc texts, the lines indicate the chopping up of words as in figure 14, in

whichh the design accompanying the text "ko vo bo co vo mo" separates the

threee syllables "ko" and "bo" by square forms.

Fig.. 13 Fig. 14

Inn Nestroc'e and in numerous other books, the paradigmatic chain "raz-faz-caz-

ryz-dyz-fyz-mo-(n)-fo-lo"" is written in a column very similar to the design in

thee books Ba/os and Kovkaî, however, in Nestroc'e, the column is broken up by

zigzaggingg lines (figure 15). Similarly the chain: "cen-men-ben-zen-rap-map-

pap"" in Tunsap is broken up, which makes the single words dance upon the page.

Inn F/nagt, one word is even written up side down inside a curved line (cf. Jane-

154 4


cekk 1984: 108). In these cases the chain of words can still be read and the col-

umnn reconstructed, but the breaking up of the line creates another relationship

withh the space of the page. This space is noo longer divided into conventional-

izedd spaces in between the letters (indicating the end of one letter and the be-

ginningg of another) or white spaces between the lines (indicating the difference

betweenn the lines and guiding the direction of reading). The space is broken up

intoo planes in which the letters are arranged as in Nestroc'e. Here, the %aum'

wordss "bumg gly y alios mulomng oblyg" are arranged according to the lines in

thee design of the page.

Fig.. 15 Fig. 16

Evenn more radical is the design in Kacilda ̂where one simple zigzag line rear-

rangess the direction of the letters. This makes it necessary to turn the page

sometimess up to 180 degrees in order to read the text.

Somee poems consist of just a few letters. As Janecek points out, on a page in Fo-

ly-fa,ly-fa, only three letters indicate the beginning of a poem: "s-g-a". Similarly, in

155 5


Nestrvc'e,Nestrvc'e, two consonants 'c' and 'b' and the double letter 'u' constitute the text

(figuree 16). On such pages the letters have become purely graphic signs. They

aree equal and only slighdy more complex in design to two simple lines. In

F/nagtF/nagt there is even a page with no letters at all.29 This similarity of the line and

thee letter brings Rousseau's note to mind in which he emphasizes the two dis-

tinctt figures from which the Latin alphabet is composed: the straight and the

circularr line (1966: 18). The scribbles on the pages of these books also brings

Rogovin'ss and Larionov's imitations of cave-paintings in Worldbachvards to

mind.. In this sense, writing is reduced to nothing but a trace.

Eco-poetryy between a "suprematist" ideal and poetic praxis

Thee extreme minimalism of the poetic expression, which is revealed particularly

inn the books Nestrof'e, F/nagt and Kaa/da%, seems to eliminate articulation. This

iss what Rosemarie Ziegler (1982) has called silent mute or "suprematist" poetry

wheree the role of the sound retreats to a secondary position. This kind of poetic

expressionn was clearly developed under the influence of Malevic, which the adop-

tionn by Krucenych of the term "flyin g letters" shows. But it is interesting to see

howw Krucenych realizes this suprematism in his poetry. For Malevic the letter

wass to be seen as a note, however not in a musical sense but as a mystical sign

off sound, which would reveal the poet's primal bodily-emotional state of mind.

Theree seems to be a direct correspondence between the emotional state of the

poet,, the sound, and the concrete materialization of it - the letter. The letter it-

selff is regarded as a cosmic entity that is able to transgress the limitations of Eucli-

diann space. Similarly, Malevic reduced his pictorial vocabulary to include just a

square,, a cross, and a circle, upon which an elaborate system of relations was

built.. This is a system which leaned on a metaphysical system of thought. How-

ever,, such a system does not seem to be relevant for Krucenych.

Krucenych'ss explorations into suprematist poetry were limited to a very short

periodd of time. With the publishing of Obesity of Roses in 1918, his interest in su-

prematistt poetry seemed to shift in another direction. He now became increas-

inglyy interested in the relation of sound to the unconscious and more specifi-

cally,, to oral and anal eroticism. This is a development that can be followed in

156 6


Krucenych'ss letters to Semsurin. In 1915, Krucenych mentions Freud's books

TheThe Psycho-pathology of Everyday Life and The Interpretation of Dreams; a. year later he

asks:: "Cto oznacaet bukva c,f\ dr. so storony émocii?" ("What does the letters 'P,

'k',, and V mean in relation to the emotions, etc.?"; OR RGB, Sem. 12.3.1916),

andd in 1917, he explains the meaning of the letter 'f: "f - fert - fortuna - falos

-- Afrodite" (OR RGB, Sem. 5.10.1917). The interest in the meaning of letters

iss also reflected in the tides of his books dating from 1918: Coc (1918) and Zug-

digidigi (Zudoêestva) (1919), Coca (1921), Zûdo, Zudutnye %udesa, and Zud' (the last

threee from 1922). The tide Coc and Coca refer perhaps to the words "cosat"' [to

suckk (with the V becoming a 't)] or to "cokat' [the clatter of metal against stone].

Thee word "zud"' means an itch. The letter 'z' is ascribed with a positive mean-

ingg and used widely and especially as attributes to his own signature: "Ego zija-

tel'stvaa zudar' zemli vozd' zaumcev Aleksej Krucenych" ("Hi s highness, Lord

off the Earth, Leader of the zaum's, Aleksej Krucenych"; Krucenych 1922).

Here,, the letter 'z' has substituted the letter 's' and the word "zudar '" literally

readss "itcher".

Krucenych'ss interest in the absolute meaning of words also expresses itself in a

dislikee of the letter T which he associates with symbolist poetry. This interest is

alsoo directed towards the meaning of the letter V : "Cto oznacaet bukva u? Po-

moemuu (sekret) polet, glub'. Ostal 'nye glasn. bolee pokojny, u - dvizenie trevogi.

Gdee ob étom procest '?" ("What does the letter 'u' mean? In my opinion (a secret)

i tt means flight, depth. The other vowels are more tranquil: 'u' is movement, agi-

tation.. Where can you read about this?"; OR RGB, Sem. 11.2.1916). This par-

ticularr interest is similar to Chlebnikov's seeing the form of letters as a direct

expressionn of sound and an emotionally charged geometrical form. Krucenych

onn the other hand, expresses his interest in the letter in a manner which has

provenn to be typical of his poetic experiments of the time (fig. 17):

BemeAOMM (Thingbreaker YMOAO MM Thoughtbreaker

PeneAOMM Speechbreaker öyKBOMOAA Letterspeech) (Krucenychh 1918a)

157 7


Onn another page in the same book, the word "recelom" is followed by a num-

berr of letters and some numbers, as an expression of the "breaking up of lan-

guage".. This is a paradigmatic chain of words with the same suffix (-lom) which

meanss breaking or fracturing. However, the last word is an inversion of the suf-

fixfix to (-mol). This is a contraction of "molvi l " [indicating reported speech], and

i tt inverts the negative chain of destructive nouns to a positive conclusion: the

creationn of a language of letters. I n F/nagt this paradigmatic chain is extended

withh just one line (figure 18):

KpOBOMO A A (Bloodspeech) )

sWÊmËBmÊmmmmmiBBMamÊSli sWÊmËBmÊmmmmmiBBMamÊSli

if!.. /

: : : . : • •

/ /

s/'s/' / J'

mmmMmmtwPlmmtnmm mmmMmmtwPlmmtnmm

MMmammmmmm MMmammmmmm

iJ iJ ''J ''J

& &

\: \:

/f /f

^ ^ WÊmm WÊmm

WÊÊSÊÊÊ WÊÊSÊÊÊ

Wk Wk

t t

:: B l i > I

*•*% %

VV i 11 * ::: :::-.: -i

Fig.. 17

O O *>*«» .-%

Fig.. 18

Forr Krucenych, %aum' language is above all, an individual instantaneous expres

sionn and in this sense the letter is a materialized gesture, an instantaneous bod

ily-emotionall experience. As I have shown, this notion is present in Malevic'

writingss on poetry where he describes the act of writing as the materialization

off a gesture:

158 8


ToBopp no3Ta - pHTM H TeMn - AeAHT npoMOKyncH, ACASTT Maccy 3ByKOByK) HH B HCHocTb HCHepnHBaiomHe npHBOAHT >KecTM caiworo reAa. KorAa 3a-ropaercHH nAaMfl noaTa, OH craHOBHTCH, noAHHMaeT pyKH, rorHÖaeT TCAO, AeAa»» H3 Hero Ty dx>pMy, KOTopaa AAH 3pirreAS 6yAeT HCHBOH, HOBOH,

peaAbHoüü uepKOBbio. (1995: 149)

(Thee poet's dialect, rhythm and tempo divide the mass of sound into intervals and makee clear the detailed gestures of me body itself. When the poet's fire breaks out,, he rises, raises his hand, bends his body, and turns it into the form mat will becomee a living, new, real church for the perceiver.)

AA very similar description can be found in a panegyric to Krucenych from Ter-

ent'evv (a close companion and friend during uiese years):x

3THH KHHITI BTHpaiOTCfl B K05icy co3HaHHfl, >KHBOTBopfl ero! [...] TaKHe KHHTHH He HcnpaBAflioTCH aBTOpoM, He nepenHCHBaioTCfl: OHH TOHHHH

CAeAA KpoBH npoH3BOAi>HO ynaBuieü H3 HaKAOHeHHoro K öyMare nepa; OHH naxnyTT dpocoJ>opoM, KaK CBOKHC AOKOHH M03ra. (1919: 7)

(Thesee books sink into the skin of our consciousness and revive it! [...] Such bookss cannot be improved by the author; cannot be rewritten: mey are the exact tracee of blood, which randomly fall from the pen to the paper; they smell like phosphor,, like the fresh locks of brain.)

Thee difference between these two artists seems to be the absence of the "new

reall church" in the characteristic of Krucenych's poetry as it is laconically ex-

pressedd on a page in Salamak.

Ayinaa - HacMopK (BbiriAioHyAA — H Her!)

Thee soul is snot (II spat it out — and gone it is!) (1919a)

Therefore,, although influenced by Malevic, Krucenych seems to be more inter-

estedd in the breaking down of reality in poetry (thingbreaker), of reason (thought-

breaker),, of language (speechbreaker), and even of articulation (letterspeech).

Fromm this pile of broken pieces of language and literature, only a vague attempt

iss made to construe a new language ("cho-bo-ro", "raz-faz-gaz") founded in a

bodily-emotionall experience. There seems to be no reason to believe that die

159 9


scatteredd letters on the pages in these books should be ascribed any meaning

apartt from the meaning that arises from the similarity or contrast to other

soundss within a poem or as being in opposition to the symbolist sound-scheme.

Thee main interest remains the breaking down of the conventions of writing and

reading.. In this way, the poetry takes the form of de-writing while the percep-

tionn of the poems remains an act of de-reading.

Inn the production of Krucenych, therefore, there can be no doubt that the

bookss produced when he found himself partly cut off from his usual partners

(Malevic,, Matjusin, Rozanova, and Chlebnikov), were evidence of his fundamen-

tall interest in the book, the intertwining of text and image, and the conventions

off writing and reading. In this production, these interests reach their most radi-

call form ever. In accordance with the theories of Malevic, in these books, the

pagee is comprehended both as a pictorial surface-space and as a conventional-

izedd space of writing. Both the realization of the page as a pictorial surface on

whichh letters are composed according to pictorial lines and planes and the dis-

ruptionn of the regulated space of the book-page (which renders meaning possi-

ble),, hamper meaning-production and even articulation of the sounds. In the

ultimatee minimal form the text on the page consists of a few lines as if to point

too the nature of the letter and writing as virtually consisting of only lines on a

page.. However, this is also a reduction of writing to a coming into being of writing:

aa trace or a gesture. This writing emerges as a few scratches of a surface, a pri-

mall act of asserting the "self; a trace or a gesture emerge as the fundamental

essencee of writing. Interestingly enough, Malevic often included inscriptions in

hiss pre-suprematist paintings such as An Englishman in Moscow and Partial Eclipse.

CompositionComposition with Mona Lisa. In his suprematist paintings, however, these inscrip-

tionss are entirely left out. On the painting Suprematism (with Blue Triangle and

BlackBlack Rectangle) (1915), an actual trace of writing can be found in the upper right

cornerr of the painting (dependent of course on the way the painting has been

hung).. Here, (although the letter "V ('B^ must have consciously been left dis-

cernablee in the white painting as a trace) the pure form of suprematist painting

suddenlyy seems to exclude verbal representation, the letter (see Douglas et al.

1990:: Plate 106).

160 0

MINIMALIS MM AND PLAY IN ALEKSEJ KRUÉENYCH'S CAUCASIAN BOOKS

Inn the production of Krucenych, the symbolization and the conventionalization

off writing are constandy questioned. Krucenych seemed to agree with Malevic'

onn going "beyond zero" in a creation of a minimal language and considering

thee page a pictorial surface and the letter a pictorial element. However, Malevic

introducedd the view that the letter should be comprehended as a mystical note,

ass a meta-physical sign. This does not agree with Krucenych's constant search

forr every possible way to disrupt the symbolic order. Thus, in his early produc-

tionn from the Caucasus, every page can be seen as a new attempt to play with

thee conventions of writing, whether in %aum' poetry, spurn' propagation, anti-

symbolistt mockery, or in manifestos. The %aum' poetry emerges as empty in-

dexicall signs on the instantaneous singularity of each page. This poetry consists

off mechanical combinations of sounds, repetitions, tautology, shifts, or minimal

variationss of sound-schemes.

Onlyy the simple paradigmatic chains "cho-bo-ro" and "raz-faz-gaz" and the

variationss of these chains emerge as a kind of new 'language'. But although

thesee chains were programmatic for the theory of eco-poetry, they do not re-

ceivee a consistent justification within a system. They remain strictly private ut-

terancess or expressions of mystification, of play. Krucenych seems constandy

too play with the automatism of reading, which is most evident in the crossed

outt letter in the poem 'Krym()kaja\ This poem shows to what extent the reader

iss always focused on the production of or the re-establishing of meaning. Fi-

nally,, the book itself is questioned as being the material bearer of meaning rely-

ingg on a high degree of conventionalization. All of these conventions are ques-

tionedd but are never entirely given up. Therefore, the conventions of the book

(thee copy, the copyright, the turning of the pages, the direction of reading, the

pagee as being a (white) space on which letters, lines, stanzas, and poems can be

differentiated),, of the letters (materialized language), and of the poem (a struc-

turee of lines, sound repetitions and space), are, apart from one or two excep-

tions,, partly or entirely reconstructable. Thus, although these conventions are

veryy often difficult to apprehend, every page emerges as a new playful attempt

too disrupt the conventions of writing and reading. Therefore, although attempts

weree clearly made to construct a theory of economical poetry as the answer to

161 1


thee emergence of suprematism in painting, the poetical practice of Krucenych

remainss preoccupied with the disruption of meaning in poetry, which according

too Malevic, never frees the letter from the conventions of symbolization.

162 2

Documents

UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository) Writing and the ... · place..A tthisexhibition,Malevic'pamphle t From Cubism to Suprematism. New PainterlyPainterly 'Realism appeare d forthefirsttime.I