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[HOW TO CREATE AN AGIT-SPECTACLE] Postroyeniye agit-zrelishcha [i.e. Creating an Agitational Spectacle]

Lvov, N.

Moscow: Teakinopechat’, 1930. Item #864

160 pp.: sheet music. 15.1x20.9cm. In original publisher’s illustrated wrappers. Previous owner’s inscription and private library stamp on the title page: “From the Books of E. Kupchenko”, the last three pages lack small pieces at the edges. Spine is neatly restored, otherwise near fine.

First and only edition. Rare. Striking constructivist design by unknown artist after A. Rodchenko.

This book, written by the Soviet art critic and theatre expert Nikolay Lvov (1893-1982), offers a detailed reference on the use of various types of stimuli in performances as an instrument to influence proletarian viewers. The edition was completed in 1929, yet due to the unknown reasons the publication got postponed until 1930 (the edition was stuck in print for ten months): “But it is precisely in this period that the leitmotif of the book is specifically accurate: to create an agitation spectacle as a means of economic and political education
of the audience”. The book is divided into three main sections: 1) Material of the Production 2) Formulation of the Task and Compiling Text 3) Development of the Production Plan. In the edition, the author proclaims the uselessness of emotional imitation, calling for all those engaged in the agit-spectacle to be connected with the industry. He underlines the importance of “target reaction”, as a merger of art with the challenges posed by the contemporary era. The book is based upon the assumption that one of the main objectives of the agit-spectacle is to eliminate obstructing factors for perceiving agit-performance. From convenient costumes to the removal of the unnecessary words from the scenario, Lvov unfolds various means of influencing a psyche of a proletarian viewer.

Worldcat locates copies at Library University of Amsterdam and National Library of France.

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