British Neo-Constructivism between 1956 and 1978: art and the politics of technoscientific modernisation

Pritchett, Ben (2014). British Neo-Constructivism between 1956 and 1978: art and the politics of technoscientific modernisation. Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) thesis The Open University.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21954/ou.ro.0000f867

Abstract

The first chapter of this thesis introduces British Neo-Constructivism as both an artistic problematic and a formation, which is historically situated relative to “the technoscientific bloc”. The technical and morphological qualities that distinguish Neo-Constructivist work are then analysed. Chapter 2 discusses Neo-Constructivism in the exhibition This is Tomorrow (1956). It highlights certain political connotations to the genesis of the exhibition, and then analyses two particular sections: Section 9, featuring Kenneth and Mary Martin, is linked to notions of “life” in bioscience, and Section 5 to decolonisation, focusing on Denis Williams. Chapter 3 looks at British Neo-Constructivism in the 1960s, relating it to the hegemonic discourse of “White Heat”. It discusses themes of movement in the projects of Kenneth Martin and Gillian Wise. Next is introduced the work of Philip Steadman and Stephen Bann on the journal Form, a publication which enhanced understanding of Neo-Constructivism’s historical precedents. The chapter closes by analysing the publication DATA, showing how it linked mathematics and urbanism, and how the art of Anthony Hill connected to this. Chapter 4 covers the late 1960s and early 1970s. It begins by observing that systems theory became a central discourse for the technoscientific bloc, and “The System” a target of radical critique. It then discusses how Kenneth and Mary Martin developed their projects in new directions in this conjuncture. There follows an analysis of the exhibition Systems (1972), and particularly the projects of Jeffrey Steele and James Moyes. Chapter 5 explores The Constructivist Section at the Hayward Annual ’78, which featured Gillian Wise, Susan Derges and Terry Pope. Since the exhibition was led by women, this gives rise to a discussion of Neo-Constructivism in relation to feminism. The thesis concludes with reflections on continuity and change in Neo-Constructivism between 1956 and 1978, and on developments beyond 1978.