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Made in Russia: Unsung Icons of Soviet Design Hardcover – Illustrated, April 12, 2011
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Michael Idov
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Lara Vapnyar
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Print length224 pages
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LanguageEnglish
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PublisherRizzoli
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Publication dateApril 12, 2011
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Dimensions5.12 x 0.75 x 8.22 inches
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ISBN-100847836053
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ISBN-13978-0847836055
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"Author Michael Idov has amassed the amusing creations from his childhood in Soviet Russia, culminating in this book, Made In Russia: Unsung Icons of Soviet Design (Rizzoli). The book is a collection of delighted insights, personal essays from leading Russian writers such as Gary Shteyngart, and quirky images curated by Idov, who was 15 when the curtain fell." ~Flaunt
"It’s true that Iron Curtain motifs tend to conjure humorless functionality (c.f. ‘Iron Curtain’) or high kitsch, but this big-hearted compendium proves that even as the USSR began to disintegrate, it managed, through objects and toys and technologies, to articulate a national sensibility as confounding, elusive, and magical as the Pyramid Milk Carton." ~BlackBook
"Most Americans probably think of Soviet design as dreary and bland, the ultimate expression of function over form. But the bygone empire was full of quirky, charming and influential design objects as well. In the new book Made In Russia: Unsung Icons of Soviet Design (out April 12, by Rizzoli International Publications), Russian essayists delve into the history of Soviet style by examining 50 peculiar artifacts of the USSR, including ancient arcade games, radios that received only one station and cars built with ice fishing hatches." ~Popular Mechanics
"Made in Russia: Unsung Icons of Soviet Design (edited by New York's Michael Idov) a fascinating visual trip behind the Iron Curtain." New York Magazine
About the Author
Michael Idov is a contributing editor at New York Magazine and the author of the 2009 novel Ground Up, published in English as well as Idov's own Russian translation. His essays have appeared in numerous publications including GQ, The Wall Street Journal, and The New Republic. He lives in New York City.
Boris Kachka is a journalist and author whose writing has been published in New York Magazine, Condé Nast Traveler, and Russia! Magazine.
Vitaly Komar ia a conceptual artist and, together with Alexander Melamid, one of the founders of the Sots Art movement. His work has appeared at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, and at the Venice Biennale.
Gary Shteyngart is the best-selling author of fiction including The Russian Debutante's Handbook, Absurdistan, and Super Sad True Love Story. His writing has also appeared in The New Yorker, Granta, and The New York Times.
Lara Vapnyar is the author of the novel Memoirs of a Muse and a collection of short stories, There Are Jews in My House. Her work has been published in The New Yorker and Harper's Magazine.
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Product details
- Publisher : Rizzoli; Illustrated edition (April 12, 2011)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 224 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0847836053
- ISBN-13 : 978-0847836055
- Item Weight : 13.4 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.12 x 0.75 x 8.22 inches
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Best Sellers Rank:
#1,482,221 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #808 in Industrial & Product Design
- #4,433 in Graphic Design Techniques
- #7,510 in Arts & Photography Criticism
- Customer Reviews:
Customer reviews
Top reviews from the United States
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The book deals mostly with consumer items from the era of Sputnik to the collapse of the Soviet government in the late 1980's, with a bulk of that being fixed upon the 1960's and 70's. Russian designers were placed in the crux of creating visually appealing goods with the Soviet penchant for utilitarian function. Throw in the factors of limited manufacturing resources and dedication to Russia's then leadership in the space race, and a very distinctive style begins to emerge: clean, simple and very straight foward.
The authors choose a good cross section of items to examine: the Aeroflot logo, the infamous Zaporozhet automobile, a hygienically dubious soda machine, and a popular television show for children among them. Eschewing the drone of academia, each item if accompanied by an essay with a pithy or sardonic tone. When describing the notorious Russian cigarettes, Belomorkanals, he writes that they were filled with "a substance that was swept up from the floor of a long closed tobacco factory."
Where the book is lacking is in its format. Most books on design are large, full color, with glorious photographs. This book is the sized to fit a pocket, with most items represented by one single B&W stock photo. Two slender inserts of color plates improve the situation only slightly.
The final word on Soviet design? No, but a good starting place for those who are interested.
I greatly enjoyed a trip back the memory lane and the light humor of the stories. Highly recommend to anyone interested in a quick tour into particulars of an everyday life of Soviet Union.
What is especially sad is seeing such stupid caricatures perpetuated to this day by books like this. The pictures in this book depict interesting items of Soviet pop culture and industry, revealing a side of Soviet life of which most Westerners were (and are) unaware. The pictures make this book interesting. But the text -- well, that's another story. At every turn we are reminded how dull, drab, and behind the "capitalist" countries the Soviet Union was. Even when praise is to be offered for something, it's generally attributed to the influence of the West, such as this commentary on a popular Soviet magazine for youth: "Like many good things, Krugozor appeared as the result of one of Nikita Kruschev's trips to the West."
Essentially, this book reads like a piece of propaganda produced by someone unaware that the Cold War is over.
