On the occasion of the anniversary of his birth, the next issue of Disegno will be dedicated to the critical re-interpretation of the legacy of László Moholy-Nagy and the memory of Victor Margolin, a member of Disegno’s editorial board. The goal is to provide options for understanding the relevance of Moholy-Nagy’s ideas and activities as a designer, artist, and design educator within a contemporary design cultural context. However, this issue also aims to assess his legacy in the widest sense, welcoming papers on design culture that do not closely investigate his contribution but analyse processes, practices, discourses, products, services in the spirit of his philosophy.
The editors wish to emphasize the importance and relevance of Moholy-Nagy’s cinematic work and suggest a critical analysis of his films from at least three perspectives: the role of projection and the notion of Lichtraum within his art theory, the aesthetic value of his films in the context of experimental film and expanded cinema, and the political aspect of his filmmaking and his links to leftist film movements.
We suggest the following topics, but welcome submissions about any relevant theme:
– design: a tool for criticising capitalism then and now
– design history / intellectual history of the oeuvre of Moholy-Nagy
– critical assessment of Moholy-Nagy’s concepts and approaches
– what does “design for life” mean today?
– socially engaged design in relation to the legacy
– Moholy-Nagy as design educator – education in his vein today
– criticism of current trends of social design in the light of Moholy-Nagy’s thoughts
– Victor Margolin’s approach to Moholy-Nagy
The deadline for abstract submissions is 10 March 2021, an answer about acceptance will be provided in early spring, and final manuscripts are to be submitted in mid-May 2021.
For further information including the full submission details please see: http://disegno.mome.hu/?p=302
