The Chaplin Machine-Slapstick , Fordism and the Communist Avant-Garde

240 Pages·2016·9.315 MB·English

by  Owen Hatherley

The Chaplin Machine

The Chaplin Machine
Slapstick, Fordism αnd j'he
Communist Avant-Gαrde
Owen Hatherley
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Copyright @ Owen Hatherley 2016
卫leright of Owen Hatherley to be identified as the author of this work has
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Act 1988.
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permission for the use of copyright materia1 in this book 币lepublisher apol
ogises for any er1'Ors or omissions in this respect and would be grateful if
noti且ed of any corr巳ctions that should be incorporated in future reprints or
editions.
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ISßN 9780745336015 Hardback
ISßN 978 1 7837 1773 6 PDF eBook
ISßN 978 1 7837 1775 0 Kindle巳Book
ISßN 978 1 7837 17743 EPUß eBook
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Contents
Inlroduction
Americanism and Fordism - and Chaplinism
1 . Conslructing Ihe Chaplin Machine
The Construclivist International Encounlers
the American Comedians
35
2. Red Clowns 10 the Rescue
Biomechanics in Film, Faclory and Circus
65
3. No Rococo Palαce for Busler Keαlon
Architeclures of Americanism
101
4. The Rhythm of Socialisl Conslruction
Soviet Sound Film and the Crealion
of an Induslrial Economy
141
Conclusion
Life is getting jollier, Comrades!
173
Acknowl咆tηlents
195
Notes
197
Inde百
223

Soldiers! don't give yourselves to brutes - men ωho deJpise
you - enslave you - who regiment you1' lives - tell you ωhat
to do - what to think and what to j专t刀 Who drill you - diet
you 一 treatyou like ωttle， use you as 仰l1Zonfodder: Don't
give youηelves to these unnatural men - machine men with
machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines!
You are not cattle川TOUare men!You have the love ifhumanity
in your hearts! You don't hate! Only the unloved hate - the
Ul山vedand the 1仰
F~住μ注b加t卢j忘切r讪βωbe吵f
1n the I7th Chapter ifS t Luke it isωritten: 'the Ki咆dom
if God is within man' - not one man no1' a groψ ifmen，
but in all men! 1n you! You, the people have the poωer - the
poωer to create machines. 1万epoωer to create happiness! You,
thepeψle， have the power to make this 1伊freeand beaut伪L
印刷kethis 1;泸dωonderfuladventure
1hen - in the name ifd emocracy - let us use that poωer -
10
letωall unite. Let ω.fight 1' a neωωorld - a decentωorld
that will give men a chance to work - thatωill give youth a
future and o/d age a sec盯句. By the promise if these things,
brutes have risen to poω0: But they lie! 1hey do notf u!fil that
promise. 1hey never will!
Dictators free themseh剧 butt.力eyenslave the people! No切
的ω.fig为ttO)♀t!fil that pro仰'se!Letω卢ghtto free the world
- to do away with national barriers - to do a切ayωithgreed,
ωith hate and intolerance. Let us .fight for a world if reason,
a world ωhere science and progress will lead to all mens
happinω. Soldiers! in the name ifd emocracy, let阳。IIunite!'
AG KD tor 'n
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Introduction
Americαnismαnd Fordism - and Chaplinism
Let's examine Lenin's vieωS (ill a London Jllusic hall) as
rψorted by Go句 'Vladimir I!yich laughed easi!y and
II沪ctiou吵 on watc.仇'gthe 呻c10ω 削d仰ωn们df札h归μv阳y
b加E阳ωdωs ω0y吵刀mil吻d!y 仇i!切1n旷tt阳U仰， '四C ed 仇iη 劝肋e 1削 H品e ωwc1附t肋ch臼ed ωωi助t.b
4铲户tcωi旷a1intere耐stωa5ω0ωy元如tω如门J'sfrη口owm仰 Britωi.sh Cαólμz仰mm刀bia斤j'è!品.led力treωes.
1oηe盯smal1stage r~户resC1的da lumberya叫 andin front, tωo
b伪1卢'Iows ωithin a mim矿e chψped down a tree of about
one met加er门C价i
‘呐胁ιq旷f、ωcou门叫马t劝b拍hωIS01吵j卢01'劝仰eaωud命itω阳nω附2CCαe.They can't real。
ωork that fast, ' said Ilyich. 'But, it's obvious that they rea吵
do ωork ωi劝 axes th仰" to马 making ωorthless ch伊s out of
the bulk oft he tree. Here you have your cultured Englishme时'
He sta的dtalking about the anarchy ofp roduction undC/
capitalism and ended by ex:户ressl咆 regret that nobo今 had
yet thought ofωriting a book on the subject. 1 didn't quite
folloωthis line ofreasoning but he switched to an in阳臼ting
discussion on 告ccentrism'as a fonn of theatre art. 'There is a
certain satirical and scψtical attitude to the conventional, an
111ge to turn it inside out, to distort it sl结ht!yin 01由rto show
the illogic of the usual. Intricate but interesting' { . .] Let's
analyse this extremeψtnψortallt excel卢·
1. Lenin is interested i12 eccentrics.
2. Leni仇;n与切 IS '[vωc毗bμj咆t均hede仰m1ω仰07削1刀η5阶t
3. He evaluates this卢rst class ωork as sense1ess and
切ast拼， t!.. he talks about the anarchy of production and the
necessity to write about it.
4. Lenin talks about eccentrism i12 ar乙 asc铲tica/attitude
toωard the conventional, and the illogic oft he usual.
INTRODUCTION
The t仰m'ω'ηaa1仰n1Z
σ仰仰7刀zd s口o 归铲eaι f劝he abSIωIrdiσty 吧f旷t劝h， e cψa户i归tσ， list ω0ωr!d ωcouldd
b加e 劝sb加0切y刀1 t扣hrηωωu0ωgh met加hods?旷f、eccωeent力I'tC ar旷t ωv.lω.斤Jωi矿i劝th， 的its scφe户tiω/
attitude toward the conventional.
Viktor Shldovsky, Mayakovsl与Jand his Circle (1940)1
Pick Up Your Pig Iron and Walk
1n his 19II book The Princ护les 0/ Scientijìc Management, the
American industrial theorist and engineer Frederick叭Tinslow
Taylor r巳counts how he managed to make an ox-lik巳 Dutch
immigrant cal1巳d Schmidt carry a seemingly impossible
quantity of pig iron in his job at the Bethleh巳m Ste巳lworks.
Ta抖or has already outlined how the precise measurement and
recording of a worker's most minute physical actions by special1y
trained overseers can be col1ated, and calculated so as to plan
th巳 most e面ci巳nt series of movements for th巳 purposes of
production.叽Then th巳work巳ris trained to use these t巳chniques
in their work, the result is massive increases in productivity.
1he problem is that 'it is impossible for the man who is best
suit巳d to this kind of work to understand the principles of this
science.'2 So, Schmidt is teased by Taylor into increasing his
worldoad by asking him repeat巳dlyifhe is a‘high-priced man',
and dangling the possibilit::y of a pay rise in front of him, if only
he wil1 fol1ow very precisely the dictates of the supervisor:
Wel1, if you are a high-priced man, you wil1 do 巳xact1y
as this man tel1s you to-morrow, from morning til1 night.
When he tel1s you to pick up a pig and walk, you pick it
up and you wal1王， and when he tel1s you to sit down and
r巳st，you sit down. You do that right straight through the
2