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Avots - the Source of Eternal Youth and Vigour
If one believed in the existence of an elixir of youth, you would think that it had been used by the magazine Avots. At a time when the combination of words "freedom of speech" was an unfathomable concept in the Latvian Soviet Republic, the magazine obviously expressed the idea of freedom, and its power of visual expression has still not diminished today.
Homespun Secrets
The decision to publish a magazine dedicated to literature was at that time made centrally, and in the 1980s this type of publication was produced in Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, where the magazine Vikerkaar (in translation from Estonian – rainbow) is still being published today. Aivars Kļavis became the chief editor of the literary artistic and socially political magazine Avots, published by the Latvian Writer’s Union and the Central Committee of the Young Communist League of Latvia, with Andra Neiburga as the artistic editor of the first issue. A graduate of the Industrial Art Department of the Latvian State Academy of Art, Andra Neiburga worked concurrently as a writer and from 1987 to 1989 was head of the Young Writer’s Union. The author of the visual image of the magazine was Andris Breže, who at that time was not yet thirty years old. The finances were secure, although freedom of expression was severely curtailed and that which seems self-evident to us today, for example, publishing a representation of the Latvian national flag, were forbidden in the beginning. Political changes can be identified when comparing the covers from different years of the publication. In 1987 these were designed by Andris Breže, each time differently playing on the motif of a pen: in the December issue it transforms into a fir tree, in July it becomes the pointer on a sundial, only in November the pen loses its original role, becoming a beam of light from a star next to the profile of Lenin’s face, above which the year 1917 is written. "There were subjects that we could not ignore, they were required of us. It does not matter, how dynamic or static the design of the magazine was, for it to be published, the October celebrations were obligatory for the cover. When in the next year work on the cover design was continued by Sarmīte Māliņa, the secret of the red-white-red flag no longer existed," the artist explains. In October 1988 the Freedom Monument’s Milda is in the centre, along with the flag of the independent Latvia. Although the ruling powers "turned a blind eye" more and more often, censorship existed and publications had to be approved by the Central Literature Authority, popularly known as glavļit.
The Horror of Some Readers
For decades the officially sanctioned socialist realism in art influenced society’s narrow view of the creative expression of artists, many viewers becoming confused by, for example, the large-format paintings of the scandalously famous Aija Zariņa. Her illustrations were also published in the magazine Avots, the graphic design of which was just as unusual. The creative input of Andris Breže was also doubted – in 1984 the Ministry of Culture of the Latvian SSR banned an exhibition that he had created in the Gustavs Šķilters Museum together with Ojārs Pētersons and Juris Putrāms. Reader’s comments were published in an issue in 1987, of which a whole string was dedicated to the design of the publication. "The design of the new magazine shocked me so much, that I couldn’t sleep for several nights. I have never seen an uglier magazine in my life. Looking at this magazine, I was taken over by horror. Was it necessary to study for many years at the Academy of Art, in order to smear some black and yellow stains, draw some crosses (like an illiterate person) and add some finger prints (like in a criminal case)?"[2] It is difficult to imagine that the design of a magazine would be capable of causing such disgust today; however, in 1987 the protests of the readers also eroded the conviction of the editorial board and after the publication of the eighth issue Andra Neiburga no longer worked in the editorial team. The story of Andris Breže’s design for the first issue of Avots has become legendary – on the last night before printing it was re-worked at the printer’s, without the knowledge of the author, because of the concern that the motif of the quill could be construed to have erotic undertones. Andris Breže: "Everyone was scared to see how sharp it had become. They were scared of their own publication, their own tails were trembling!"
The Unravelled Ball of Wool
The visual image of the magazine, created by Andris Brežis and defended by Andra Neiburga, was maintained even after the role of artistic editor was passed on to Sarmīte Māliņa. She worked on the editorial board from 1987 until the last issue of the magazine in 1992. The initially mistrusted publication captivated artists, writers and other readers, who were interested in the cultural shift that was occurring. "The magazine Avots was like an explosion, and, to my mind, Andris Breže directed this design seemingly with ease, without prejudice. When I was not yet working on the editorial board, I remember – each issue was an event and an emotional moment. Everything was new, during the Soviet era a mass of the unknown had accumulated as if in a ball of wool. Today you cannot surprise anyone, but back then everything had to be grasped. And the illustrations of Kristaps Ģelzis!" remembers Sarmīte Māliņa. The works of Ojārs Pētersons, Juris Putrāms, Vilnis Zābers, Māris Subačs, Indulis Gailāns, Māris Ārgalis, Helēna and Ivars Heinrihsons, Ivars Poikāns and other artists have been published in the magazine. In the magazine one can read short articles by Andrejs Grants about other photographers, offering an insight, for example, into the activities of Gvido Kajons, Inta Ruka, Mārtiņš Zelmenis and Gints Bērziņš. The editorial board collaborated with many photographers, including Andris Krieviņš, Valts Kleins and Gunārs Janaitis. "It was a happy, happy time, when many poets and many young writers all circulated in the editorial office," says Sarmīte Māliņa. Klāvs Elsbergs’ contribution to the magazine is significant; while Normunds Naumanis, Eva Rubene, Rudīte Kalpiņa and others have worked there as editors. "The work was connected with people with whom one wanted to associate with; that was the most important thing. If I would have had to design the cover for the magazine Zvaigzne, for example, it would feel like a state commission," comments Kristaps Ģelzis.
Black and White Yarn
In the 11th issue of 1987, the article 'An Artist and His Image' was included under the initiative of Andris Grīnbergs. Miervaldis Polis, Maija Tabaka and other authors, who were given the photographs of models, visually reworked them according to their own artistic fantasies – elements were drawn on, overpainted, stuck on, rubbed out. That which is easy to do today, by working with a computer programme, at that time was achieved manually, using a plethora of materials, for example, carbon paper, which has been forgotten today, and other techniques. Kristaps Ģelzis admits that collage was the easiest way to create a cover for the magazine. Covers for Avots were created by different artists each year, who were given the opportunity to freely express themselves by the editorial board.[3] In 1987 – Andris Breže, 1988 – Sarmīte Māliņa and Sergejs Davidovs, 1989 – Ojārs Pētersons, 1990 – Kristaps Ģelzis, 1991 – Sarmīte Māliņa again. Kristaps Ģelzis created collages from "the refuse of personal creative work" – graphics, sketches and photographs taken by himself or Indriķis Stūrmanis. In turn, Sarmīte Māliņa combined cut outs from paper she had painted herself and searched for collage pieces in magazines and books. Afterwards these were photographed by Sergejs Davidovs, in order to achieve the necessary dimensions of the image, because copiers were not available. The originals were sold at that time, although now "it’s scary to think what happened to them, because glue doesn’t hold for very long!" Different visual accents were also introduced to the internal pages every year. The first tends to be called the year of the ink spot, when the expressiveness that can be seen on the covers is also introduced into the inner pages, with colours smeared and stripes drawn over otherwise uneventful blocks of text. When Sarmīte Māliņa continued work after Andris Breže, some titles continued to be written in a seemingly messy handwriting, although, for example, the mess of ink spots in the columns were subsequently replaced by a concrete, graphically clear sign. Fragments of foreign advertisements were included in the pages of the issues of 1990, which outside their original context became a joke played by the artist. On a page in the December issue, the Chanel Nr. 5 logo appears, cut out from some fashion magazine which was bought from acquaintances, because it was not available for purchase elsewhere. Another resource in the arsenal of images used by Sarmīte Māliņa was a book of clip-art, in which there were collections of drawings and ornaments from different eras. As a result the pages boasted realistically sketched cherries or contours of lips . These were published in black and white. Instructions that had to be followed when planning colours were mentioned by Andra Neiburga in 1987: "First, an answer to those many readers who express militant disgust about the small amount of colourful images in this magazine. You express a suspicion that this is due to the "hackwork" or "stinginess" (?) of the editor. Therefore I am informing you that each publication has a strictly controlled number of pages which can be in full colour, two colours and black and white. Our magazine has the following: 16 pages in colour, 32 pages in two colours, and the rest are supposed to be in black and white. We are only allowed to choose one spot colour for each issue. We have chosen the colour yellow for this and also a number of future issues."[4] Although in the last years the magazine has been more colourful, the black and white or two colour version of the spread is still considered to be its most characteristic trait. "At that time there were no opportunities which are now provided by computer programmes. The tricks and effects of contemporary box office hits do not belittle the value of old Fellini films. They have absolutely no meaning, because less is more," says Sarmīte Māliņa.
Power in the Hands of the Author
In 1990 the circulation of the magazine was 145 000 copies, of these 52 000 were the Russian version of the magazine with the title Rodņik. At that time print runs for books, newspapers and magazines were measured in the many thousands of copies and publications were not expensive. For the 80 page Avots the price was 50 kopecks in 1989. Without worries about readership and having the finances provided by the state, the authors were able to express their creative potential. "I didn’t care if people liked or disliked the result, we did what we liked ourselves, not having to pander to the interests of the client, as would be the case today," says Sarmīte Māliņa. Magazines in the West at that time had similar graphic design tendencies, although this can be explained with the influence of punk culture, which was a reaction to the following of strict principles of modernism over a number of decades. In the 1980s the magazine The Face became popular in Great Britain, which was designed by Neville Brody. He was able to connect commercial success with innovation in design, which in turn inspired other experiments carried out in the subculture environment. When the Xerox copier became popular in Europe, independent, self-published publications became more widely distributed, which were meant for a small audience of readers. In late 2009 it was possible to buy copies of File Megazine, published by the Swiss JRP-Ringier in the contemporary art gallery Supernova in the Old Town. The original was published from 1972 to 1989, its authors – a group of Canadian artists General Idea, which at that time was exploring methods of alternative expression. The team of Avots has also produced a self-copied experiment, Vāks (‘Cover’) in 1989, when participating in the 8th International Latvian Youth congress at Haikko Manor in Finland. A note which can be read in the publication: "A big thank you also to Jānis Abens, who helped to clear up relations with the consistently complicated Macintosh." In the early 1990s, for a brief moment in Latvia, one could buy a monthly magazine for youth, Parks , the daring design of which was created by Kārlis Freibergs. This indicates that there were other times in Latvian publishing, when the concept of the publication was in the hands of the editorial board itself, risking losses or gaining a profit. The general inflation in the early 1990s also influenced the price of Avots. In 1992 the first issue cost subscribers 2 roubles, while the retail price was 4 roubles and 50 kopecks. In the same year the 5/6 double edition cost 20 roubles, and by 1993 the magazine was no longer published. The publication Avots was and remains a commission for the Soviet state, which the writers and artists knew how to adapt, by using the "courage and the maximalism of youth," comments Sarmīte Māliņa.
Thanks to Sarmīte Māliņa, Andris Breže and Kristaps Ģelzis in the writing of this article.
Visual material provided by the archive of the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art
Each cover design had a particular, sometimes now forgotten context. The most difficult part was to achieve a unified style. This "dynamically agitated product" was not beautiful and lovable; it had to be aggressive in a positive way. I think that all of us who worked on it have been patriotically humane in our choice, meaning – we have been thinking about people. There was only as much politics as we had hopes for nationalism. (Kristaps Ģelzis)
When designing the cover, papers were torn and glued, paint was applied with a brush, and everything was drawn and painted upon. I wanted for the magazine to be different, dynamic and powerful. To my mind, everything was done correctly. I consider it to be a unified thing, which was in step with everything else. The outer form reflects the content, and I myself like the way the magazine was when it was published. Now I would probably decide that this and that is overdone and was an end in itself. (Andris Breže)
It was madness, something audacious. If today we had to make a courageous publication, one that everyone noticed, it would be much harder to do, because everything is colourful: you cannot outdo anything. Saying this, I am not belittling the investment of that time, I am just admitting that the situation is different. In today’s context, the design of the newspaper Kultūras Diena was purposefully created to be conservative. I want for everything to be perfect, perfect, I am fascinated by all of the layouts of conservative books, that give me a sense that letters have value. (Sarmīte Māliņa)
This type of work style was in fashion at that time: Andris Breže, Juris Putrāms and others worked in similar ways. We also did screen printing in a similar way. And the colour orange, which due to the printing technologies of the time looked like red. Back then I drew swimmers in many different ways. Not only in drawings, but also on posters. I created the magazine covers as a series, so that when put together, they would look like one year. (Ojārs Pētersons)