Constructing Utopia in Art: Works by Kurt Schwitters

This work explores the creative concepts and works of art of the German artist Kurt Schwitters (1887–1948) through understanding them as parts of the utopia that he created throughout his life. The research aim is to study the concepts of utopianism and their influence on the perception of the world and the philosophy of art by Schwitters. The assumption that the artist created and presented his works as elements of a large-scale utopian project is based on the analysis of aesthetics, which eventually became the main one for the artist's work. This involves the idea of a complete work of art Gesamtkunstwerk, which assumes the synthesis and unification of artistic genres, media and styles into a single whole. This concept was first formulated by the German composer and art theorist Richard Wagner in his essay "The Artwork of the Future". Wagner's ideas significantly influenced the formation of Kurt Schwitters's ideas about art, on the basis of which he created his style named Merz. The study examines how Schwitters transforms the idea of a total work of art and constructs his utopian project to create an ideal work of art and unite it with real life.