KURI
In Farkas Molnár's interpretation, the analytic process of the 'isms' is as follows: "The regular replaces the accidental. Instead of the decorative and the strongly expressive, we have the constructive, the utilitarian, the rational, the international..."
In German, the initial letters of these principles make up the word KURI, and this word bcame the name of a group of artists. In contrast to Gropius' manifesto of 1919, they emphasized Constructivism, which they said would construct a new, dynamic world out of clarified elements. The principles in the KURI manifesto (published in Út, Novi Sad, December 1922) clearly delineated a certain period at the Bauhaus: the end of 1922, after the international Constructivist meeting in Weimar, the time in which the influence of Theo van Doesburg and that of colleague of his, Vilmos Huszár, was strongly felt. Huszár, co-founding member of De Stijl, was also present in Weimar at the time when the Expressionist phase of the Bauhaus was coming to an end. .. In an article published in the De Stijl magazine, Huszár sharply attacked the Bauhaus, condemning the school for promoting subjectivism. He demanded a type of art that was both original and suited to the new technical civilization. The external criticism, internal disquiet, and the organization of the KURI group might have induced Gropius to propose inviting an unknown Hungarian Constructivist master, after Itten had departed. This is how Moholy-Nagy came to the Bauhaus. Thanks to his earlier work and his connections to architects from the Sturm circle in Berlin, he arrived to take the teaching post that Theo van Doesburg had hoped for. Apart from Schreyer, nobody voted against Moholy-Nagy, since van Doesburg's dogmatic Constructivism and the competitive atmosphere caused by his strong personality had the effect of putting others at a distance.
The KURI movement had performed its role in moving the Bauhaus towards Constructivism, yet it soon dissolved. As a matter of fact, it was no more than a loose group of friends, an "abstract union under Molnárs leadership," as Kurt Schmidt, a Bauhaus student living in Gera, described it. The manifesto was signed by 16 individuals, including Farkas Molnár, Henrik Stefán, Hugó Johann, Andor Weininger, Ludwig Cacinović (Croatian artist from Pécs), Kurt Schmidt, Breuer's neighbor in the studio (while Breuer, a consistent follower of Gropius, did not take part in the group), came from the mural painting workshop with his companions Walter Herzger, Paul Heberer, Otto Kahler, and Franz Hessler. Also Walter Menzel and Otto Umbehr (later became photographers). Other members of the group came for the most part from the mural painting workshop: Czechs Heinrich Koch and R. Kossnik, Austrian Georg Teltscher (later worked in England), Estonian Rudolf Paris, and Semich Rustem of Turkey. This theoretical fraternity was something of an exception in the history of the Bauhaus, it was quickly forgotten, and has remained in obscurity until today. An essential feature of this academy as a social institution (unlike other schools) was to promote a liberal, extraordinarily collective spirit. The high ethical standards and intense intellectual atmosphere at the school had a lifelong impact on the majority of the students. Gropius put great emphasis on developing a real collective, made up of young, liberally minded people who came from various countries, who were concerned with artistic, human, and social renewal.
After van Doesburg's influence receded, Schlemmer's influence became dominant for the KURI members left in Weimar. The 'Bauhaus Dances' were biomechanical experiments that attempted to transform living figures into mechanical ones. In the Mechanical Revue, with its cut-out figures, as well as the puppets, where space and color both have an architectural dimension, the mechanical figures mediate the relationship between formulated space and man.
By 1923, the KURI members had decreased in number. After an effective but brief theoretical involvement they joined in the theatrical experiments at the school.
