Broken Myths

Precisionism is generally regarded as an artistic style that does not indulge in social or political themes, being committed instead to aestheticism. Addressing the role of human beings under increased automation and mechanization, Andrea Diederichs includes the social dimension of the machine age in her investigations. In this way, she undertakes a fundamental revision of the prevailing, one-dimensional reading of Precisionism. It becomes clear that Charles Sheeler’s, George Ault’s or Niles Spencer’s industrial subjects are characterized by ambivalence and ideology-critical tendencies relating to the new conditions of labor under the dictates of the machine, and document the resultant physical and psychological consequences. Re-evaluation of the work of Charles Sheeler and his contemporaries First investigation into the industrial depictions of Precisionism in an industrialpsychological context