Mark Clarence Konecny, 1960–2022
Citation: Experiment 28, 1 (2022) ; 10.30965/2211730x-12340036
Mark Clarence Konecny, 1960–2022
Citation: Experiment 28, 1 (2022) ; 10.30965/2211730x-12340036
Mark Clarence Konecny, 1960–2022
Citation: Experiment 28, 1 (2022) ; 10.30965/2211730x-12340036
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Mark Clarence Konecny who died in Cincinnati, Ohio, on Thursday, February 10, 2022, aged 62. For many years Mark was Associate Director of the Institute of Modern Russian Culture (IMRC) at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, and General Editor of the journal Experiment, although his more recent activities centered on the University of Cincinnati where he served as Scholarly Communications and Digital Publishing Coordinator. A specialist in the Russian avant-garde, Mark researched and published widely on writers and artists of the movement such as Konstantin Bol’shakov, Aleksei Kruchenykh, and Kazimir Malevich as well as on the development of radical theatrical forms during that era such as the cabaret and vaudeville. For over twenty-five years Mark served as bibliographer and archivist for the IMRC, working on the comprehensive catalogue of its rare imprints, including books, journals, exhibition catalogues, works of art, and posters, a mammoth task which will be continued and completed. More recently, Mark changed direction towards designing interactive multimedia projects on topics in the Humanities and Social Sciences for the University of Cincinnati Library Publishing Services, using the Manifold Digital Platform. Among his more recent e-publications are Children, Youth and Environments, Visible Language, and Issues in Race and Society (ucincinnatipress.manifoldapp.org). Devoted to Russian culture and a passionate Russophile, but also proud of his Texas origins, Mark was kind, tolerant, self-effacing, and of ever good humor and optimistic disposition. Warm and charismatic, an admirable colleague and mentor, always ready to create and support innovative projects, Mark will be missed by many and we offer our deepest condolences to his widow Joanie, daughter Anna, and sister Karen.
Although Mark’s faithful engagement with the welfare of the IMRC will be hard to replace, we are pleased to welcome Andrea K. Rusnock as the new Associate Director. A close friend of Mark, a colleague of long standing, and also a specialist in Russian art, Dr. Rusnock is Professor of Art History at Indiana University at South Bend, Indiana, USA. Maintaining a particular interest in Socialist Realism and the Russian and Soviet handicrafts, Dr. Rusnock has published widely, including the monograph Socialist Realist Painting during the Stalinist Era (2010) and editorship of Experiment, No. 22 (devoted to Russian haberdashery). Dr. Rusnock is the recipient of a fellowship from the American Councils Title VIII Combined Research and Language Training Program for the coming academic year. She will be researching the role of women during the Second World War for a book which is under contract with Academic Studies Press.
Dr. Oleg Minin, professor of Russian studies at Bard College, New York, has kindly agreed to assume Mark’s duties as General Editor of Experiment.
John E. Bowlt