Notes
Suprematists were about pure color and pure emotion.
*Art never evolves without risks.
El Lissitzke questions where art styles and mediums meet and
intersect.
Influences De Stijl.
El Lissitzke starts in suprematism but illustrates the
shapes in receding planes.
Creates many PROUNs (projects for an establishment for a new
art). PROUN-19D and so on were the titles of many of his works. Based in
suprematism but uses receding plans.
“Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge” was a propaganda piece
against the Bolsheviks.
He wrote a book called “Isms of Art” which used a unique way
of titling the sections of German, French, and English with black bars,
asymmetrical balances, a new way of using white space, running sanserif, semi
opaque images over text, and grids.
*The more clearly you define a problem, the easier it is to
solve the problem
Experimentation in photography and film begins to happen at
this time. Develops the photomontage and it emerges as a popular filming and
photography style. ie Battleship Potemkin
Alexander Rodchenko(1891-1956)
Attends school from 1910-1914 experiments in spatial
construction and suprematism
He then moves into
constructivism- leading towards modern graphic representation. 1923-1925
Constructivist art is Product-useful design. Creativity has
to have a social need
De Stijl 1917-1931
Also known as neoplasticism. Ends abruptly
with its Netherlands creator, Theo Van Doesburg.
It is a utopian approach to aesthetics. Based on
functionalism.
Two-dimensional rectilinear planes that are void of any
decoration aside from flat color.
A mathematical system for the Universe and universal harmony
Best known member was Piet Mondrian (Colored squares, white
voids, and black lines)
Theo Van Doesburg went diagonal in many paintings. He also
added more planes.
The theory of De Stijl was applied to most everything
throughout the decades including the Partridge family bus and contemporary
architecture.
Dada movement that comes from the ideal that the world has
no meaning and art should reflect that.
“Everything is shit, so let’s reflect that.”
Dadist game – Exquisite Corpse; each person adds and changes
the image created before them
Theo Vandosberg ironically embraced Dadism. In order to
embrace a new art you had to destroy the old traditions and styles.
Bauhaus (1919-1933) was a school much like RCAD but not as
wealthy. 33 faculty members. 2,300 students.
It is after the loss of the First World War; Germany is in
ruin.
The school was conceived to gentrify the area and bring in
more money to the community.
It’s utopian ideal was to change the world. Looking for a
unity of artists and craftsman - to bring them together.
1923 was the school’s first exhibition. There were 3
incarnations of the Bauhaus in very different locations.
It is now during the rise of the Nazis.
The Nazis forced the school from one location to another
through fear and violence.
Personal Reaction
I thought that the videos told the story of the artists
well. I liked that they showed how the artist of the museum interacted,
sometimes in great conflict with each other’s ideas on art. I wonder how close
the Russian Revolution came to victory or if it had a chance at all. The video
gave a very interesting angle on the Revolution through the aspect of art and
how the emerging movements were major casualties in the conflict between
freedom and oppression. It was mind-boggling to find out that an artist could
get arrested and sent to a concentration camp on the Artic Circle because of
his art, which did not seem political or subversive at all. It is terrible how
personal expression was wrung out of the people through fear and sometimes
violence. I never really knew much about the Russian Revolution before this.
Taking history through the angle of art has made it much easier to get
interested in these events. The video on the Bauhaus was enlightening. Didn’t
know anything about this before – the movement or the school. I felt that I
could connect with the students that were depicted. However, it seems that
artist back then had much stronger convictions in their art and their ideals
than we have today. I suppose it’s because we have had it much easier
throughout our lives and haven’t had to fight and struggle, like previous
generations did, for our needs and ideologies.
Questions
What influences in art today can be traced back to the
school of Bauhaus?
How was art so different from craft before the Bauhaus?
Were there other artists in that movement that have left a
lasting impression on the field of art?
Were there other artists that were sent to concentration
camps or prison because of their art?
And how many of those were incarcerated for just doing what
they loved and not for being political?
No comments:
Post a Comment