Blog 11: Video Reviews

Dada and Surrealism

1. I chose this video because a couple of the other videos were unavailable. I wrote about these movements in the discussion post and thought that this video could expand on the text even more and hopefully show some great examples of pieces from these movements.

2. The first Dada artist presented is Kurt Schwitters. He has said he wanted his own art to embrace everything in the world. He began calling his type of work, "Merz" as he wanted to stand apart from cubism, dadaism, and futurism. We then learn about Hanna Hoch, a Berlin artist who wanted to use dada to attack a society she detested. Her piece, "Cut with the Kitchen Knife" is a photomontage from 1919. She used 50 well known faces from politics, business, art, and sport as she mutilated and cut them up to put them out of context and stir up chaos. The importance of the dada movement was to keep up with the changing world and the way europe was changing. The political and cultural standing is mutilated by dadaism art. We next learn of George Grosz who used anger as an essential part of his dada art pieces. He was known for painting his entire face while and sitting in a cafe to play the part of a character he created, "the saddest man in Europe." His paintings of the city of Berlin lead people to feel trapped in the city and stuck as prisoners. We then explore Surrealism through the work of Joan Miro and his work Dutch Interior I. This work simply looks like a series of shapes, colors and lines combining and intertwining. Within the details there are clues as to what is actually happening as a person playing guitar comes to view. The idea of surrealism includes that there are different ways to look at a picture. One of the most famous surrealist artists, Salvador Dali is then introduced with his work, The Burning Giraffe. He set out to explore the darkest regions of the human subconscious and imagination. We see the stick like figures in a very small space locked into the painting. Dali's imagination shows a world that does not make any sense. Although we can make out the shapes to see a woman and a giraffe, the actions are completely unrealistic. The setting and background shows the decay of the world. The last artist we meet in this video is Man Ray. We see his surrealism piece, "La Fortune" from 1938. Man Ray was able to bring a new unfamiliar kind of beauty to his art. The meaning within this painting is very obscure and does not fit into any one interpretation. 

3. This video is a great extension from the Dada and Surrealism section in chapter 21. The video allows us to see 3 great artists from both movements and explain the ideas and history in some of their works. 

4. I liked how this video was set up and went through short clips to explain six different artists that we part of similar movements and how their art brought controversy to the world around them. It was nice to see the pieces they were famous for and have some further insight into how these works could possibly be interpreted. 

The Impact of Cubism

1. I chose this video because I still don't feel like I could really define cubism so I was hoping the video could give me more information and examples to understand cubism and the artists that were apart of this time.

2. Cubism was influenced by the works of Cezanne, African tribal art and the art of the liberian pennisula, Cubism the most influential style of the early 20th century. This nonclassical way to represent form and space. We see Juan Gris' The Breakfast Table from 1915. We see the newspaper representing the times of the war and as it lies on the table there is a sense for a troubled morning. We see that life will carry on whether it is war time or peace time. Next, Marcel Duchamp's, Sad Young Man on a Train from 1911 shows us a painting of dark lines but no man. The artist claimed this piece to be a self portrait. This piece brings a sense of movement which causes the idea of evolvement over time. There is a mechanical era that would explain the train traveling. Next, we meet Robert Dulaney and his piece, Champ de Mars from 1911. The first view of the painting leaves you wondering of the subject matter until it is explained that the inspiration included the eiffel tower and the surrounding apartment buildings. This is clearly a stressed interpretation of the tower as it is painted from the artists' own memories and perception. Dulaney was mostly about abstraction in his work and representations often have to be explained by their titles. Sonia Dulaney is another cubism artist that is known for her piece, Electric Prisms. This largely colorful piece brings a sense of harmony through primary and complementary colors. Considering the whole pictures there is an established sense of direction through a formed spiral leading your eyes from the outside into the middle. The next artist, Kazimir Malevich brings us the piece, An Englishman in Moscow. This painting shows us an English man's journey through Moscow presented as a scrapbook or collage like work. There are many shapes surrounding the man such as a fish, a red arrow, scissors, and then there are words saying "partial solar eclipse." Approaching this painting you see the style as cubist but the story with in this work explains something else. Malevich wanted the viewer to experience displacement by shocking the unexpected eye. He wanted the viewer to look for a meaning separate from the accepted logic. Lastly, we meet Umberto Boccioni. Who was a futurist with his work such as Farewells. Boccioni joined the futurists in 1910. He was interested in the chaos and distractions of modern life. He was intrigued by atmosphere and strong emotions evoked by bold colors. He uses the unrealistic colors of expressionism and the multiple perspectives of cubist paintings in his work but none of these techniques could provide the idea of movement he was looking for. He combined what painting had taught him with the up and coming new ideas of the cinema. This imaginary world conditions our perception of reality. The scene is very complex as there are so many different points of view to focus on one main point. 

3. The video and text both touched on Pablo Picasso's Les Demoiselle d'Avignon from 1907.  Both the text and video explain the beauty of cubism as it is like linear perspective in that anyone could do it. Cubism offered artists an opportunity to rethink the representation of form and space.

4. This video was similar to the dada and surrealism video in that it went through a series of artists and expanded on ideas of one of their famous cubist pieces. This was helpful in learning to dissect a work and that there is always more than what meets the eye. The video brought in additional artists and works that were not introduced in the text to broaden my perspective of cubism art.