At a glance, the painting depicts people swimming on the raft. Their faces are exhausted, and it seems that they have been swimming for weeks or even months. The raft is almost broken, but still it is controlled by people. Some of the people are desperately trying to find the way home whereas others lost their hope in front of death.
While looking at the painting once again, I have noticed that the raft is surrounded by high waves that could break the raft any moment because almost all wood boards are damaged, and it is clear that victims of the storm will never return home.
The figures presented in the background look more confident and ambitious; they are looking for the earth. People in the foreground look extremely tired and hopeless. It also seems that the sailors were the members of the crew, but their ship was eventually wrecked. Those who managed to survive built a raft and decided to move forward until they reached the coast.
Although there is a hope for survival, the dark wave to the left of the raft seems to smash the raft. So, when I looked at this wave, I was a bit shocked because the painting represents the moment before all people will die.
Apart from the plot, figures, and background, I also noticed the tones and colors that the artist used to deliver the message. Most of the colors are warm and pale; even the sea is not of usual color. The pallet of the painting is predominated by brown, yellow, red, and grey colors. I have also noticed that people depicted on the raft are painted in much lighter colors whereas the background is presented in dark tones. Despite the contrast, there is a smooth transition between lights and shadows.
I have also looked at each member of the crew to notice that each person has completely different impressions on his/her face. In particular, there is an old man in the foreground whose face reflects inevitability and hopelessness in front of the nature. He holds a dead man on his knees.
His skin is darker than that of other people surrounding him. The man’s head is covered with a kind of red headscarf; so, he is the only one who wears red clothes. The rest of the crew wears predominantly white colors. Most of the survived are almost naked.
Emotionality versus calmness makes the painting more dramatic and tragic. The contrasts are also seen in representation of the sea and the sky. Hence, the sky in the upper right corner is as dark as the sea to the left of the raft. At the same time, the diagonal contrast is presented while depicting the raft and the people on it.
There is also bright dawn right behind the sail. Once again, the contrast between the rising sun and the dark sail is represented by the artist. In total, although the colors are smooth and pale, the picture shocks me a bit.
Further observations are focused on contrast presented in the artistic piece. This is of particular concern to expressions on sailors’ faces. Some of the survived were full of anxiety and fear of confronting the storm whereas others looked reconciled with the natural powers and were ready to surrender to their destiny.
Admittedly, any form of art reflects major trends in the human society. Paintings, plays, films and cartoons contain most important values which are propagated. Anime is a very specific form of cinematographic art as it is closely connected with Japanese culture. Anime is based on the major “worldwide artistic traditions of twentieth century cinema and photography” as well as “such Japanese traditional arts as Kabuki and the woodblock print” (Napier, 2001, p. 5).
This form of art is very popular in Japan and it inevitably touches upon major issues existing in the contemporary Japanese society. Thus, Spirited Away is regarded as one of the best works by Hayao Miyazaki who managed to recreate the entire Japanese society with the help of his fantasy world. The film touches upon some of the most important issues existing in the contemporary Japanese society.
In the first place, it is important to note that anime is a mainstream phenomenon in the contemporary Japanese culture. Napier (2001, p. 7) claims that this type of cinematographic art “cuts across generational lines to be embraced by everyone from children to grandparents”.
Therefore, it is possible to state that anime (and, of course, Spirited Away) is for Japanese people and about Japanese people. Admittedly, Hayao Miyazaki understands the power of anime and makes his creation very didactic, i.e. he makes viewers think about really important things.
One of these things is maturation of the young Japanese. Napier (2006, p. 288) claims that the protagonist of the anime becomes a model for “today’s generation of apathetic Japanese youth.” Miyazaki’s call to act and be more sincere, more active and more helpful is certain kind of evidence that Japanese society (at least, young generations) lack of these traits. The dedicated protagonist of the movie is a very inspirational character that makes young people more active and responsive.
Apart from the didactic component of the anime, it is full of references to the contemporary issues that exist in the Japanese society. One of the major issues that are manifested in the anime is cultural identity of Japan. One of the most suggestive moments are moments when Chihiro and Haku talk about their names.
Haku repeats several times that people become slaves when they do not remember their names (Miyazaki, 2001). In other words, Miyazaki stresses that it is necessary to remember who people are and cherish their culture or else they will be destroyed as a society and as a nation.
The anime shows that when people remember who they really are they become truly free and complete personalities. It is also obvious that Japanese society consists of people, who understand that and try to preserve their names/identities like Haku, and there are people who do not know about the importance of self-identity and who should be taught like Chihiro, and, of course, there are those who do not care and this is the vast majority of the world of spirits.
Notably, the tiny world of spirits is the island which is totally different from the rest of the world. The world of spirits can be regarded as Japan itself. Napier (2006) claims that Spirited Away can be regarded as a part of the ongoing debate concerning globalization. The very idea of a bathhouse is also very suggestive. Miyazaki shows that spirits have to be cleaned from influences of the outer world. The mysterious creature, No-Face, that penetrates into the bathhouse stands for influences of the Western world.
The influence of the new-comer is almost unperceivable at first, but then it grows stronger and makes people totally different. Thus, Miyazaki shows that Japanese people are becoming concerned with consumption rather than with spiritual development (Napier, 2006). The spirits of the bathhouse are driven away with the lust for gold.
Importantly, Miyazaki (2001) shows that gold is nothing when the mysterious guest’s gold turns into mud. It is also important that No-Face is taken from the bathhouse to the place where it has no power. Thus, Miyazaki believes that young people like Chihiro and Haku, who understand the importance of self-identity, will save the Japanese society from the negative influence of other nations.
Finally, Spirited Away also touches upon environmental issues. Thus, the first client of Chihiro is the spirit of water that suffers from the pollution (Miyazaki, 2001). The young protagonist manages to clean the spirit that gives her a precious gift that helps the girl save many lives. Thus, Miyazaki shows that being responsible and solving environmental issues will help the Japanese develop into a society of the future.
On balance, it is possible to note that Spirited Away is something bigger than just a good didactic anime. It is a detailed (though somewhat allegoric) description of the contemporary Japanese society that is only yet to re-learn to cherish their culture.
The world revealed in the anime is a tiny model of Japan that has a number of issues to address. Thus, people of Japan need to understand the importance of self-identity and should become more active and responsible. The anime also shows that the Japanese are capable of becoming the nation of really spiritual people.
Reference List
Miyazaki, H. (Director). (2001). Spirited Away. [Animated Fantasy Film]. Japan: Studio Ghibli.
Napier, S.J. (2006). Matter out of place: Carnival, containment, and cultural recovery in Miyazaki’s “Spirited Away”. Journal of Japanese Studies,32(2), 287-310.
Napier, S.J. (2001). Anime from Akira to Princess Mononoke: Experiencing contemporary Japanese animation. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
Nicolas Bourriaud came up with the term “Relational Art” in 1995. He defined it as artistic practices that include the whole human relationships together with their social environment as their point of origin. He did not consider art to a private and independent aspect without a context. Bourriaud gave art a whole new outlook where artists no longer have to create art from hidden ideas, but they can create art that incorporates a social surrounding. This is where individuals come together and take part in a group activity.
In this art, the act is seen as between a community and art, as opposed to an individual viewer and the object of art. The meaning of a certain piece of art is shared collectively by the society in relational aesthetics, and it is not limited to the space of individual perception and idea. This means that art has a clear and open display that is easily understood by the community around. This is because the community finds aspects they can relate to in the art.
Relational aesthetics keeps art within a level that the society can understand and takes it off the high levels of complicated processes. Such processes lead to the production of dry, academic, mechanical, and superficial works of art that are empty of meaning, emotions, and integrity (Rosati, para. 2).
When art is not able to reach out to the society, it is of no use since it cannot have any physical, moral, spiritual or psychological impact on the viewers. Such art does not take into account the societal factor. This threatens the survival of culture.
The nature of relational aesthetics
Relational aesthetics is a public and social art by nature. The basic nature of its existence is founded by the interaction between people in the society. Relational art removes the serious edge out of art. It creates an environment where people can enjoy themselves in art and creativity when this art is allowed to flow limitlessly.
This art seeks to bring people together in the society by bringing art to a level where they can all relate. Unlike the normal art, which was only for those that understood its complexities, relational art exists in simplicity and familiarity. It is an art about aspects of life that relate to the ordinary individual.
Relational aesthetics seeks to maintain the culture in a society. This is because it portrays issues that are within the society. The artists using relational art bring out themes that are familiar to the society. This is done in works that are easy to interpret. This is the factor that makes relational aesthetics social and interactive since the society can relate to such works.
Many modern artists have developed a keen interest in Bourriaud’s concept of relational aesthetics and have embraced the concept. One such artist is Maurizio Cattelan. Cattelan is an Italian artist based in New York. He is popularly known for his dark humor shown in his work that is mostly of a satirical nature.
His view towards art is that it can be used for fun at various systems of order in the society. This has earned him the reputation of an art scene joker. Cattelan has adapted Bourriauds concept of relational aesthetics, which is depicted in all his works. Two of his works such as La Nona Ora and HIM will be discussed in this work.
La Nona Ora-The Ninth Hour
The La Nona Ora is a sculpture that is made up of the effigy of the Pope John Paul II clad in his full ceremonial attire, lying beneath a meteorite that has crashed through a glass ceiling and is about to crush him. It is one of his most popular sculptures.
Maurizio Cattelan La Nora Ora-1999
Adapted from: Lambe, 2012
On face value, this sculpture conjures up humor in those viewing it. It begs the question of how the representative of god on earth would be crushed by a meteorite from the heavens.
Maurizio makes use of relational aesthetics to bring out is views and opinions. Growing up, life was not all easy for him. He came from a poor background, and he grew up with a negative attitude towards authority. In Maurizio’s world, ceilings of control and authority should not exist. That is why he found his niche in relational aesthetics where art gives the artists the freedom to express their feelings and opinions.
This is because artists do not need to hide their feelings behind abstract ideas and other complexities of art. The above sculpture is extremely direct. It is a remarkably straightforward demonstration of the conflicting views of religion and science. Unlike the normal art, where the viewer has to look for some hidden meaning behind art, relational art is direct and easy to understand.
The relational aesthetics aspect in Maurizio’s sculpture provides a chance of interaction between people. According to Wilcox, relational keeps its awe for a realm where it truly belongs which is the interaction between human beings (p.339). The La Nora Ora created such a large wave of awareness that people had already seen its pictures even before its official public showing.
This is because it touched on issues that were relevant in the society. Members of the society can relate to the piece of art. Most conventional art works are usually reserved for certain scholarly group that understands the depths of the artist’s concept. Relational art is open to everyone as it is easy to understand and touches on concepts that are familiar in the society (Wilcox, p. 340).
HIM
Cattelan’s “him” is a child-size rendition of Hitler on his knees in prayer. This sculpture, like all his works, is a satirical depiction of Hitler that has a spooky edge to it. The fact that Hitler, with all the atrocities he inflicted upon the innocent in history, can also kneel and pray arouses many emotions among the viewers who look at the sculpture.
Maurizio Cattelan “him” 2001
Adapted from: Lambe, 2012
Relational aesthetics provides limitless options for an imaginative artist. Cattelan uses this aspect of relational art to the maximum. The “him” sculpture is a projection of how he provokes and challenges the restrictions and limits that contemporary systems have. He does this mainly through humor and irony.
The child-size feature of Hilter, the attire, the pose, and look on his face is subject to different opinions and interpretations. Such a piece of art is direct and simple; hence the public finds it easy to interpret these works of art. The concept and theme of the work is also direct, and the public can relate to it. This is an aspect of relational aesthetics that sets it apart from the conventional art.
Maurizio Cattelan’s work often combine sculpture and performance, as depicted in the “him” sculpture where the child-like Hitler is performing a prayer. His work also subverts the traditional rules of culture, symbolical theft and acts of insubordination. Relational aesthetics has a way of allowing artists like Cattelan to tease the art world and expand their imaginations to unimaginable extremes.
Cattelan has mastered the art of teasing the art world. He applies irony and satire to his works and addressing issues that affect the society without taking sides. The artist seeks to bring out the reality of all situations in all its complexities without necessarily supporting any ideologies (Lambe, para 5).
Conclusion
Nicolus Bourriaud made a significant contribution to the art world by coming up with the relational aesthetics concept. This concept has seen the success of many modern artists including Maruchio Cattelan who has embraced the relational arts fully in his works.
Cattelan bases his works are of a relational aesthetics nature that seems to have blended in remarkably well with the society. His works have a terrific gallery value and they sell even in the worst economic downturns. This shows that relational aesthetics is more acceptable in the society than the traditional art, which was complex for most people to comprehend.
Relational aesthetics has helped artists like Cattelan express their creativity without limit and restrictions hence explore the deepest canyons of art and present it to the society. This presentation is not hidden and masked in complexities. However, it is in a simple way that viewers will find intriguing and enriching. In a way, it opens the viewers’ eyes to the issues that affect the society. All this is presented from an objective view that supports no ideologies.
A famous South Korea’s director Im Kwon-taek usually amazes viewers with unbelievable plots and settings. His works are based on past Korea’s traditions and culture, however, set in the modern period of time. Lots of the movies of this director gain recognition both at home and abroad.
Im Kwon-taek and his works won different awards, including Cannes Film Festival, Hawaii International Film Festival, and Grand Bell Awards. In 1993, he got Golden Goblet (Shanghai International Film Festival) for his extremely melodramatic story Sopyonje.
Sopyonje is a movie created by Im Kwon-taek in 1993. This movie is one of those that attract international attention to the Korean movie industry. It is a story about one pansori storyteller, Youbong, who never gives up and is not eager to change the world that is around him. Pansori is an old Korean art, folk music. In America, it may be slightly compared with blues. Unfortunately, this art has lost its recognition in the XX century.
In spite of the fact that lots of people advise an old storyteller to give up pansori and find a real job, he cannot leave this occupation and forget about his passion. He is extremely eager to provide this beautiful art of pansori all over the world; the world that will never care for pansori or even for Youbong.
One day, during his travel, Youbong meets two children: a girl and a boy. He decides to adopt them. Probably, one of the goals he wants to achieve is to find a person to whom it is possible to pass his knowledge about pansori. However, the methods he chooses are not really aesthetics. Youbong wants to blind his daughter, Songhwa. He thinks it is the only way to teach her pansori and to “teach about grief” (Sopyonje) .
Such way of studying presented by Im Kwon-taek causes lots of misunderstandings and critiques. Several feminist critics have blamed Im for neglecting humanist themes.
Chungmoo Choi argues that “Yu-bong’s violent act against Song-hwa is irreparable since concealed beneath the façade of national(ist) aesthetics is Yu-bong’s sexual desire.” (Kim, 63)
Without any doubts, Sopyonje is one of the greatest masterpieces of Korean film industry. However, the idea of male violence against women is present and causes lots of misunderstandings. It is not aesthetically beautiful to blind a person in order to teach something. If a girl is a talented person, a wise teacher can find some other ways to share his knowledge. This is why I cannot but agree with the ideas offered by Chungmoo Choi.
Youbong obsession to train just a perfect pansori storyteller makes him blind as well.
The story happens around 1960-1970s. These were the times when Korea became free from Japanese colonization. Modernization was one of the peculiar features of those times. It is not surprising that the art of pansori was slowly pushed into the shadows.
Usually, people have nothing to do but accept all changes and try to be up to dates. Youbong is one of those conservatives who are willing to save old traditions at any price. Unfortunately, not all methods can be appropriate. In this case, the idea to make a girl blind was really extreme. To my mind, his behaviour is a good example of human weakness.
Some people may understand Youbong and even justify his actions. He is in despair. His son, Dongho, runs away after he gets to know that it is obligatory to be blinded to grasp the essence of pansori. His daughter has no desire to sing and devote all her life to the art of pansori any more. All cherished dreams of Youbong may be failed. The art of pansori may die with him and be forgotten. He has nothing to do but feed his daughter a drug and make her blind forever.
However, is it correct that a man can decide either make or break someone’s life? Even if it is his daughter, no one can play God. On my opinion, a good father and a real expert on pansori should never allow one’s emotions control the situation.
There are so many ways to find other approaches and teach. Songhwa is really eager to learn more about pansori art. She cherishes a dream to become a pansori master. But she does not know how much such teaching will cost for her. Can it be that passion to pansori has already made its admires blind?
Sopyonje is a real treasure in modern Korean cinema. Im’s movies are always captivating to watch. Delight music, calm atmosphere, slowness, and beauty – all the techniques that make the film Sopyonje interesting to lots of viewers. Without watching the film and listening to the music presented there, it is difficult to understand all pansori’s beauty.
Sorry to say, but the unjustified action of Youbong, his obsession, and the choice of wrong way make lots of viewers blind as well. So, for me, it is impossible to find excuses of his actions.
Works Cited
Sopyonje. Dir. Im Know-taek. Perf.Myung-gon Kim, Jung-hae Oh, and Kyu-chul Kim. Taehung Pictures. 1993
Kim K.H. “The Remasculinization of Korean Cinema.”, Duke University Press, 2004
On March 21st, the Ashland Area Chorus, the Ashland Chamber Choir, the Ashland Women’s Choir, and the University Choir presented a spring concert in the Miller Chapel, titled “Something to Sing About”. Rowland Blackeley and Stephanie Sikora were the directors of this interesting program.
It was a pleasure to have the names of all the chorus members, as well as the accompanists and soloists, listed in the program. The choruses, garbed in various combinations of black and white, threw their hearts into a great variety of music for an appreciative audience of roughly 300 family and friends. The program included examples of all sorts of vocal music, ranging from ancient to modern, religious to popular, reflective to joyful.
The sound of the Ashland Area Chorus reflects the age range and varied backgrounds of its members and has a rich and complex timbre. They started the evening off with a Baroque invitation to the dance in Come Ye Sons Of Art. Henry Purcell wrote both this and the final piece sung by the Area Chorus (Thus Nature Rejoicing), for the birthday of Queen Mary. The rhythm is so lively that Come Ye Sons Of Art really does seem like a dance tune.
It seems to declare the full command of polyphony that had been developing in Western music over the previous century. A bit of fugue seemed to be included, but the music definitely showed counterpoint, since the voices moved separately, but harmoniously, each voice following a slightly different melody, or the same melody at a slightly different point in time. Purcell’s music is so swift and so complex that it is not easy to tease out what he is doing on first hearing.
In light of this, modern listeners are very fortunate to have the opportunity to listen to a piece repeatedly. It is interesting to wonder how many people ever heard this lovely music in Purcell’s lifetime, or how many times they might have ever heard it. Probably only the crowd that attended the Queen’s birthday festivities, and probably only once, are the likely answers.
It is clear that the words of these pieces were significant to the composer; Purcell really “sells” the lyrics with emphasis and repetition. Given how fast the tempo is, however, it is a bit difficult to hear every word clearly.
Getting the syllables out and staying on key AND keeping up with the speed of the music is, naturally, a challenge for the singer, and the clarity of the words is the element that seems to be sacrificed first. Given this, it would have been helpful to have the words in the program. Also, it would have been interesting to know more about the Queen Mary for whom this exquisite and complex music was written.
The only really familiar piece of music in this portion of the program was the Ave Maria by Igor Stravinsky. This is a staple of vocal music, but it never becomes boring. The relatively straightforward melody is easily remembered and the range of notes it covers places it within reach of many amateur singers. It seems to fit into the textural category of a melody with harmonic support.
Stephen Chatman’s setting of a Rossetti poem (Song and Music) was gentle and complex. The piece showed a smooth texture of close harmonies. It would have been lovely to read the words, since the composer was obviously trying to express the words musically.
Johannes Brahms’ melancholy piece titled In Stiller Nacht shows the strong melodic line that he has been known for. The melody is deceptively simple and the harmonies are very close. The texture of the ensemble voices is smooth as a lover’s touch, or a mother’s lullaby.
Brahms appeared three times on the program. Anchoring the popular end of the spectrum, the Chamber Singers presented the Brahms Liebeslieder Waltzes. These are a delight in their variety. It is marvelous how many ways the waltz format has been transformed and re-thought in the course of this one song cycle. The words are by turns tender, troubled, entreating, philosophical, and angry. It was very helpful to have this and all translations of the lyrics that were included in the program.
The waltz entitled Nicht Wandle Mein LIcht has a cajoling and cozening rhythm, exactly in line with the plea of the lover to his beloved that she (presumably) not wander. The listener might wonder whether this feared wandering is a physical peregrination, out into the dangerous night airs (the mid-19th century was still the era when tuberculosis tragically carried off many young people), or an emotional excursion, to meet or find some other competing object of affection.
O die Frauen is deliciously caressing in rhythm and melody and expresses the rueful and bewildered attitude of the male singers towards the mysteries of the female race. Nein, es ist nicht auszukommen mit den Leuten is a headlong rush of outrage and frustration. Ein kleiner, hübscher Vogel sounds like a little bird’s hopping and flight from bush to bush. This is programmatic music without question.
Women’s choruses have a very different sound from either male choruses or mixed choruses. The timbre of female voices is higher. The white-clad Women’s Chorus, with Holly Allan as accompanist, sang a very contemporary piece by Elizabeth Atkinson, based on a poem by Mother Teresa.
The words were not in the program, but they are very moving. This piece, titled Fruits of a Selfless Heart, recites the fruits of various aspects of a religious life: prayer, faith, love, service, peace, all with a meditative and contemplative serenity. It sounds as though it would make good music to accompany yoga or communion.
The piece from Andrea Chenier was close in harmony, and silky smooth in texture, and moderate in tempo. The more modern piece by Rollo Dillworth, No Rocks A-Crying, was decidedly upbeat and inspiringly vigorous. It was not clear what the song was about (again, the issue of words in the program appears) but it made you want to believe whatever it was. The rhythm encouraged movement and it was one of the pieces that someone might have left humming, since it had a fairly clear melody.
Another very current offering was the Eric Whitacre piece based on poetry by Frederico Lorca, called With a Lily in your Hand. The effect that he achieved is very difficult to articulate. It would have been helpful to have these words in the program, since the music is clearly expressing something very specific in the lyrics.
There was a section of the song that was practically like a drum beat, but the effect was achieved entirely with voices. The voices struck notes repeatedly with vigorous attack and quick decay, and it made a remarkable impact.
It would have been helpful to have the words to Walk Together, Children printed in the program. This contemporary gospel song by Moses Hogan was programmatic in the sense of having a driving rhythm, and rather quick-march tempo. One got the impression of children being shepherded on a trail – perhaps fleeing slavery, or sin.
There is no replacement for live music – thank goodness. The singers believe in the music they are singing. The director believes in the music he or she has chosen. The singers tell the story or share a message embedded in the words of the music, using their whole bodies. The difference in experience between live and recorded music is particularly pointed when the concert is choral, because of this whole body involvement. This was a well selected and uplifting afternoon of music, and indeed, something to sing about.
Steven Spielberg is one of the most unique and genius film directors and screenwriters all over the world. His works usually arouse so much admiration and respect, and numerous awards and public’s recognition may serve as one of the best proofs of his professionalism.
Saving Private Ryan is his fascinating work about the events during World War II, about courage, friendship, and respect, about love and devotion, devotion to own duties, faith, and people. A war is the time, when people stop appreciating money, fashion, and proper food. It is the time, when only someone’s life and death turn out to be important.
This is what Spielberg wants to present in his movie, this is what should be taken into consideration and analyzed. Saving Private Ryan is a brilliant movie about the war and people in it; a true story of life, created by Steven Spielberg; a piece of art that awakes the kindest feelings and emotions.
Saving Private Ryan opens with an emotionally-colored scene, when one old veteran visits the cemetery in order give honors all soldiers, who gave their lives for freedom, peace, and other people’s lives. This veteran falls into his knees and start crying: these emotions and these tears demonstrate how dear all those people for him are, how significant their actions were, how proud he is now.
Now, it is high tome to see what has happened to this old man and whose all those graves are. It is 6 June 1944. It is a beginning of the story, when a squad of solders under the command of Capt. John H. Miller (Tom Hanks) fights for their future and for the future of their families. It is the war: so much blood, so many tears, and so many deaths.
People know that this war takes lots of lives, however, each loss is something personal and something terrible. Saving Private Ryan is the story of how John Miller gets an order to save young Ryan, the only alive son of a mother. The team of John Miller has to overcome numerous battles in order to find out this one young man and get him back to his mother.
Each meeting with the enemies takes the life of one of Miller’s soldiers. These people die to save another person, whom they never know and never meet. It is too hard to lose people in the only one name – Private Ryan. Miller hates this boy, but has nothing to do – his aim is to save him and allow his mother see her son once again. When Miller finally finds Ryan, this young man does not want to leave his squad: “These guys deserve to go home as much as I do.
They’ve fought just as hard” (Saving Private Ryan). The end of the movie is tragic indeed: the team, who is sent to save Pr. Ryan, is killed. Capt. John Miller dies, but completes his task – he saves Ryan, a person, who will come to Miller’s grave in order to introduce his family and salute his friends, who saved him one day.
War times always cause tears, grief, and pity. People fight in order to be free, to be heard, and to be understood. Of course, these people achieve their purposes, the wars are won, and the freedom is got. However, the lives of people, both young and old, cannot be returned. This is the most terrible thing about any war.
Steven Spielberg makes a wonderful attempt to represent several war issues and explain what people feel during the war. Soldiers face numerous battles day by day: some of them die, some of them get injuries, and some of them feel that they are not too brave to be soldiers and fight for someone’s lives and future.
With the help of this movie, people get a chance to comprehend that even all those terrible times of war did not deprive soldiers from the abilities to be brave, honest, and humane. There are so many duties, people should complete during the war in order to create a proper system and win. If one person makes something wrong, it is quite possible to fail and lose everything, and even put under a terrible threat the others.
Spielberg does not afraid to focus on pain: war will never be kind, and people should know it in order not to provoke it once again. Suffering, pain, and loss – this is all about war. It is too hard for an ordinary person to accept such cruel reality and not to lose own personality. This is why we should try to do everything possible to live in peace and think about safe future.
Saving Private Ryan is a perfect work by Steven Spielberg that tells about best human qualities, people’s responsibility, friendship, and care. John Miller is one of the brightest examples of great leaders and just a good person, who knows how to improve this life and help other people achieve safe future. This story touches many people; it learns how to be worthy of this world and appreciate every minute of this life.
Works Cited
Saving Private Ryan. Dir. Steven Spielberg. Perf. Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Tom Sizemore, and Edward Burns. DreamWorks. Paramount Pictures, 1998.
In addition to being a photojournalist, Mark Hancock is an editor at the Squadron/ Signal publications. Mr Hancock has engaged in freelance journalism for a period of 15 years beginning 1995. His presence is evident in numerous magazines and newspapers across the world especially in the editorial sections. Hancock’s career background indicates that he has worked in Dallas for a period of four years for a media industry as a photojournalist.
Mark M. Hancock was born in June of 1965 in Vina Del Mar, Chile. He grew up in Texas while his father served in the army. He once served as an infantry sergeant in the OPFOR of the U.S. Army.
This was between 1984 and 1988. He attained numerous military awards like Expert Infantry badge, Army achievement medal, and NCOPD ribbon among others. After the military Mr. Hancock attended college at Richland in 1993 and attained a degree in associates of arts and sciences with high honours. In 1995 he received another bachelor’s degree with distinction from East Texas State University in photojournalism (Hancock, Mark 1).
In the course of his career, Mark has received many awards in photojournalism. He has also won several honours from different organizations like the National press photographers association, Atlanta photojournalism seminar among others. His artwork has been shown in several exhibitions like the art of digital photography show and the Governor’s exhibition.
In addition to all his achievements Mark has also acted as a judge on many contests on professional photojournalism. He is also a major contributor of a book published by the Beaumont enterprise on a visual demonstration of the damages caused by hurricane Rita. The book is called Rita Captured and it won a Katie award.
Hancock has also started venturing into new grounds. For example, since 2007 he has started producing news and music especially for the web. Mr. Hancock is married to Fayrouz; they do not have any children currently. They live in Plano, Texas. He met her online while he lived in DFW. She lived in Sydney at the time (Society of Newspaper Design 4).
Description of a Photograph of Elliott Dollar
This is a photograph of Elliott Dollar a surf boarder, doing a manoeuvre at a competition (the fifth annual SETX mid summer classic wakeboard competition) in Rose City. The photograph was taken in the day time. In the background of the photograph is the lovely scenery of green vegetation and a blue sky. In the top left corner is where Elliott‘s photograph is. It is clear and captures his manoeuvre perfectly. The bottom of the picture captures the calm and lovely waters (Hancock, Mark 1).
Elliott is manoeuvring while holding on to the motor boat with one hand. The other hand is not busy. He is wearing what appears to be a white short furthermore his board is also white. It appears that Elliott is enjoying himself and is comfortable while surfing. I suppose that Mark did not have the intention of featuring any spectators or crowds in this picture because there are none in the picture.
He does not capture the picture or image of the motor boat pulling Elliott behind. It must be because the photographer wanted to capture the picture of Elliott alone. In my opinion it is a wonderful picture and that is why I chose it. It is very pleasing to the eye and I well lighted thus visibility. It is also clear and I agree with the photographer’s idea of capturing the scenery on the background as it is beautiful. I also chose this picture because surf boarding is an interesting sport.
It is evident that Hancock is a renowned photojournalist who not only contributes to the status of journalism but also art. The photograph of Elliott Dollar is an indication of his mastery of photojournalism. His life history contributes to his current status standards as evident in his education in the field of arts (Hancock, Mark 1).
The 1700s were a time of enormous change all over Europe, and in North America as well. The restored appreciation of Classical, pre-Christian achievements, which had begun and flowered in the Renaissance, continued to influence all parts of life and culture.
The European world had, in a matter of a few generations, dramatically expanded. It had expanded outward geographically through the discovery and colonization of a heretofore unknown (to them) continent bursting with resources and potential for the creation of wealth and opportunity for free exercise of religious conscience.
It had also expanded inwardly, turning the focus of philosophers onto individual autonomy and on rationality rather than depending unquestioningly on religious authority and superstition. The 18th century was, not unexpectedly, the first to christen itself with a special name: the Enlightenment, Aufklarung, and the time of the Illuminati. Kant articulated for his contemporaries the spirit of the time:
“For Kant, enlightenment signified knowledge, specifically self-knowledge. Knowledge implied an understanding of human nature as well as the uses to which that knowledge can be put” (Kreis).
The countries of Europe were reaching out to gain and consolidate control of far distant places and people, and the riches they could send back. They were in contact, even if only by proxy, with a wider variety of cultures than at any time in their own history; interacting (not always civilly) with indigenous peoples from Central and South America, India, Southeast Asia, Africa, and so forth.
This global trade and governance demanded far more sophistication in financial instruments and institutions, ships and navigation [1] (Gasciogne). Science was becoming a its own legitimate area of study, rather than merely a sub-category of religion, with dramatic advances as a result.[2]
The wealth that was accruing to the privileged classes was spent on an ever growing elaboration of dress, household appurtenances, and decorative objects for the glory of God, and largely by noblemen. Art and ornamentation was now being displayed outside church and chapel, with subject matter well beyond the sacred.
It was also increasingly within financial reach of more than solely the Medici. This was at least in part because labor saving innovations made craft items more affordable. Accordingly, a wide range of wealthy folk newly entered the market as consumers of fine and decorative arts.
The appreciation of beauty and the exercise of discernment in taste became goals in and of themselves, rather than being sidebars to the glorification of God and the church.
The discernment of beauty became yet another science, an area of rational inquiry and discussion (Hume, Treatise on Human Nature, Volume 2, as quoted 66-67) (W. Hogarth 75-78) (Shaftesbury 63) Like swordsmanship, or a foreign language, “judgement” was presented as a skill that could be learned (Hume, Four Dissertations, as quoted 66-67), and which would improve from being tutored and from being exercised (Burke 67-68). Even the portrayal of emotion could be placed on a scientific footing (Le Brun 161-163)[3].
The acquisition of colonies meant, for some, a new option for recreation and edification. Travel had previously been somewhat limited to those with a purpose such as missionary work, trade, or diplomacy.
More people, in more variety, than ever before now undertook travel, both to the traditional destinations of the artistic capitols of Europe (Banks 103-104), or the sites of classical antiquity (Kennedy 96-99)[4], but with greater frequency, much farther afield, for example to Asia (Chambers 293-304) (Bruce)[5]. These more democratic voyagers and their correspondents at home created a whole new industry as they sought out and assembled collections of antiquities, art, and curiosities (Parker 99-101) (Banks 103-104)[6].
The foibles of this sort of often-naïve collector, and the quondam jackals who preyed on them (Jones 101-103), were prime fodder for critics, also a fairly new job description[7] (Hogarth 79).
This expenditure on the products of craftspeople and service providers was seen as an obligation of the wealthy (Hillwood Museum and Gardens). This conspicuous and vigorous consumption fostered the development of more centralized manufacturing facilities, which encouraged the centralization of population, and the rise of successful entrepreneurs.
However, the disparities in wealth and power were a growing source of unrest. The American colonies responded to what they declared was an unfair and excessive siphoning off of the profits of the colonists by declaring independence. The peasant population of France, less than a generation later, responded to the arrogation of the products of their labor by the noble classes, by a generous application of the guillotine, and setting up a government to replace the monarchy. By the end of the century, the known world looked quite different.
Art followed the political and intellectual tendencies of the time. The first half of the century was a time of Neo-classicism with an admiration for balance, order, and serenity (Lessing 351-353) [8]. The second half of the 1700’s was characterized by a movement towards heroic individualism, and appeals to the emotions, often called Romanticism.
Decoration, as an end in itself, was valued highly in 18th century France, as evidenced by the fact that Antoine Watteau was sent by one of his mentors to work with, and for, Claude Ardran, in Luxembourg. Ardran is described by Watteau’s cataloguer and biographer, Jean de Jullienne, as an “excellent painter of decoration” (de Jullienne 307).
This is revealing, because Watteau’s life story certainly suggests that he aspired to, and thought of himself as, a fine artist, insofar as that category existed at the time.
Even though he started out painting stage sets, he took every opportunity to improve his technique (de Jullienne 306), and absorb, through close study, the best in admired works of art housed in the collections of the wealthy (de Jullienne 307, 308). Yet, apprenticeship to an artist who painted decoration was considered appropriate. Artists who created decoration were clearly held in esteem.
The objects that have been on display at the Metropolitan Museum in the 18th century period room clearly represent la crème de la crème of furnishings and decoration from that period, besides being historically significant because of their provenance and documentation.
One such object is described in the exhibit as having been sold to the Comtesse Du Barry, the mistress of King Louis XV, for her apartments at Versailles. The Du Barry desk has a likely date of 1768. It is composed of four different woods, metal, gilt, and porcelain. It is ornamented with porcelain plaques attributed to the Sevres workshop. The rail around the raised back section includes a subtle reference to Chinese motifs, it appears.
The interlocking design is suggestive of Chinese screen carving detail, perhaps reflecting the previously noted rage for such decorative elements. Every surface is inlaid with porcelain plaques by Sevres. These plaques portray flower garlands, or bouquets, although it is difficult to determine which varieties without a closer examination than the museum would allow. The flowers are quite believable as flowers, and demonstrate an appreciation for nature that is entirely consistent with the principals of art at that time[9].
The gilded garlands which adorn the legs adhere, whether consciously or not, to the principles espoused by Hogarth. He recommends the use of waving lines that “lead the eye a wanton kind of chase” (W. Hogarth 76).
Given that this is meant to serve as a desk, it is doubtful that having joints between the plaques and the wood would be terribly practical for drafting billet-doux. Imagine writing on a tiled kitchen counter, with corrugation or bumps every few inches. Of course, Mme. Du Barry quite likely used some sort of a blotter (no doubt exquisitely made) to catch the ink drips, anyway.
Also, the drawer section drops down so far that only a very low chair or a very short person would be able to fit underneath the desk. This suggests that Mme. Du Barry may have sat sideways to the desk while writing. Given the width of the skirts that were worn during this period, skirts which, during some fashion vogues, were held away from the body by baskets worn on the hips like twin fanny packs (called panniers), this may have been the case.
Still, it makes quite a contrast with 20th century designs with the identical functional requirements: a place to hand-write letters or other documents in one’s private rooms. A modern-day desk would have a bowling alley-smooth surface. It would have enough space for a modern woman to put her legs completely underneath to write while actually facing the desk and the paper It would be sturdy enough to hold some books for reference.
The ornamentation of this piece is not limited to the exquisite porcelain inlay, but includes the gilded framing of the porcelain pieces on the front and sides, a beaded edging on the curved legs, and gilded ornamental cladding on the outer portions of the tops of the legs. There is also a gilt medallion. The feet are clad in gilt as well.
The gilded garlands on the legs actually look as though they would jab one in the stomach, and be rather uncomfortable. Again, as with the height of the kneehole, this suggests a requisite posture during use that recalls paintings and portraits of the day, wherein a magnificently clad lady might be portrayed turned at a ¾ angle to the writing desk instead of hunched over her epistolary work. Perhaps art imitated life in this regard.
The decorative elements of this piece clearly almost overwhelm its functionality. However, just as clearly, based on the price of such an item, this was not an issue in assigning a value to it. It appears to be a work of decorative art primarily, and only by happenstance, a piece of furniture. As modern observers, we may find it difficult to imagine giving house room to something that has such limited practicality. However, consider the setting.
The apartment at Versailles was a residence that may have functioned more as an advertisement of the power and status of the lady who lived there, than as a place to be comfy. In this context, such an item takes on the same purpose as the luxury car of a real estate agent: a signal to all observers that this is a person of immense influence and success. It is also an advertisement for the craftspeople that created it.
The fact that the decorative elements make it a joke to actually use becomes irrelevant. Its purchase supports French industry. It serves as a model for other designers, and informs the purchasing decisions of every lady who visits the Comtesse. As such, it succeeds brilliantly.
The other piece is a secretary thought to have belonged to Marie Antoinette, and dates from about 1787. A team of artisans contributed to its creation. It is composed of a bewildering array of materials, including seven varieties of wood, two types of metal (plus the gilding material), three categories of ceramics, and marble. It is different from the Du Barry desk in that it features Wedgewood medallions, as well as Sevres porcelain inlays.
This may have been a compliment to France’s British allies/enemies, or a poor political decision on the part of that ill-fated lady. The Wedgewood medallions appear to feature classical subject matter, such as someone (Leda, or Cupid perhaps?) riding on a swan, and a beautiful woman handing something to a smaller figure (Cupid again, perhaps?).
A judicious and appropriate use of Classical references was recommended by Pope (Pope 65).The gilded garlands seem to be reminiscent of Greek laurel leaves[10]. The figures at the corners are very like the caryatids supporting the corners on Classical temples[11]. The legs are striped in a way that actually looks similar to Egyptian funerary furniture.
The stretcher bars that stabilize the stand have an oriental feel, reminiscent of Chinese carving detail. As noted earlier, such themes found their way into all phases of design. The inlay work on the stretcher bars looks like the type of surface ornamentation found on small boxes from Spain to India, and still popular today. As a secretary on a stand, it was presumably meant to fulfill a similar function to the desk, but be portable. It would be a dandy travelling advertisement for the artisans on both sides of the English Channel.
Once again, the ornamentation overwhelms the functionality. To use this piece of furniture one would risk either bruising oneself on the protruding garlands, or breaking off some of this fragile-looking work. It would be very difficult to actually write a letter at this mini-desk. It might have done nicely to store or (hide) billet-doux, however.
From a design standpoint, if considered with modern eyes, the mix of media is jarring. Wedgewood goes with itself, a modern customer would insist, not with a completely different type of ceramic. But this was a prized product and possession! How did it meet the expectations of the day? Perhaps it fulfilled the notion of surprise, like a dog made of feathers (Shenstone 74) [12]. It almost seems as though this were a journeyman piece; .intended to display every craft in which that the workshop could claim superiority.
Both pieces are treasures of craftsmanship and skill. Both are rather useless as furniture. Both mix a variety of media and design elements in a way that the modern eye might find busy and mutually incompatible. Both represent substantial investments for the purchaser, and untold effort by the artisans. Both are clearly meant to signal wealth and power to observers.
Are they tasteful? Not by modern standards. However, as miniature, condensed summaries of current design elements, they might have functioned magnificently. Modern lives are full of stimuli that were absent in the 18th century. In the absence of magazines, radio, television, computers, telephones, and the myriad of things that intrude on our attention today, the presence in a room of one or more of such little jewels, studded with ornamentation, might be just the fillip of color and luxury that was needed.
Look at the life these pieces were part of. Consider that the ladies who owned these items were likely performing their bodily functions into a highly decorated chamber pot. Consider that for a week out of every month they could not leave their residence which because of natural cycles, and the absence of means to deal with them discreetly. Consider that the hair of these ladies was washed, at most, on a monthly basis, and probably crawled with lice and worse.
Consider that a bath was something laughably infrequent. Consider that laundry was a week-long process from start to finish (at least), given the need to dry everything by air. Consider that fresh foods were available only in season or from a hothouse. Consider that even the most trivial infection could carry off the most beautiful and feted creature in Europe in a matter of days. Life was still short and hard for most.
The poorest paid clerk at Walmart today has access to the luxury of hygiene and personal comfort that even the wealthiest woman in the world could not dream of in the 18th century. Would not a gem-like piece such as these distract the mind from such nagging miseries? It is quite possible that, upon seeing both these items for the first time, 18th century observers would respond as Charles Le Brun describes in his analysis of admiration, demonstrating “rare and extraordinary esteem”. (Le Brun 163).
The artifacts of man reflect the time and place and values of the culture out of which they arose. These two pieces demonstrate the value that the 18th century upper classes placed on ornamentation, sometimes to the exclusion of function. They signal wealth and power and support for art and artisans, and they demonstrate that the owner has knowledge of classical antiquity and an appreciation of naturalistic and exotic design elements. They are truly representative of the 18th century.
Banks, Thomas. “Private letter to Ozias Humphrey, dated December 13, 1777, as quoted.” The Eighteenth Century: Art, Design, and Society. Ed. Brendan Denvir. New York: Longman, Inc., 1983. 103-104.
Bellis, Mary. 18th Century Timeline: 18th Century – the Technology, Science, and Inventions. 2010. Web.
Bruce, James. “Private letter to Robert Strange, May 11, 1768, as quoted.” The Eighteenth Century: Art, Design, and Society. Ed. Bernard Denvir. New York: Longman, Inc., 1983. 110-113.
Burke, Edmund. “On Taste: A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful, as quoted.” The Eighteenth Century: Art, Design, and Society. Ed. Bernard Denvir. New York: Longman, Inc., 1983. 67-68.
Chambers, William. “Designs of Chinese Buildings, Furniture, Dresses, Machines, and Utensils, as quoted.” A Documentary History of Art: Michelangelo, the Mannerists, the Baroque, and the Eighteenth Century. Ed. Elizabeth Gilmore Holt. Vol. 2. Garden City: Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1958. 2 vols. 293-304.
de Jullienne, Jean. “Introduction to: Figures de Differentes Caractres, as quoted.” A Documentary History of Art: Michelangelo, the Mannerists, the Baroque, and the Eighteenth Century. Ed. Elizabeth Gilmore Holt. 2nd. Vol. 2. Garden City: Doubleday and Company, 1958. 2 vols. 306-308.
Gasciogne, Bamber. History of Maps: Chronometer: AD 1714-1766. 2001. Web.
Hillwood Museum and Gardens. Summer’s Focus: The Luxury Arts of 18th-century France Overview. 2010. Web.
Hogarth. “Essay in London Magazine, 1737, as quoted.” The Eighteenth Century: Art, Design, and Society. Ed. Denvir. New York: Longman, 1983. 78-82.
Hogarth, William. “The Analysis of Beauty, as quoted.” The Eighteenth Century: Art, Design, and Society. Ed. Elizabeth Gilmore Holt. New York: Longman, 1983. 75-78.
Holt, Elizabeth Gilmore. “Charles Alphonse Du Fresnoy.” A Documentary History of Art: Michelangelo, the Mannerists, the Baroque, and the Eighteenth Century. Ed. Elizabeth Gilmore Holt. Vol. 2. Garden City: Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1958. 2 vols. 163.
Holt, Elizabeth Gilmore. “Poussin.” A Documentary History of Art. Ed. Elizabeth Gilmore Holt. Vol. 2. Garden City: Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1958. 2 vols. 159.
Hume, David. “Four Dissertations, as quoted.” The Eighteenth Century: Art, Design, and Society; 1689-1789; A Documentary History of Taste in Britain. Ed. Bernard Denvir. New York: Longman, 1983. 66-67.
Hume, David. “Treatise on Human Nature, Volume 2, as quoted.” The Eighteenth Century: Art, Design, and Society. Ed. Bernard Dewnvir. New York: Longman, Inc., 1983. 74-75.
Jones, Thomas. “Memoirs, as quoted.” The Eighteenth Century: Art, Design, and Society. Ed. Bernard Denvir. New York: Longman, 1983. 101.
Kennedy, James. “Description of Antiquities and Curiosities in Wilton House (the Pembroke collection), as quoted.” The Eighteenth Century: Art, Design, and Society. Ed. Bernard Denvir. New York: Longman, 1983. 96-99.
Kreis, Steven. Écrasez l’infâme!:The Triumph of Science and the Heavenly City of the 18th Century Philosophe. 2000. Web.
Le Brun, Charles. “Concerning Expression in General and Particular, as quoted.” A Documentary History of Art: the Mannerists, the Baroque, and the Eighteenth Century. Ed. Elizabeth Gilmore Holt. Vol. 2. Garden City: Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1958. 2 vols. 161-163.
Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim. “Laocoon, as quoted.” A Documentary History of Art. Ed. Elizabeth Gilmore Holt. Vol. 2. Garden City: Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1958. 2 vols. 351-353.
Medieval Sourcebook:A Late Medieval Spanish Nobleman: Don Juan Pacheco, Master of the Order of Santiago (1419-1474). Ed. Kathryn Talarico. 2010. Web.
Parker, John. “private letter to James Caulfield, Viscount Charlemont, as quoted.” The Eighteenth Century….. Ed. Bernard Denvir. Vol. 2. Garden City: Doubleday and Co., 1958. 2 vols.
Pope, Alexander. “Moral Essays, Epistle iv, as quoted.” The Eighteenth Century: Art, Design, and Society, 1689-1789; A documentary history of taste in Britain. Ed. Bernard Denvir. New York: Longman, Inc., 1983. 64-65.
Scientists in 18th Century Uppsala. 2010. Web.
Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley Cooper, 3rd Earl of. “Article in Weekly Register from February 6, 1731, as quoted.” The Eighteenth Century: Art, Design, and Society, 1689-1789. Ed. Bernard Denvir. New York: Longman, Inc., 1983. 63.
Shenstone, William. “Works in Verse and Prose,as quoted.” The Eighteenth Century: Art, Design, and Society. Ed. Bernard Denvir. New York: Longman, 1983. 73-74.
Skelton, Jonathan. “Private letters to William Herring, as quoted.” The Eighteenth Century: Art, Design, and Society. Ed. Bernard Denvir. New York: Longman, 1983. 105-106.
Footnotes
Consider that in 1714 the English Board of Longitude offered a generous prize, and inspired a lifetime of work on the part of John Harrison and Pierre LeRoy to create an accurate enough chronometer to allow practical improvements in determining location on the ocean (Gasciogne). It had not been very many generations since the actual borders of a possibly flat world were in question. These chronometers were also, in the way most crafted items were at the time, stunningly beautiful objects.
The results of experimentation and observation were visible in advances in science and technology, such as Georges Louis Leclerc Comte de Buffon’s work in mathematics and mechanics (Kreis), the cataloging of species by Carolus Linnaeus (Scientists in 18th Century Uppsala), the application of steam to industry (Bellis), and even the development of the fledgling social sciences (Hume, Four Dissertations, as quoted 66-67).
Charles Le Brun laid out in systematic fashion the muscles movements in the face that that signaled human emotions (Le Brun 161-163).
Kennedy’s listing includes not only the artifacts acquired by the Thomas Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, but the Earl’s rationale and thought process in selecting or rejecting items to include or acquire (Kennedy 96-99). The phenomenon of the art catalogue as a combination of groveling encomium and scholarly documentation seems to be a novel feature of this century. Although there had been previous works in praise of specific noblemen e.g. (Medieval Sourcebook:A Late Medieval Spanish Nobleman: Don Juan Pacheco, Master of the Order of Santiago (1419-1474)), focusing on their art collections was a new twist.
To the contemporary reader, Chambers reflects, to an almost embarrassing extent, the intense ethnocentrism of his era. In spite of the widening world that Europeans now confronted, he can just barely accord the whole of Chinese architecture and design enough worth to justify writing seriously about them. He damns with faint praise the entire complex and elaborate aesthetics of China, deeming their products “toys” (Chambers 297). There are three ironic points to make: (1) He does not mention at all the nearly frantic and sometimes dishonest efforts of Europeans, over decades, to identify the techniques that the Chinese used to make such exquisite and durable ceramics (A History of Pottery: Continental Porcelains), and (2) he had just recently applied this Chinese-inspired aesthetic to his execution of a commission for the design of Kew Gardens, and, (3) one wonders, could he have possibly imagined the wild popularity in fashion, and in all forms of ornamentation, of Chinoiserie themes and motifs which had been growing in Europe and America for some decades, which his own book helped to spread, and which continues today (Chinoiserie)?
It also created two new categories of citizen; the artistic ex-patriot (Skelton 105-106).
William Shenstone, although more a garden designer than social critic, is scathing in describing those who obsessively rely on antiquities for decoration and inspiration as “lazy” and “pusillanimous” (Shenstone 73-74).
The praise which Lessing lavishes on the almost serene countenance of classical figures contrasts with the description of how to add expression to a face in art by Le Brun (Le Brun).
Nature was a powerful muse for the 18th century artist, at least their idea of what constituted nature. This was not a novel concept: Poussin, who did not survive the turn of the 1700s, is quoted as saying that choosing subject matter from nature gives the painter “free scope for his genius and industry” (Holt, Poussin 159). Watteau is praised by his biographer as a “great admirer of nature”, in spite of the fact that his paintings all look as though they were set in some sort of ancien regime Disneyland, entirely devoid of mud, cow pies, or effort (de Jullienne 306-308). Le Fresnoy’s advice was to take nature as one’s teacher (Holt, Charles Alphonse Du Fresnoy 163). Even when it was a stretch, an artist was encouraged to get out and draw from nature (Skelton 106). This was of course a major change from the art housed in the medieval period section of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, wherein naturalism is absent, and apparently not much missed.
Anything at all that had the taste of classical Rome or Greece held greater value. For example, it was considered de rigeur for an artist to spend time in Rome, even if they were out painting landscapes and not sitting in the great galleries sketching from existing art works (Skelton 106). Presumably, the act of painting the same views that the ancients gazed upon would bring the artist closer to their achievements.
Greco-Roman objects, scooped up in quantity by collectors, inspired design details, especially in the first half of the 1700s (Kennedy 96-99). These were augmented by engravings of those larger monuments and temples which had not already been dismantled and sent away in packing cases (Bruce 112).
Chambers notes that the Chinese inject surprise in their layout of gardens (Chambers 302). It is interesting to observe that even today, one can see on the streets of any major city, elderly ladies of evident Chinese origin, wearing a glorious profusion of entirely distinct floral patterns together at once.
William Bradley Roberts dedicates the second chapter of his work Music and Vital Congregations: A Practical Guide for Clergy, “Moving from Musician as Performer to Musician as Pastor”, to discussing the philosophy of church music. In his vision of the musician’s role in church, Roberts follows Alec Wyton’s formula of church leader and envisages the musician in a three-tier function of Pastor, Teacher and Performer, in exactly the following order (Roberts 2009, 19).
Opposing the traditional view on church musician as the one who merely performs purely musical tasks and never takes interest or involves in the spiritual practices, Roberts accentuates the possibility of leading “not only voices but also spirits” by church musician in his role of Pastor (Roberts 2009, 21). Being not only a stranger who comes to deliver musical services but also a “partner in ministry”, the church musician plays a significant role in creating a spiritual community among the parishioners (Roberts 2009, 21).
As a rule, the choir members spend a lot of time in rehearsals, which naturally results in trustful relations developing between them and the musician. The latter can further develop this trust by visiting parishioners at home or hospital, when they are most in need of spiritual support and likely to seek solutions in the realm of religion.
In addition, during rehearsals the musician can provide reflections upon especially insightful texts and phrases, giving spiritual food for contemplation to his disciples. Roberts claims the role of Pastor to be the most difficult of three, since traditionally musicians are trained in secular conservatories and do not tend to consider their spiritual affinity to the church they work at.
The role of Teacher is one of the most exciting for the church musician, since then the natural human desire for knowledge can be satisfied most naturally. The teaching function can be rendered in a vast variety of ways. First, the structure and content of the sung texts can be discussed with the choir members so that they get a deeper understanding of and attachment to the music they perform.
Second, during rehearsals it is advisable to take a “directive approach”, and not only correct the mistakes committed but also to set the performers a series of goals to accomplish (Roberts 2009, 25). Those challenges will not only stimulate the singing community to improve their performing skills, but also increase their confidence and sense of fulfillment while they are engaging in singing.
In addition, the church musician can participate in general staff meetings, contributing to the vision of sermon and providing advice as to the music most appropriate for certain occasions. Music should be used “to foster camaraderie and bonhomie”, as well as to broaden the parishioners’ musical outlook by introducing new sacred music at discussion forums and in informative articles (Roberts 2009, 27).
The third function of the church musician, that of Performer, is by large the most controversial. On the one hand, musicians become aware of that function already during their training: performance is seen by them as a way of demonstrating what they have learnt and of connecting with their audience (Roberts 2009, 27).
On the other hand, the clergy may be confused by the negative connotations of the notion that in certain cases may designate glorifying the performer proper, which is incompatible with religious principles of modesty. However, it is more reasonable to see performance as that focused on the character and story it tells, and not on the performer who presents it. Such approach provides the most successful results, letting the performer be a humble medium transferring divine messages.
In conclusion, Roberts states that the role of pastor is not given by birth but obtained “through life experience, education and prayer” (Roberts 2009, 29). Thus, though it is strange for musicians to include pastoral role in their activities, it becomes the task of the church to transform the ones entrusted to its patronage.
Reference List
Roberts, William Bradley. 2009. “Moving from Musician as Performer to Musician as Pastor”. In Music and Vital Congregations: A Practical Guide for Clergy, 19–29. New York, NY: Church Publishing.
The Tate Exhibit, by assembling international works and works in many media, demonstrates, to the less enthusiastic, the exhibit designer’s message that the Avante-Garde was a legitimate and wide ranging movement, and one which reverberates in its effects even today. Styles such as Neo-Plasticism, are Elementarism are examined, but the most colorful is Dada.
Dadaism elicits different responses from different viewers, from the trivial, irritating, or enraging, to the profoundly liberating, and has done so since it was launched on the world. Given its anti-establishment history, and the continuing debate over whether it is really art, its glorification at the Tate is ironic.
The Tate show can help demonstrate Dada’s impact on today’s design and our definitions of art. Some examples from real life include: the teaching of art to kids, stained glass in contemporary sacred spaces, home furnishings, music teaching and making.
A sampling of the styles the show features includes De Stijl, Dadaism, Elementarism, and Neo-Plasticism. The multi-national selection of artists range from the biggies such as Arp and Mondrian, and obscure ones as well, with a strong Dutch presence and funding support. The media displayed are wide ranging, and reflect the intention of the Avant-Garde’s proponents to overturn old art norms and make art and design accessible to the masses.
Works are arranged such that the orthogonals and diagonals are sited at either end, and artists, crafts, and disciplines affected by the Avante-Garde are on display in between. Van Doesburg’s drawings of exploded architectural detail are missing from the exhibit. Photos of the artists enrich our understanding of the human background to the art.
Merchandise in the stores is well-displayed and offers customers a chance to wear their intellectual bona fides on their blouse. The Tate has offered a selection of lectures and other fora for viewer education. The arrangement of the exhibit helps to make the point that the Avant-Garde was more than artistic crankiness or mental disorder.
Conclusion: The ongoing debate over whether the works of the Avante-Garde are really art is not by any means resolved. However, the ideas of the Avante-Garde certainly liberated the making of art to our benefit today.
The design ideas we see around us are deeply affected by their work. The exhibit reveals the international scope of the Avante-Garde, and highlights the connections between the Avante-Garde and what we see around us on a regular basis. Van Doesburg’s legacy is worth remembering.
This Section is not Part of the Assigned Project
The following is the list of questions originally posed by the instructor for consideration, not an essay. This is set up as a checklist to allow the customer to reassure themselves that all the questions have been addressed, and to facilitate communication across the language barrier with the customer.
Since the topic is an art exhibit, and secondary sources are not exhaustive, many of these answers are inferences rather than based on direct personal observation, which would have been the ideal way of responding to the questions:
Who organized the exhibition? Vicente Toldi, Tate Director
Who curated it? Gladys Fabre, independent curator
Who sponsored it? Tate Patrons, Tate International Council, The Van Doesburg Exhibition Supporters Group, The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Dedalus Foundation, Inc, Mondriaan Foundation, Prince Bernhard Cultural Foundation (Straver Foundation), SNS Reaal Fond
Who designed it? Vicente Toldi, presumably, since no other person is mentioned.
Who is it intended audience? Possibly anyone who may not have thought very much about the impact of the Avante-Garde, or who is not an avid art fan is the target.
What are the aims of the exhibition? Based on the artists and works chosen; the aim is to display works not often seen, to display works by lesser known artists, and to show a wide range of media that were affected by the ideas of the Avante-Garde.
What is its central argument? You can see evidence of how these artists succeeded in overturning much of what went before when you look around you at design, art, and art instruction today, and see their influence.
What current debates or topical issues does the exhibition engage with? Is this stuff truly ART?
What underlying assumptions are communicated by the choice of exhibits and form of display?
The form of display seems to assume mostly non-disabled viewers assumes that people walking on their own two feet and looking with good vision are viewing the works. It also assumes that the viewer has not seen previously ephemera and crafts from the same period, objects which reflect similar design ideas.
Is it successful in terms of fulfilling the aims of the organizers? It has been well reviewed for the most part in terms of demonstrating why lesser known names in the Avante-Garde should be studied and remembered, and documenting the enduring influence of these ideas.
What if anything is excluded from its central narrative? Not sure – maybe politics, but not sure, but one reviewer mentioned the absence of certain Van Doesburg architectural drawings.
How is the exhibition organized (by theme, designer, chronologically, other)? Orthogonals are sited at one end and diagonals at the other, with other materials in between that were influenced by the artistic dialogue going on at the time.
How are the artifacts contextualized (i.e., through info panels, labels, graphics, catalogue, etc.)? Not sure, but there seem to be labels with substantial information. There are lectures and talks as well, and a workshop for a hand-on project.
Is the design of the exhibition appropriate for its subject matter? It sounds like it, but not sure.
Does the Tate exhibit provide an educational experience, and how does it achieve this? Lectures, talks, hands-on projects, contribute to background education.
Is there a shop specifically devoted to merchandise supporting the exhibition, and how much space does it occupy in relation to the exhibits? Yes, but not sure how much space is allocated – the interactive map did not seem to specify the shop footage.
What kinds of products does the shop sell, and how are they merchandised? Typical, not terribly innovative; items meet the need for items to signal the consumer’s intellectual identity, or “brand”.
End of explanatory notes to customer
Outline
Van Doesburg and the International Avante-Garde: Constructing a New World
Introduction: The Tate Exhibit, by assembling international works and works in many media, demonstrates, to the less enthusiastic, the exhibit designer’s message that the Avante-Garde was wide ranging and reverberates in its effects even today.
Background of Dadaism as a confusing off-shoot of the Avante-Garde
The meaning of the word
The reaction of the contemporary gallery visitors
How Dada was viewed at the time
Irony of an anti-establishment movement being displayed in Tate
The Tate show can help demonstrate Dada’s impact on today’s design and definition of art: examples
Teaching of art to kids
Stained glass
Home furnishings
Music making
Sampling of styles the show includes
De Stijl
Dadaism
Elementarism
Neo-Plasticism
Artists included
Many works from off-shore
Strong Dutch representation and sponsorship support
Media included
Wide range of artistic disciplines
Reflect the intention to make art accessible even to the oppressed
Arrangement of works
Orthogonals and diagonals at either end
Artists affected by these in display in between
Crafts and disciplines affected on display in between
Drawings of exploded architectural detail missing from exhibit
Photos enrich understanding of the human background to the art
Conclusion
The ongoing debate over whether the works of the Avante-Garde are really art is not by any means resolved. However, the ideas of the Avante-Garde certainly liberated the making of art to our benefit today. The design ideas we see around us are deeply affected by their work. The exhibit reveals the international scope of the Avante-Garde, and highlights the connections between the Avante-Garde and what we see around us on a regular basis.
The current exhibit at the Tate Modern brings a host of objects together from a variety of artists, countries, and media, and styles that fall under the general category of the Avante-Garde (Dadaism, Neo-Plasticism, Elementarism, Constructivism, and Art Concret). This impressive assemblage demonstrates the multi-national nature of the Avante-Garde in its time of inception.
The exhibit also provides ample basis for considering (even by those who do not live and die by art ) the wide ranging and long lasting impact on the lives of people today of the ideas fermenting in the first decades of the 20th century, even the chaotic and self-negating ideas of Dadaism.
Dada is a word that can be understood differently, depending on one’s role, and where one is standing. To a proud papa, it is, he hopes, the first word spoken by a beloved toddler. To a current music aficionado, it is the name of a band (dada home page).
As pointed out by Tristan Tzara, a poet and essayist of the early 1900’, the word also describes the tail of a holy cow, among the « Kru Negroes » (an archaic and now offensive term for an indigenous tribe in what is today called Liberia ), mother and a cube in Italian dialect, and a nurse and hobby horse in Russian, as well as in his native tongue, Romanian. However, Tzara declares in his Dada Manifesto 1918, « The magic of a word – Dada – which has brought journalists to the gates of a world unforeseen, is of no importance to us. »(Tzara, Dada Manifesto 1918).
This paradoxical statement, and so many others, is typical of the deliberately confusing, transgressive, and challenging utterances of Tzara, ne Samuel Rosenstock, a key articulator of Dadaism.
To current enthusiastic visitors to museums of modern art, the name Dada is shorthand for a sidebar to the Avante-Garde, art as goofball antic, art as thumb to nose, but also, art as something that might be easily mistaken for a bin to accommodate one’s litter, or an attractively mounted fire extinguisher.
On the other hand, to those visitors who have been dragged along by their special art fan, Dada may very well be a reason they say they think that avant-garde art is a crock.
Why, they ask plaintively, don’t we just bring our rubbish to the museum and leave it here in a neat pile – who would know the difference? What sort, they ask angrily, of prat would pay good money for such stuff? Doesn’t our kid draw something just as good? Where is the café, they ask in desperation, and, more importantly, how soon may we leave?
These public reactions are not novel, nor, if we are to believe their own writings, would they necessarily have been unwelcome to the first promoters of the Dada movement. The Dadaists were in reaction against just about everything . In return, they were regarded with less than approval by their contemporaries, and they knew it, and made fun of this phenomenon.
In light of how disparaged they were by the art world in the first decades of the 1900’s, and especially in light of how deeply they criticized the art establishment, they might be turning in their graves at the thought of the large current exhibit at the Tate Modern (running through May). Or, perhaps, the thought might tickle them, especially the application of Theo Van Doesburg’s colorful geometries to towels, totes and magnets in the gift shop .
If a Dadaist were resurrected today, he might gleefully pluck a tea towel from the gift shop and display it as art, not because of the pattern, but as an object chosen by him, placed out of its usual context as an article of clothing, titled with whatever whimsical thought occurred, put on display, and therefore constituting ART. There would certainly be ample precedent!
The submission, without comment, of a fountain, to an art show, an act of artistic anarchy attributed to Marcel Duchamp, is practically legendary.
But back to the weary, less than excited visitor, wondering why on earth they should be learning about this stuff. (The museum is indeed offering a lecture series, even for the deaf, curators’ talks, and an opportunity to create a hands-on project to help both the confused and the rapt). Why should he/ she be interested at all?
Art historians, on one end of the interest spectrum, are the converted, the choir, to whom it is unnecessary to preach. In answer to this question, they can point to direct lines of influence from the Dadaism of the 1910s and 1920s to the Neo-Dadaism of the post-World War II period, and well known and important names like Robert Rauschenberg, and Jasper Johns (Craft), and, it could be asserted, Andy Warhol.
In another direction, connections can be drawn to Surrealism (Craft 4), a movement with its own flock of current artistic offspring, particularly in film, and animation.
However, at the other end of the spectrum of interest and expertise, even the uninitiated among us can identify Dada’s impact in our lives. A swift peek into the chaos and happily self-defined art creations being crafted from re-cycled materials at the nearest grammar school would offer an answer to that question . Also of interest would be a tour of a suburban modern church building . Or take a walk-through of the wall and floor coverings department of a home store .
Finally, check out GarageBand, a piece of software that allows kids to assemble music from a file of pre-recorded sound samples (Garageband).
All these cultural phenomena seem to be influenced by the ideas of Dadaism. The show at the Tate may, in light of this, assist those who would preferentially spend at least some of their Sunday afternoons watching Manchester United rather than getting sore feet at galleries, to draw meaningful connections between Dadaism and current trends and manifestations of the arts, and design.
The current Tate Modern show, taking up half of the fourth level of the museum, does not merely cover Dadaism. It also encompasses the movement that was one of Van Doesburg’s numerous other artistic life pursuits: among them, the ultimate in geometric abstraction, wherein any reference to the human body or realism of any sort was anathema.
Van Doesburg’s ideas on this and other isms of the day were expressed in his editorship of De Stijl, a magazine as well as the name of a style, and through peripatetic lectures and conferences (Mawer). He and Piet Mondrian espoused simplifying art to a series of geometric elements.
Even this was subject to disagreement: the two colleagues split off into Elementarism (diagonals allowed) and the horizontal and vertical axes of Dutch Neo-Plasticism, a rarified movement (orthogonal horizontals and verticals only) of which Mondrian eventually found himself the only votary; (Darwent).
The show includes many works on loan from elsewhere. This means that many pieces have never been seen in the UK, especially those by Theodore Van Doesburg. There is a largely Dutch roster of sponsors , which may have helped in the acquisition of so many Van Doesburg pieces.
Alternatively, perhaps the inclusion of these rarely-seen works was a cunning appeal to Dutch chauvinism for recruiting support from Dutch funders. This strong representation from other collections may be the reason so many of the 350 items are not imaged digitally for later, more leisurely examination.
In any case, the range of countries represented certainly highlights the message forcefully that the Avante -Garde was an international movement, with plenty of cross pollination among artistic communities.
The Tate’s director, Vicente Todolí, has made a point of mounting several previous exhibits focusing on other features of Modernism (The Tate Modern Museum), perhaps as a means of ensuring the development of a future visitor base. If an audience is not raised up in the knowledge and appreciate of the arts, they will not support the arts.
Gladys Fabre, an independent curator, has brought together works in a variety of media and genres. She has assembled the big names in Dada, De Stijl, and the Avante- Garde: Piet Mondrian, Constantin Brancusi, Jean Arp; names that even the uninformed might recognize. She has included, as well, less well known artists whose work was influenced, or had an influence on, De Stijl, such as Francis Picabia, László Moholy-Nagy, Gerrit Rietveld, Sophie Taeuber, and Kurt Schwitters.
A full range of media are represented. They include traditional painting and drawings, and sculpture. This latter is defined, as in the case of the aluminum and wood robot-like Mechanical Dancing Figure, by the less familiar Vilmos Huszá, or the chunky blue vaguely android figure Construction within a Sphere, by the equally under-exposed Georges Vantongerloo, by the whimsy of Dadaism.
Ms. Fabre has also included less expected examples of designs that came out of the movement such as typeface, architectural interiors (for example, the explosion of color blocks on the ceiling of the University Hall, in Amsterdam, or the rocking Aubette dance space from Strasbourg), and furniture designs (such as the sculpturally limpid but uncomfortable-appearing Gerrit Reitvald chair, and the modern-looking leather and metal chairs).
There are also publications, posters (one mysterious one features the letters HELI), stained glass (such as the emblematic and endlessly copied windows for the De Lange house), music, and film (The Tate Modern Museum).
This assemblage of objects from all along the spectrum from utilitarian objects to fine, arts, is reminiscent of the vertical integration of some consumer products and manufacturers (the Apple company is one example, Mattel’s Barbie range could be another) wherein products for all uses and levels of complexity are produced under one corporate umbrella and with a solitary design vision.
The wealth and diversity of material demonstrates that the Avante-Garde was a thoroughgoing attempt – utilizing art and design – to overturn everything that went before. Considering that in 1918 the world had just endured the soul-searing destruction of a global war, there was revolution abroad, influenza stalked the world, and women were still wearing corsets, there was plenty to complain about.
The devotees of De Stijl felt that the earlier century’s efforts to portray reality in an increasingly abstracted fashion (Impressionism, Cubism, and Expressionism, for example) never quite broke free of the reality that persisted as the subject. Somehow, even the gradual uncoupling of painting and sculpture from strict realism came in for withering scorn from the Van Doesburg cabal (Tzara, Lecture on Dada, 1922, reprinted in Tristan Tzara: Biography, DADAism, and Poetry).
The proponents of De Stijl wanted to bring the healing and uplifting benefits of liberated and accessible art and design to the oppressed and the deracinated (Darwent) . In our own era, entrepreneurs such as Terence Conran, and corporations such as IKEA have adopted the notion of good-design-for-all to great and profitable effect.
The exhibit is arranged such that Mondrian’s orthogonal statements are at one end. These are largely color blocks, very familiar, unthreatening, in various sizes and proportions. They are so accustomed an idiom that one feels one has seen them before, even if the particular piece is clearly an import.
Van Doesburg’s paintings in his Counter Proposal series are at the other end of the exhibit. These works, such as Simultaneous Counter-Composition, 1930, resemble Mondrians, but rotated by some 45 degrees, and sometimes disordered a bit. These paintings submit diagonals as an alternative to the grid (the “counter” proposal). They can remind the viewer of a close-up of the bathroom floor tiles, seen a bit too close for comfort during an episode of stomach upset.
However, anyone who has ever installed floor coverings on the diagonal to stretch the visual space in a tiny room truly owes Van Doesburg a debt of gratitude for opening up a new direction and making the off-kilter seem like an inevitable option. These are serene paintings which add color and form without insisting on the viewer’s involvement, but they reward closer attention as well.
The rooms in between bear testimony to the vast array of apparently unrelated design and craft specialties that De Stijl affected, and, by extension, the design ideas we see applied these days. As an example of lasting effect, the rationalized typography design that Van Doesburg innovated (letters fitting in a square, with no lower case letters), can be seen as enabling the development of machine readable typefaces today.
The software called Wordle, which makes a graphic out of any block of text, highlighting words and phrases that repeat often, seems to be a direct descendant of Van Doesburg’s experiments with poster art (Feinberg). As an example of how De Stijl helped to break down boundaries between artistic disciplines, and the constraints of any one medium, the exhibit includes film clips animating Plasticist and Elementarist painting (Darwent).
Simon Mawer of The Guardian faults the exhibit for not including drawings of collaborative architectural projects created with Cornelis van Eesteren. These sound fascinating: the drawings are exploded into three dimensions. Contemporary architects prize such drawings as the best and highest journeyman examples of their craft – it would indeed have been interesting to see how Van Doesburg handled this technique.
The exhibit has been reviewed with differing responses. The impersonality of De Stijl leaves some viewers unmoved (Sooke). However, there is agreement that this is a welcome chance to see works that are not often brought together. There is also agreement that the inclusion of art and design that was influenced by ideas promulgated by Van Doesburg opens up that period to our view, and the wealth of photographs put a human face on this often austere art.
The photos document the relationships that underpinned the life of these artists, especially their lovers and wives. It is interesting to learn, for example, that Nellie Van Doesburg participated in the performance art pieces that Kurt Schwitters and Van Doesburg mounted around Europe, and that Sophie Taueber was married to Jean Arp, and that they all collaborated on the design of Strasbourg’s Aubette building (Mawer).
There has been an ongoing debate regarding the seriousness and validity of the Avante-Garde since it was born. The apparent simplicity and the lack of craft of some of its most famous products leave the impression that there is nothing going on artistically. This debate is not over. Viewers, especially hoi polloi are still asking whether this is really art. It is not clear that this exhibit will answer that question finally for everyone.
However, the clever choices that have been made, and the co-location of works that are different in media but related in idea, help to make the point that the concepts of the Avante-Garde had an impact across Europe, and in many different fields. The specifics of the style of De Stijl (austerity, abstraction, the straight lines of the Bauhaus, on which Van Doesburg aimed to have an impact) may still not be to everyone’s taste.
The merchandising of the exhibit, on the other hand, is readily accessible. An exit shop, that relatively new marketing method of extracting funds from visitor wallets, imprints the cheerful Van Doesburg diagonals on any flat, or near flat, surface (tea towels, totes, key tags, mugs, magnets, notebooks, bags), and offers books documenting the exhibit, displayed tastefully against a sober, receding, industrial gray background.
This venue is supplemented by offerings in the main museum shop. In a decade when the identity of self is defined by the brands one carries or wears, perhaps toting one’s trainers and exercise kit in a Van Doesburg-emblazoned bag, or drinking one’s cocoa from a similarly decorated beaker seems a legitimate means of proclaiming one’s intellectual bent.
“You should want to marry me (or hire me, or be friends with me) because I have slogged through this intellectually challenging exhibit “, trumpets the merchandise. A much coveted related sales item is a set of Dadaist poetry generators: a pre-selected collection of individual words mounted on magnet backing whose arrangement ad libitum allows people to create their own Dada-style poem on their refrigerator door (Tzara, To Make A Dadist Poem, reprinted in Tristan Tzara: Biography, DADAism, and Poetry).
Happily, the overturning of the 19th century insistence on an imitation of nature (which effectively excluded from the practice of art anyone who was not a good draftsperson), has spawned a whole new style of art teachers, whose young students joyously create something, anything; confident in their belief (directly attributable to Van Doesburg and his companions) that if they call it art, IT IS, by gosh, ART.
Reflecting this same joyous anarchy, Catherine Craft notes that Robert Motherwell, the essential biographer of the Avante-Garde, observed that Dada had given health and new life to painting in Europe (Craft 3-4). There is also a practical inheritance, e.g., typefaces which even a computer can read.
The geographic distribution and inter-connectedness of the Avante-Garde are presented forcefully in the exhibit, and it is accessible both to the fan and the less than rapt. Van Doesburg well deserves this resurrection from oblivion.
I. The catalogue of ideas, institutions, religions, and behaviors, to name a few, that Dada revolts against, is expressed here by Tristan Tzara:
“The beginnings of Dada were not the beginnings of an art, but of a disgust. Disgust with the magnificence of philosophers who for 3ooo years have been explaining everything to us (what for? ), disgust with the pretensions of these artists-God’s-representatives-on-earth, disgust with passion and with real pathological wickedness where it was not worth the bother; disgust with a false form of domination and restriction *en masse*, that accentuates rather than appeases man’s instinct of domination, disgust with all the catalogued categories, with the false prophets who are nothing but a front for the interests of money, pride, disease, disgust with the lieutenants of a mercantile art made to order according to a few infantile laws, disgust with the divorce of good and evil, the beautiful and the ugly (for why is it more estimable to be red rather than green, to the left rather than the right, to be large or small?).
Disgust finally with the Jesuitical dialectic which can explain everything and fill people’s minds with oblique and obtuse ideas without any physiological basis or ethnic roots, all this by means of blinding artifice and ignoble charlatans promises. “(Tzara, Lecture on Dada, 1922, reprinted in Tristan Tzara: Biography, DADAism, and Poetry) (sic)
II. This impatience with art as it used to be was verbalized by Tristan Tzara in the following almost lucid quote: “We don’t accept any theories. We’ve had enough of the cubist and futurist academies: laboratories of formal ideas… Cubism was born out of a simple manner of looking at objects: Cezanne painted a cup twenty centimetres lower than his eyes, the cubists look at it from above, others complicate its appearance by cutting a vertical section through it and soberly placing it to one side. (I’m not forgetting the creators, nor the seminal reasons of unformed matter that they rendered definitive.)
The futurist sees the same cup in movement, a succession of objects side by side, mischievously embellished by a few guide-lines. This doesn’t stop the canvas being either a good or a bad painting destined to form an investment for intellectual capital.
The new painter creates a world whose elements are also its means, a sober, definitive, irrefutable work. The new artist protests: he no longer paints (symbolic and illusionistic reproduction) but creates directly in stone, wood, iron, tin, rocks, or locomotive structures capable of being spun in all directions by the limpid wind of the momentary sensation.
Every pictorial or plastic work is unnecessary… A painting is the art of making two lines, which have been geometrically observed to be parallel, meet on a canvas, before our eyes, in the reality of a world that has been transposed according to new conditions and possibilities.
This world is neither specified nor defined in the work, it belongs, in its innumerable variations, to the spectator. For its creator it has neither cause nor theory. Order = disorder; ego = non?ego; affirmation = negation: the supreme radiations of an absolute art.
Absolute in the purity of its cosmic and regulated chaos, eternal in that globule that is a second which has no duration, no breath, no light and no control. I appreciate an old work for its novelty. It is only contrast that links us to the past.(Tzara, Dada Does Not Mean Anything, reprinted in Tristan Tzara: Biography, DADAism, and Poetry) (sic)
III. Tristan Tzara offered the following straightforward instruction, in poetic format. He could also have mentioned that choosing several different articles with different typefaces would add a certain decorative fillip to the randomly generated poem:
To Make a Dadist Poem
Take a newspaper. Take some scissors. Choose from this paper an article the length you want to make your poem. Cut out the article. Next carefully cut out each of the words that make up this article and put them all in a bag. Shake gently. Next take out each cutting one after the other. Copy conscientiously in the order in which they left the bag. The poem will resemble you. And there you are an infinitely original author of charming sensibility, even though unappreciated by the vulgar herd.”
(Tzara, To Make A Dadist Poem, reprinted in Tristan Tzara: Biography, DADAism, and Poetry) (sic)
Resources
(Modern Dime Sized Coins of the World: Liberia)
“I don’t have to tell you that for the general public and for you, the refined public, a Dadaist is the equivalent of a leper. But that is only a manner of speaking. When these same people get close to us, they treat us with that remnant of elegance that comes from their old habit of belief in progress. At ten yards distance, hatred begins again. If you ask me why, I won’t be able to tell you.” (Tzara, Lecture on Dada, 1922, reprinted in Tristan Tzara: Biography, DADAism, and Poetry)
The size of gift shops has begun to rival exhibits in many museums; The Metropolitan has several and at least one off-site. This indicates just how tenuous are the traditional sources of support for museums’ operations, now seldom covered by admission sales.
In an article assumed to be by Marcel Duchamp, the author defends the appropriateness for inclusion of a fountain in an art show, as follows: “He CHOSE it. He took an ordinary article of life, placed it so that its useful significance disappeared under the new title and point of view – created a new thought for that object.”(Duchamp) This could be considered a summary statement of the criteria for Dadaist art.
Observe how the teacher encourages the kids to call whatever they put together, whatever they create, whatever they assemble, ART.
Look at the geometric stained glass which graces so many contemporary church windows; even decades after Van Doesburg and Mondrian are gone from the scene.
Equally; the geometric Mondrianization of patterns is evident everywhere in home furnishings.
Art is what you choose to call art; a Dada principle!
It is hard not to imagine that a high fiber diet and some yoghurt, or an anti-depressant, might have soothed these anal-compulsive-seeming obsessions just as effectively.
Tate Patrons, Tate International Council, The Van Doesburg Exhibition Supporters Group, The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Dedalus Foundation, Inc, Mondriaan Foundation, Prince Bernhard Cultural Foundation (Straver Foundation), SNS Reaal Fond (The Tate Modern Museum).
It should be noted that there was a distinct political (or sometimes anti-political) thread in the passions of the Avante-Garde, which did not always endear the movement to establishment institutions (Craft 3).
Van Doesburg’s use of “solomite”, a building material made of straw, is a striking foreshadowing of the whole sustainability movement in home design today (Mawer).
Bibliography
Craft, Catherine. New York Dada? Looking Back After a Second World War. 2006. Web.
Dada home page. 2019. Web.
Darwent, Charles. Well-chosen works show how De Stijl – ‘The Style’ – movement led to a revolution in European art that still resonates today: Van Doesburg & the International Avant-Garde, Tate Modern, London. 2010. Web.
Duchamp, Marcel. “‘Dissent and Disorder’-Selected Essays on Dadaism.” Harrison, C. and Wood,P. Art in Theory. Trans. Ralph Mannheim. London: Blackwell Publishing, 2002. 250-275.
Feinberg, Jonathan. Wordle: Beautiful Word Clouds. 2019. Web.
Garageband. 2019. Web.
Mawer, Simon. Theo van Doesburg: Forgotten artist of the avant garde. 2019. Web.
Modern Dime Sized Coins of the World: Liberia. 2019. Web.
Sooke, Alastair. Tate Modern’s new exhibition about the Dutch art movement De Stijl leaves Alastair Sooke feeling a little cold: Van Doesburg and the International Avant-Garde at Tate Modern, review. 2010. Web.
Tzara, Tristan. Dada Does Not Mean Anything, reprinted in Tristan Tzara: Biography, DADAism, and Poetry. 2010. Web.
Tzara, Tristan. “Dada Manifesto 1918.” Motherwell, Robert, and Arp, Jean. The Dada Painters and Poets. Trans. Ralph Mannheim. New York: Wittenborn, Schultz, 1970. 76-82.
Lecture on Dada, 1922, reprinted in Tristan Tzara: Biography, DADAism, and Poetry. 2010. Web.
To Make A Dadist Poem, reprinted in Tristan Tzara: Biography, DADAism, and Poetry. 2010. Web.
Van Doesburg and the International Avant-Garde: About the Exhibition. 2010. Web.
