"The Large Glass" by Marcel Duchamp

"The Large Glass" was a work by Marcel Duchamp. He executed the work on two panes of glass using materials such as lead foil, fuse wire, and dust. It combines chance procedures, perspective studies, and laborious craftsmanship. Duchamp made numerous notes and studies, along with preliminary works for the piece. The notes reflect creation of unique rules of physics and myth. In his notes he describes that this "hilarious picture" is intended to depict the erratic encounter between the "Bride" (in the upper panel) and her nine "Bachelors" (gathered below).

This is a complex piece that dominates the empty space around it. The glass was once shattered, but reassembled by Duchamp and rests between two pieces of glass, set in a metal frame with a wooden base. The piece consists of many geometric shapes that blend together to create large mechanical objects. The objects seem to almost pop out from the glass.

Post 7

Diego Rivera

The Flower Seller

This painting shows a female figure holding a basket of flowers on her back. At first glance one would think that the feet shown in the image are the woman's own, but looking carefully one can see that there is a second pair of hands holding the basket the woman has on her back. This gives the illusion that that basket is either being placed upon, or removed from the woman's back. The overall emotion of the painting seems to be of a tired, sad, female figure. She is hunched over and has flowers that appear to be half her size by the dozen in her basket. The background coloring also gives a sense of anguish to the painting, like through the struggle that can be seen in the woman's posture.

This painting makes me curious as to what the face of the female would look like if she was looking at the viewer. If her facial expressions would match the overall vibe of the painting, or if she would look happier in comparison to the dark background.

Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2, Marcel Duchamp

Much like his later readymade work, such as The Fountain, Marcel Duchamp's early painting Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 also caused controversy when it was first exhibited. People were still used to seeing realism at the time, and the purposeful abstraction of the nude figure was scandalous in the art world. Borrowing elements of Cubism, it depicts a woman from many different, yet simultaneous angles. It also uses elements of the Futurists in giving the figure a sense of movement across the canvas. It is possible that he was also influenced by the growing medium of cinema, especially the early experiments in strobe-based photography, as the painting also contains an element of time in showing the movement of the figure down the stairs.

This painting was so controversial that it was rejected from being shown with other Cubist art of the time. His two brothers, also artists, were among the artists that asked him to either change the painting itself or have it removed form the exhibition. Duchamp was quoted as saying that it was at that point that he knew he would remain outside the traditional world of artists and critics, a quite that was proven by his continuously controversial career.

Rivera Mural

Rivera was one of the most important muralist of the Mexican mural movement. The mural movement began in the 1920's and various artist were called on to paint images of Mexican culture. While most of the artwork was to show people how to go about daily business, Rivera focused more on the past struggles Mexico had faced. The Revolution had recently ended and he was very interested in showing the indigenous people.

Perhaps Rivera's work stands out more than others because he used the fresco technique. He mixed wet plaster with paint so that the image would become part of the building, guaranteeing it would last for some time. This is why a majority of his work is painted in dull or faded colors. Yet another characteristic of his work is that his figures are often very rugged or made up of rougher lines. They lack the willowy grace of Siquero's paintings, but they are equally as beautiful. Furthermore, Rivera showed the indigenous people as beautiful and dignified. This could have been in part because an indigenous person had been elected president after the revolution.

"Was Kunst ist, wissen Sie ebensogut wie ich, es ist nichts weiter als Rhythmus."

"What art is, you know as well as I, is nothing more than a rhythm."

- Kurt Schwitters

Kurt Schwitters was a member of the Dada movement, a friend of Jean Arp's and Theo van Doesburg (of de Stijl fame). His collages are highly regarded during this time period, reflecting the Cubist and Expressionist styles he dabbled in. In 1937 the Nazis deemed his art part of the Degenerative movement that was sweeping Germany at the time. He moved to Norway, then England, where he died in 1948.

The image above is a scene of Schwitters' Merzbau, an ever changing installation he deemed to be his life's work. Merzbau translates to Merz Building, Merz being a term he used repeatedly in his work (from Commerz or Commerce). Schwitters's work on this piece started to overtake his studio and later other parts of the house, and featured three dimensional space and additions of found objects. Since the work was ever changing, earlier versions of the Merzbau might only exist in the viewer's memory. During the war the first Merzbau was destroyed, and Schwitters started on a second when he fled Germany, but that as well was never finished.

 

This is a painting by Palmer Hayden called Jeunesse.  He was a WW1 soldier for the U.S. military.  When he returned home he stayed in N.Y.  After the War African Americans where starting to raise up in pop culture.  Although they had gained there rights constitutionally, they did not have the same rights on the "streets."  One of the first forms of influence of African culture was Jazz music.  During the twenties and thirties speakeasies where arising everywhere.  In the speakeasies was where Jazz music was dominated.  This painting portrays a speakeasy with African American Jazz players on the left.  The formal wear and classy setting definitely helps African Americas making an identity for themselves.  Before this time African Americans were not wearing painted in suits, dancing under chandeliers or influencing music.  Many say that N.Y. can be the pinpoint where African Americans started to influence pop culture and fine arts. 

"Seated Girl" by Egon Schiele

Gustav Klimt was a famous painter and one of the outstanding members of the Vienna Secession movement. He painted, did murals, and sketched, with his primary subject being the female body. He was a mentor to younger artists in the early 1900s. One artist he took interest in was young Egon Schiele, buying his drawings, arranging models for him, etc. Schiele's style was viewed as being grotesque, erotic, pornographic, and disturbing. It focused on sex, death, and discovery.

The painting "Seated Girl" is of a girl sitting upright and facing the viewer. She has no shirt on, just a blue skirt. You can easily tell that his style is very simplistic. There is little to no shaded value on the girl or aound her, and her skin is pure white. The only reason it does not blend into the background on teh paper is because the paper is of a manila color. Her body is not quite proportionate. Her upper arm muscles bulk out way too much and her upper body does not make a smooth and curvy transition down to her waist. Schiele is basically portrayng this girl as an erotic symbol in a non-realistic way.

Judith and the Head of Holofernes, Gustav Klimt

Beginning in 1897, The Vienna Secession was a movement of artists focused on the exploration of art and techniques outside of what was being taught in the more academic art world. One of the founding members of the group was Gustav Klimt, though several other artists aided in the founding. Done several years after the founding of the group, Klimt's Judith and the Head of Holofernes (1901) displays several aims of the Vienna Secession artists. While there wasn't a specific style seen by the artists, their general aim was to provide a venue for young artists to show their work in Vienna.

Judith and the Head of Holofernes falls into the period of Klimt's work called the "Golden Phase", and overlaps with his membership among the Vienna Secession artists. The paintings in this period are richly covered in gold leaf, and are highly focused on the use of pattern, much like is seen in Byzantine icons which Klimt may have seen on trips to Ravenna in Italy.

Man At the Crossroads

Man at the Crossroads was a mural painted by Diego Rivera at Rockefeller Center in New York City in 1933. Commissioned by the Rockefellers, the mural's subject matter was to include scientific, technological, political and social possibilities of the future. Rivera, sympathetic to the Russian cause at this period in history, painted the mural depicting Lenin leading a group of workers marching in a demonstration. The depict upset Nelson Rockefeller, who asked Rivera to repaint over Lenin's face an anonymous worker. Rivera refused, and one of his assistants took secret photographs before the finished mural was destroyed.

The work is significant not only because of the Russian/Mexican connection between the Communist party and Rivera, but also because this mural served as subject matter for another mural, painted in 1934 in Mexico City. This mural featured Lenin and Leon Trotsky. Rivera also painted another mural in New York City, "Portrait of America".

week 9

Roundhay Garden Scene, Le Prince, 1888

The Roundhay Garden Scene is one of the very earliest recorded films. Silent, and at 12 frames a second, it runs for only about two seconds and shows a gathering of friends in a garden owned by the Whitley family in Leeds, England. As with all film, it captures a moment in time (October 14, 1888), giving a look into the situation of 19th century middle-class families. The short film was directed by inventor Louis Le Prince, and is the first surviving film known to have been recorded on celluloid.

Le Prince recorded the scene several years before other competing inventors such as Edison and Lumière. Due to patent suits from Edison, as well as other financial problems and mysterious family issues, Le Prince never gained the recognition seen by other contemporary filmmakers and inventors.

Kinetoscope

The kinetoscope was an early movie exhibition space. While it did not project film, it allowed individual viewers to watch the film inside the device. The kinetoscope creates the idea of motion by running a strip of film past a light source and shutter. While Edison is largely credited for thinking up the idea, it was actually executed by his employee William Dickson. Dickson was also responsible for the Kinetograph, a motion picture camera used to photograph movies and experiments at the lab.

Edison did not patent this invention and this allowed for various people and places to take the technology and run with it. This led to various imitations and improvements on the original idea. Like most technological advances, this early invention had an impact on the trajectory of cinematic development in the early part of the 20th century.

Edward Muybrige

Edward Muybrige was a famous photographer in the mid 1800's. In 1877 a man named Stanford, who was very interested in horse racing asked him to provide evidence that all four of a horses hooves left the ground while running. Muybrige set up 24 camera's around an arena and proceeded to attach them to thread. From this experiment, he practically invented animation. This also lead to him doing a series of pieces on human motion and animal locomotion. The basic idea was to snap pictures of the animal in motion, and white out the background. When the images were flipped quickly, they gave the appearance of the animal, or person moving. It works much like a flip book. I find it very interesting that photo's such as these were among the first types of cinema. It was only a few years after Muybrige's photo's that actual short movies began coming out. Among the first of those was the 1903 movie, The Great Train Robbery.

Thaumatrope (post 6)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyW-yUFMkRA&feature=related

I found this image of a Thaumatrope that seemed to me more detailed that others that I have stumbled across. The two images in this video combine to make the illusion of a man grabbing a baby caff by the tail. Each image is placed on separate sides on a circular object which have string that emerges from both sides. When the string is stun, the two images combine based on the way the human eye captures the visuals in the retina. One famous movie uses the Bird in the Cage thaumatrope as a essence of relative calmness. This can be seen in the Tim Burton film Sleepy Hollow.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0jm6j3s_uE
I looked up a video on youtube called "birth of cinema". The video covers the first photograph, to the first recorded sound, and ealry film as well. One thing that I found interesting was how cinema used to be associated with english rather than art largely, as we discussed, due to peoples' concern for the narrative of a film, not so much the cinematography. Due to the fact that there is no sound in early films, it seems like initially it should have been seen as more of an artistic piece rather than english studies. The techniques were so novel at the time, even as intricate as coloring one thing in each frame to create color, that the process seems to me to require a good amount of artistic ability. The youtube video talks about and shows films with magic/optical illusions, comedy, and all kinds of really interesting techniques. I would really reccomend watching it, it is really interesting.

The Auditorium Building in Chicago was designed in 1886. The building houses the the auditorium theater, which was closed but later renovated, and re-opened. Roosevelt University purchased the building in 1946. The Auditorium Building, due to the soft ground from the lake in Chicago, has pontoonlike piers as a foundation to keep the building from sinking, although the Auditorium Building did sink in the first decade that it was built. This building is a mix between the style of old buildings and the innovative style of skyscrapers. The skyscrapers that were being built used different stronger materials as interior structures so that the building could be built up, not just out, and the outer walls were not so thick to provide the only support for the building. The Auditorium Building used more modern structural tactics, as well as having thicker walls. The design utilizes larger plate glass, as well as decorative faceting and pillars between floors and windows.