Breaking the Mould
Cubism/Futurism/Dada
Between the years of 1907 - 1920 there was a large scale emergence in all forms of abstract art. Producing abstract pieces of work enabled artist to explore the qualities of art without their work being over interpreted and ultimately degraded by others.
Cubism 1907 - 1914
Contemporary artists at the time began to be inspired by art that was being brought in from the smaller and further out colonies. This work was much more primitive and less technical. Picasso went down this route in his painting pictured below. The depth of the painting is very shallow, he has taken away all manner of perspective and merged the background and the foreground. It looks very similar to paintings you would expect to find on the side of a cave.
Les Demoiselles d'Avignon by Picasso (1907)
An example of very early Cubist work.
Analytical Cubism 1907 - 1911
Again, Picasso was a huge advocate for Analytical Cubism, along with Braque. This was the very first steps Cubism took, a time where artists began deconstructing simple objects and reassembling them in a flat image. They would then fill in the gaps, and build from there.
Ma Jolie by Picasso (1911/12)
An example of Analytical Cubism.
Synthetic Cubism 1911 - 1914
Synthetic cubism introduced collage into art, in a simplistic manner and is characterised by the use of brighter colours than the early stages of the movement.
Mondrian, in particular, had an interest in horizontal and vertical lines. This stemmed from his interest and exposure to architecture.
Still Life with Gingerpot II by Piet Mondrian (1911/12)
Early example of Cynthetic Cubism
Futurism 1909
Futurism started out life in Italy in the early 20th century. The movement was built on the visual ideas of Cubism, but focussed around the idea of looking forward instead of looking back and hoped to celebrated the modern world.
The central influences to Futurism were:
- Speed, movement and dynamism
- New technology (Sound, film and industrialisation)
- Youth and Violence
The Futurist Manifesto - Le Figaro Newspaper 1909
Gino Severini (Art and Science)
Carlo Carra
Futurism went beyond painting. Antonio Sant'Elia was and architect who focused on futuristic industrial design.
Anton Giulio Bragaglia - superimposing photographs
Futurist Cinema - Thais 1917
Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash by Giacoma Galla (1912)
Unique Forms of Continuity in Space by Boccioni (1913)
Bronze Futurist sculpture depicting fluidity and movement.
Futurism wasn't just about art works as it spread to other practices such as photography. Leading the way in experimenting with different photographic techniques was Anton Giulio Bragaglia. One of his pieces is below and depicts the use of movement using longer exposures. His work branched out into motion pictures after relations with the core group of Futurist artists started to break down.
Un Gesto del Capo by Anton Giulio Bragaglia (1911)
Movement and slow shutter speeds.
Vorticism 1914
English movement made up of only a small number of artists who were aware of what was happening in mainland europe and went in this direction. Although the group drew huge inspiration from the Futurist and Cubist movements, the relationship wasn't very friendly. Vorticism was brought to an end by the second world war.
Alvin Langdon Coburn was hugely influential photographer of this era whose work with Vortographs really stood out at the time. I really gel with one of his image Marius de Zayas (below) because of its use of what looks like a double exposure. Using two different sizes shown in the picture is an idea that I could carry over into my own images as it is a great example of juxtaposition.
Marius de Zayas by Alvin Langdon Coburn (1914)
Dada 1916
Pacifist Tristen Zara wondered how the world could be so civilized, but yet so barbaric. In an attempt to answer this question he started the Dada movement in Zurich, Switzerland. What could be described as the opening ceremony of this new art movement, the Cabaret Voltaire, was met with quite a large opposition which ended with the participants being covered in thrown fruit. Ironically, this was the exact reaction and disruption that the group were looking for.
Taeuber and Arp
In 1917 the Dada movement had spread all the way to New york with the likes of Duchamp.
L.H.O.O.Q. by Marcel Duchamp (1919)
Fountain by Marcel Duchamp
Duchamp brought art back to a base level with pieces like this. This led to the term Readymades, which were art pieces made up of everyday object(s) that could be bought 'ready made'. From then on, anything could be classed as art.
A name that cops up again is that of Man Ray. Many of his photos were closely tied to the works of Readymades. One very popular example is Cadeau, which depicts an iron with pins down the centre of the base plate. This image links in closely with our Hybrid work with its combination of two household objects.
Cadeau by Man Ray (1921)
Man Ray
Berlin 1917
Richard Heulsenbeck
Hannah Hoch
John Heartfield
Max Ernst
Kurt Schwitters
Paris
Took Dada in a controversial direction which Zara didn't agree with. This is where it started to fall apart.
Peter Kennard
Carven - fashion photography
Creative Blog Advice
A book, that combines all of your visual memories.
Writing creative thoughts.
Anything visual that you see.
Not subject specific.
Photo opportunities.
Relate it back to the current project.
References
Balla, G. (1912). Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash. [image] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamism_of_a_Dog_on_a_Leash [Accessed 5 Oct. 2017].
Boccioni, U. (1913). Unique Forms of Continuity in Space. [image] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unique_Forms_of_Continuity_in_Space [Accessed 5 Oct. 2017].
Duchamp, M. (1917). Fountain. [image] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Duchamp#/media/File:Duchamp_Fountaine.jpg [Accessed 5 Oct. 2017].
Duchamp, M. (1919). L.H.O.O.Q.. [image] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L.H.O.O.Q. [Accessed 5 Oct. 2017].
Giulio Bragaglia, A. (1911). Un Gesto del Capo. [image] Available at: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/286578 [Accessed 5 Oct. 2017].
Langdon Coburn, A. (1914). Marius de Zayas. [image] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2014/dec/08/the-astonishing-experimental-photography-of-alvin-langdon-coburn [Accessed 5 Oct. 2017].
Man Ray (1921). Cadeau. [image] Available at: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/man-ray-1563 [Accessed 5 Oct. 2017].
Mondrian, P. (1911). Still Life with Gingerpot II. [image] Available at: https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/3001 [Accessed 5 Oct. 2017].
Picasso, P. (1907). Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, oil on canvas, 244 x 234 cm. [image] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Demoiselles_d%27Avignon#/media/File:Les_Demoiselles_d%27Avignon.jpg [Accessed 5 Oct. 2017].
Picasso, P. (1911). Ma Jolie. [image] Available at: https://www.moma.org/collection/works/79051 [Accessed 5 Oct. 2017].