Mod 11 Video Review

1.    Explain why you selected each of the TWO videos you choose from the selection listed above.

I first chose the video The Impact of Cubism because I didn’t really know much about cubism aside from the very basics. I wanted to study it more in depth and lean about the effects of cubism when it was first created and into the future. I also chose it because I wanted to learn more about different cubist artists, as I am only really familiar with Picasso.

The second video I chose was Dada and Surrealism. I chose this because these movements were a direct result of the first world war and I have always been interested in war history. I also chose this video because I wanted to learn more about how world events influence art styles and artists.  I also wanted to learn more about artists such as Salvador Dalí.

2. For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.

For the video Impact of Cubism, I learned that in cubism it is very common for artists to use multiple viewpoints for one object. This happens In Veniceo Robert Delaunay's Champ de Mars where he creates the Eiffel Tower using multiple views from the street, an apartment block and the view from above. This also happens in Pariso Marcel Duchamp's Sad Young Man on a Train, where the young man’s face can be either viewed from the side or in front.

I learned that Cubism was a way for artists to get away from traditional painting values. In 1912 the artist Delaunay even wrote that cubism was a way to free art from the slavery of imitation.

I also learned that Pariso Kazimir Malevich created cubist paintings which compelled the viewer to look for a meaning separate from the recognizable world outside, he called this system “displacement” which was an overturning of accepted logic.

The artist Kandinsky also said that images possessed an “inner sound” independent of the real world, just as music is, he said that it was the job of the modern artist to release this “inner sound” in their works.

In the second video, Dada and Surrealism, I learned that dada was an art movement that sprung from the horrors, propaganda and disillusionment of WW1. For example, one of only female artists of the Dada movement was Hanna Höch, who’s work Cut with the Kitchen Knife reflected her views of the cultural and political atmosphere in Germany at the time. Her work is full of political figures who she considered to be the cause of the war, most notably Keiser Wilhelm II.

Surrealism, on the other hand, was a way for artists to explore the regions of human subconscious and dreams. For example, Salvador Dali’s painting The Burning Giraffe is a mysterious and eerie painting that seems to come from a nightmare. A woman stands in the foreground who appears to be dissolving, her body is being held up with crutches as empty drawers protrude from her skin. In the background a similar woman stands and a giraffe on fire as well. This painting seems to emphasize the drawers coming from the first woman, possibly suggesting that the mind and body of humans are filled with secrets.   

2.    How do the videos relate to the readings in the text?

The videos relate to the readings in the text because chapter 21 focused art of the modern world, specifically from 1800 to 1945. The first video on cubism talked about various artists and the founding of cubism which took place in the early 1900s into the 1920s. The second video on dada and surrealism stated that these art movements began as an immediate reaction to the horrors of the first World War, which ended in late 1918. All three of these art styles differ dramatically from the realist paintings of the renaissance and medieval times and are considered to be very modern because they often do not depict straight forward scenes from everyday life and are instead classified as expressionistic paintings.

3.    What is your opinion of the films? How do they add depth to understanding of the readings and art concepts?

I thought that the videos were helpful in further developing my understanding of the text. In the first video, however, I did expect something a little different. The title, Impact of Cubism made me believe I was going to learn about how cubism has influenced more modern art of the 2000s, however it mainly focused on artists during the 1920s and analyzing their work. It was still helpful and interesting but I would be interested in following up the text book and this video by researching the effects of cubism after the initial movement into the 2000s. this video still added depth to my understanding though by deeply analyzing multiple cubist paintings which I probably could not have interpreted without the background information on the artists that the video gave me.

The second video also added to my understanding by deeply analyzing multiple paintings of the dada and surrealism movements. The video gave me background info on the political state of Germany as well as background info on the artists themselves that greatly helped me to understand the underlying causes and ideals of each movement.