Impressionism and the Human Form: EC

The recent hint at impressionism that I gave in my last post led me to write a piece on their work.  This is a similar work to the 'Unique Forms of Continuity and Space,' however it is not a sculpture. I believe the images share the same aspects as dynamism though as well as how the human body can influence artistic space.  The image is 'Nude Descending a Staircase, No.2,' by Marcel Duchamp, a French impressionist painter.  The painting shares the aspects that Balla and Boccioni used in their works such as fluidity and a slightly cubist aesthetic. 
It also relates to formula of the body's joint in motion that I touched on in the last post.  Here the whole body is shown, even though it may be hard to make out, there are pinpoints within the painting that locate the joints of the knee and the elbow.  These points cause the most dynamic effects in the painting.  Where each joint causes a ligament to move there is a swoosh like aesthetic laid over the blocky and tonal representation of movement.  The stairs remain static in the image but the human body causes a lot of angular moments as well as curvature.  It is almost as if this image was seen by Boccioni and he took it to represent a sculpture with a bit of his own touch.  Duchamp's impressionist work was similar to the aesthetic of the Futurists. 

Futurist Sculpture: EC

"Unique Forms of Continuity and Space

The Futurist movement, as it bloomed throughout the early 20th century, was not only limited to certain styles of art.  Their beliefs on dynamism, speed, and motion stretched from architecture, to art, and eventually to sculpture.  To the right I have an image from Umberto Boccioni, who was a student under Giacomo Balla, the same artist of Abstract Sound + Speed. This piece is called 'Unique Forms of Continuity in Space.'  Now I can't give all the credit to the futurist ideals because Boccioni also studied for a long period in France with the impressionist style but his work falls in with the futurist category.  The sculpture is one of the most iconic images of the human body in motion. The waviness of the form gives to the idea of motion in a static sense.  It is representing the thought of the legs movement from point a to b.  The high flame like extension of the sculpture above the calf would be the location of the heel at point as.  The bulkier and more static section that comes in to contact with the ground would be the location of point b as the heel strikes the ground.  The dynamism of the angles works to make the figure abstract more-so to the ideals of dynamism and motion than the ideal of the human anatomy.  I believe that is also why the piece has no arms.  The strong and aerodynamic form represents futuristic ideals mixed with a slight hint at impressionism. 

Until next time.

The Futurist Architect: EC

Sant’Elia was a designer during the time of the Futurist movement who displayed these features in his sketches.  With the change of technology Sant’Elia saw the need for a change in the architectural world, from program, materials, to scale, etc.  His work displayed futuristic ideals of motion through his use of curves and swoops, to his dream of buildings reaching high into the sky.  He also worked with re-designing the power plants that were taking over landscapes as new modes of energy began to thrive.  The works he did were like nothing we’ve ever seen before and based solely on the idea of moving forward.  It was mentioned that the works of architects should be temporary so that the predecessors could demolish them and advance further instead of being stuck in the past.  I believe Sant’Elia’s work and the ideals of futurist architecture come together nicely as they display motion, reject the past, and bring a new sense of life to modern society through design.  With each image he shows drastic diagonal angles to represent speed and dynamism as well as light and airy structures that represent the material advancement of the future.  Although he tried to avoid monumentality, each work seems very monumental in regards to their drastic heights and heavy appearance.  However, with both images he never gives a sense of scale.  There is nothing in the image that allows us to relate an object to the building and understand truly how large they are.  

Until Next Time.

The Futurist Beliefs: EC

            The fundamentals of futurist architecture were developed based on the advancement of technology in modern society.  The culture of Italy was changing with the addition of the car, the bicycle, and many other features from its second industrial revolution.  With these cultural luxuries came the ideals of speed, mechanizing, and most importantly ‘the future.’  The futurists believed that these ideals led to a rejection of the past.   To seek inspiration or precedent in the past was a step backwards in the progress of design.  They saw that the world was advancing and that art and architecture should advance with it.  To do so, architecture and art should draw from the characteristics of the new modern society incorporating and utilizing scientific advancements as well as new materials.  These advancements should add to art and architecture by bringing it to life dynamically and relieving itself of a static state.  To do so, futurists made things dynamic and flowing to instill the idea of motion to design.  Ideas of motion were discovered in the everyday life of modern society, from cars, bikes, or trains. Here we have an image from Giacomo Balla, an Italian futurist artist, that depicts that dynamism futurists admired.  The swoops are to represent the speed of people flying by in cars, planes, or on bikes.  The echoing effect from the red and white swoops depict the combination of speed and sound.  Notice the colors pop and appear drastic over the subtle green background that represents nature.  It's an interesting piece that shows the dynamism of the machine and their speed versus the static beauty of nature.  

Abstract Speed + Sound

Reestablishing the Empire with Benito Mussolini: EC

Mussolini during his reign in Italy wanted to relate his new Modern Empire to that of the Old Roman Empire under the rule of Augustus. In my recent posts I always emphasize his love for flight and how he wanted to use it to express the power that his nation had through aviation and their aeronautical prowess.  He chose the airplane as the tool to steer Italy towards a modern future because it's advancement in transportation.  Augustus did the same with roads.  Roads in his time period were important because they are what allowed for the expansion of the Roman Empire.  Ships were also important in expansion and both are modes of transportation.  The plane dissolved national boundaries and physically bridged the gap between land masses all over the world.  This is important because of the context that Mussolini places himself in.  I have two images below.  One is of Mussolini and the other of Augustus.  Just by glancing at the two images you can tell he was trying to represent himself in the manner of Augustus.  However, he just made it to reflect the modern society that he is establishing.  Augustus is seen in his general garb as a militaristic leader in an oratorical stance.  The militaristic garb is important because it shows Augustus as the leader of the empire and as the leader of the armies that made them such.  Mussolini is doing the same but instead of a militaristic general garb he is wearing an aviators suit.  Representing himself as an aviator shows him as the leader of the Modern Empire while showing his ability to control the magnificent machines that will allow them to expand and grow.  He also locates himself in the cockpit of a plane that gives him a podium to speak from as he also represents the oratorical stance of Augustus.  His representation of the aviator in Italian propaganda made them easy to idolize.  Taking on the task of aviator in true form made it easier for the public to be amazed with him and adore him.  His propaganda and ability to represent himself to the people was pretty astonishing.  If only it would have worked out better. 

Meanwhile in Fascist Italy, Aeropittura: EC

 Across the Atlantic there were different forms of propaganda arising.  Italy, being one of the leaders in art culture at the time, decided to create new radical forms of art to express their respect for their leader.  After Benito Mussolini came to power (as I discussed before) he focused a lot of his leadership into developing aeronautical engineering as a way to express power for Italy.  Italy's air power during the early 20th century was superior to many other countries and became an icon for the Italians.  That, mixed with the recent founding of the Futurist movement from F.T. Marinetti, led to a sub-movement called Aeropitture Futurista, or Aeropainting.  Below are some images from that movement to pay homage to Mussolini.  In both images, Mussolini's head is enlarged, taking up almost the whole painting, giving him a definite sense of hierarchy.  His head is large similar to that of the bust of Constantine in his reign.  The size gives a sense of grandeur and divinity to Mussolini.  Showing him looking over the world as if it was all his.  In the image on the left there are planes surrounding Mussolini as if he was controlling them as he looks over the horizon.  The painting itself is divided into abstract rectangles with a change in hue in each one, a combination between the Cubist style and the dynamic style of Futurism.  On the right, he is laid over a section of the city of Rome.  The main road on his head is the Via delle Impero which leads to the Colosseum.  This road was important to Mussolini and Italy as it was he who put the scheme into order by digging up and revealing all the old Roman ruins of the forums located along this road.  He was also the one who decided to build the road in that location.  Similar to the way Augustus expanded and built roads for the old Roman Empire.  The road also accentuates the Colosseum and it's grandeur.  His plan was to show the many monuments of the Old Roman Empire alongside the new inventions and buildings of the new Modern Empire.  Without Mussolini's actions, the Roman ruins and main tourist spots of Italy would not be what they are today. 

Emphasis on the Individual, Phillipines: EC

To merge the ideas of emphasis on the individual and the propaganda of the Philippines, I found an flyer that correlates with both.  It is an anti-Japanese flyer to attract the citizens of the American population/Filipino population to what the Japanese were doing in the Pacific. The first thing that my mind focuses on in the image is the newspaper clipping that is placed in the middle.  The clipping talks about the many Americans that were killed by Japanese torture and it points out the method of 'March of Death.'  One, 5200 is a very large number, so that immediately evokes emotion from the viewer on the lives that were lost.  It also states that they were prisoners, which in war, prisoners of war are supposed to be treated fairly.  There is also the use of the words 'Jap' and 'Yank.'  Jap being somewhat of a racial slur, Yank could be considered a racial slur but I don't understand why Americans would use a racial slur towards themselves unless they are using it to relate to other countries who better know us as Yanks during this time period.  I believe they used a newspaper clipping image to give a sense of realism.  I'm not sure if this was an actual newspaper clipping or not.  If so, it is a direct relation to the incident, if not, it is made to be representative of the actual event.  Behind that is an image of a tied up American soldier being mistreated and abused by a Japanese soldier.  Further behind that is the 'Death March,' which is why it was mentioned in the newspaper clipping.  Here, the artist portrays what the march was actually like.  You can see soldiers watching to make sure everyone marches and some being hit to continue.  This is another way of evoking emotion from the viewers.  Then of course there is the font.  Similar to the way Uncle Sam's poster was laid out, there is a change in color and size on the word YOU.  Stating, "What are YOU going to do about it?"  Basically it has evoked emotion from the viewer, sadness, anger, angst, whatever it may be, then it asks you what YOU're going to do about it.  This is a tactic to make you want to do something for those people you see in the images.  It then follows up with the lower line, "Stay on the job until every murdering Jap is wiped out!" One, they portray the killing of Japanese as a job for the Americans.  We NEED to stop the Japanese from doing this to our people and the Filipino people.  Murdering Jap is emphasized and enlarged as if someone was actually saying it.  I think it is an effective flyer as it makes me angry that this happened to our soldiers and the innocent people of the Philippines.  It gives an incentive for people to join and help the fight.  It is different than the Uncle Sam poster in the sense of directness.  There is no one pointing directly at you or staring you down but there is a direct question to the viewer which is what makes this image effective.