Rvt1_Art_Paper

Art, like other disciplines in the humanities, may spring from the minds of specific individuals, but is often shaped by social and cultural influences. It may also be a continuation of, or a reaction to, the methods and characteristics of earlier periods of artistic style. In order to fully appreciate art is important to understand these influences and reactions and their context, Cubism is “a nonobjective school of painting and sculpture developed in Paris in the early 20th century, characterized by the reduction and fragmentation of natural forms into abstract, often geometric structures usually rendered as a set of discrete planes” (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/cubism). Cubism first appeared at in the early 1900’s. Two artists credited with founding and developing this style were Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. They developed their ideas on Cubism in Paris in a world that was changing rapidly and in ways that had never been seen before. The artists were attempting to revitalize and reawaken western art which they believed had been strangled by traditions that had run their course. Cubism challenged traditional forms of representation, such as perspective, which had been the rule since the Renaissance; the aim was to cultivate a new way of seeing. They felt their visions would better represent the modern age and the rapid changes occurring in society. Cubism uses abstract shapes to represent three dimensional objects on a two dimensional surface, symbolizing an article in numerous planes presenting more than one view at a time. The artist uses small cubes or squares to represent an item from different perspectives, looking at the subject from many different angles, the artists pieced together views and fragments from different vantage points into one painting. The simplification, alteration and prominence of the form of objects was the focal point. It wasn’t traditional art; their paintings aren’t meant to be realistic or life-like in any way. The social and cultural influences that led to the creation of Cubism evolved from 1870-1910. Western society exploded with more industrial progress in four decades than they had seen in the previous four centuries. Inventions such as the telephone, the motor car and the airplane signaled the dawn of a new age. Photography, cinematography, and sound recording directly impacted the humanities, including art. The dilemma for artists in this age was how to reveal the modernity of the era using old, tired techniques and traditions that had served art for centuries. Photography had replaced illustration to depict realistic scenes and portraits. Artists weren’t interested in painting cars, machines and images of technological progress. They didn’t see it as a challenge. It didn’t evoke emotion. Artists needed a more radical approach. They wanted a 'new way of seeing' that expanded the possibilities of art in the same way that technology was extending the boundaries of communication and travel. Dadaism is “a revolt by certain 20th-century painters and writers in France, Germany, and Switzerland against smugness in traditional art and Western society; their works, illustrating absurdity through paintings of purposeless machines and collages of discarded materials, expressed their cynicism about conventional ideas of form and their rejection of traditional concepts of beauty” (http://www.thefreedictionary.com).  “Dadaism sought to undermine all art, viewing it as part of cultural norms and sensibilities that established oppressive aesthetic standards and emphasized the "reason" and "order" that had led to the self-annihilating destruction of World War I” (http://www.life123.com). It was intended to provoke a visceral reaction from the viewer; evoking shock or outrage. Anything that contradicted reason and order; meaninglessness, transience, or abhorrence-was fodder for Dadaists’ advocates. “Art” was created by "chance" To create his art Andre Masson let sand run through his hands as he danced around the canvas, Jean Arp glued paper to a collage after it had fallen on a canvas. “Readymade Art” used prefabricated, mass produced objects such as, prints of old paintings or photographs, ticket stubs, or household item as art. Perhaps the most famous example of readymade art was Marcel Duchamp's “Fountain”, a sculpture that consisted of a urinal turned on its side and signed “R.Mutt” The Dadaists’ movement was a response to the idea that the reason and rational thought accepted as the “norm” had actually created the First World War and the atrocities associated with it. Dadaist felt that if the rules and norms of society had created such mayhem then they wanted no part of it and rejected the rules society had created in general and especially those surrounding art. By undermining the rules of art they could undermine the public’s established response and a reject of the morals of a culture that had permitted this to happen.. Cubism and Dadaism both break away from traditional definitions and rules of art and are a direct response to technology and industrialization of the times. Cubism rejected some of the long standing rules of art including point of view, perspective, and scale. This helped to create a culture that allowed Dadaist to reject “all” of the rules. The differences between the two art periods are that Cubism is the art of creating abstract shapes of three dimensional objects on a 2 dimensional surface, representing an object in multiple planes showing more than one view at a time. Dadaism went beyond the canvas and included other art forms including “Ready Made Art” which used objects that were prefabricated or mass produced Cubism continues to inspire artist to try something that is far from reality. This art period had direct influences on Orphism, Futurism, Constructivism, Expressionism, and also influenced the beginning of the Dada movement. Marcel Duchamp was influenced by Cubism he devised a Cubist-inspired technique for depicting motion. The painting “Nude Descending a Staircase” (1912) is an example of this. He became disillusioned with what he called “art that only appealed to the eye” and wanted to create a new kind of art, which out of this the Dada movement grew. The Dadaist belief was organized around the rejection of the artistic and cultural values of the old society. This was a lasting influence that played key roles of the artists involved for more than fifty years, as well as influencing later movements like surrealism and the anarchist cultural activities of the 1960s.