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by Susan Stanek 1) Multimedia: The New Word for Art 2) Art is defined not by who made it but our response to it. 5) Art Influences Culture, Culture Influences Art 9) Perspective and Ideals of Renaissance Art 10) Panel Painting, the Predecessor of the Canvas * Multimedia: The New Word for Art. In looking at art throughout history, I can rightfully ask, what hasn't been done? The definition of art has evolved as fluidly as human thought. Art is a language and has always pressed boundaries in the passed. Artistic freedom is a new concept, but now that we have it, and now that we've challenged every ideal and rule there ever was, what else in art can we do?In the past people would be shocked about what we consider art today. There were rules that defined what every aspect of what art should be. There was a proper subject matter for starters. Preferred subjects include still life, portraiture, and dramatic events from political realms. Subjects could also be from Pagan lore like Venus, and also can depict Christian icons and stories. Human figures were to be presented in certain ways in order to be acceptable. Women were to be drawn with rounded posture and figures, and men were to be square or triangular. Who you painted was a critical choice as well. In 1857, when Millet painted "The Gleaners" and depicted peasant life, the world was shocked and offended, because previously only the wealthy, and noble could be represented. There were even rules for what medium to use. For sculpture, it had to be made of marble or bronze. Wood and clay were considered inferior substances. For painters, though watercolor was around, it could never be used for anything but an under painting. Oil paint and egg tempera were favored. The way the paint is applied also had specific rules. Under no circumstances should there be brush stroke, or texture. The surface must be completely smooth. When Manet painted "Luncheon on the Grass" in 1863 he shocked critics by leaving bare canvas, among many other reasons. All parts of the canvas had to be covered, else it would be considered unfinished. Composition had to be in a triangular form. The philosophy of what the painting is, was specifically defined as to be like a window to the world. Later, modern artists will totally mock this notion, and challenge the others. So you see now that the controversy with art was seemingly endless. To obtain the artistic freedom that we enjoy today, like human rights issues, people went through a long and painful process that took centuries to acquire. Artists sculpt with paint now, and incorporate trash, and found objects. They also have juxtaposed compositions, multiple viewpoints, lowly subject matter, screw that! No subject, no object! Artists have made for themselves no boundaries. The rules for modern art are but only to break them. This enormous freedom seems to have led us to a stand still, relying only on our creativity, and supplies at hand. Just when we thought that the pop-art and op-art of the sixties have released us from the death and boredom of mass production, and the generalizations of commercialism, we find ourselves overcome by high-tech, high-want idealism once again. Audiences are looking for something real, and something inspirational. Artists are trying to fulfill this need, but it is becoming more difficult because technology is at everyone's fingertips, and art comes from anywhere, everyone. Fearfully I've wondered if the age of the fine artist is coming to a close. We are the successors of the rebels of mid 19th century, obscure concepts of the turn of the 20th, expressionism, impressionism, quirky Dada artists, fantasy artists, suprematism, and neo . . . everything! We have mobiles, stabiles and instillations. We have geo-art and random assemblages, and so on. What more could possibly be done? Changes in technology and in science often act as a catalyst for such changes, so what changes have come about recently that might influence art? Digital-mania! Because of modern technology, the term multimedia has obtained a new skin. It doesn't just mean different types of paint, or incorporating photos with barbed wire. Multimedia is the new word for art. Today art is considered to be film, food, music, fashion, modeling, dance, theatre, and paintings made with coffee. It's sculpture made with cheese balls, driving a car, creating music with aluminum foil, digital manipulation, you name it. So is technology going to be the end of art, or the beginning? People in general are longing for a genuine and stimulating art event. We want to socialize yet be entertained. Art galleries are becoming a focal point in the social scene because of this. Why go to a movie when you can see a film, and a band, and still have time to mingle in one fresh location? There are no more rules of which to create or react to art anymore. This will be the stage for the new art as a multimedia experience. * Art is defined not by who made it but our response to it. When people view modern art they can give very different responses. One person would say, "It looks like a four year old did that." Then a critic might respond with admiration. People can understand what they see by relating it to their personal experience. An art historian would begin talking about what they know, and refer to artists such as Jackson Pollock, Picasso, or Miro, while someone else would relate it to a child's experimentation. Modern artists have brought many child like aspects into their art. For example, the art process to some is just as important as the product. A child might spend much time and effort in creating a picture of a building, only to scribble it away with orange flames and fire trucks. An adult might consider this destructive, but to the child it is the essence. So what if the critics rave over a painting only to find out later that it was done by a five year old? Does the age of the artist make it a lesser art? Modern masters have challenged such standards. Because of them the definition of art is now boundless. Figures can be distorted, objects can be reduced to geometric shapes, brush strokes and bare canvas can be seen. The idea of "form versus function" has been challenged. I mean, who'd drink from a furry tea cup anyway? Art is now for art's sake, and the painting is no longer just a window onto the world. Redon painted the dream world. Picasso showed us multiple views on a single surface. Millet painted peasants shocking the world a "lesser" subject matter. Dada artists appreciated the random creations. Art Nouveau artists, as well as De Kooning and Warhol let us love commercial art. Monet painted light, and Mondrain told us his squares depicted movement. We gasped at Duchamp's found object sculpture, "The Fountain". Every ideal in art has been challenged. And it is because of the modern art masters that we can appreciate primitive art, and academically advanced art alike, regardless of style, technique, media, or subject. It is these ideas that an art critic is looking at when they rave over a painting that others might respond to by saying, "My four year old could do that!" * “That is so Dada!” is an art historian’s way of saying that something is random or whimsical. Dada is an art movement that took place throughout the first couple decades of the twentieth century. Artists appreciated the playful side of life, and incorporated for the first time in their creations found objects, and a lack of planning. For example, a Dada artist could cut squares of paper, and drop them on a canvas. Where ever they land by chance is where they would be placed, and that is art.
Dada challenged the academic definition of art, and changed the modern world’s approach to both art and poetry alike. Gertrude Stein is a poet known as “the Mama of Dada”. She wrote, “...Asparagus in a lean in a lean to hot. This makes it art and it is wet wet weather wet weather wet.” You might think that this makes no sense, but that might be precisely the point. She is actually talking about boiling asparagus. “Too hot”, means to boil, “this makes it art” means to cook and arrange it properly, while the wet weather sequence talks about steam and, the moisture that condenses on objects within it. Or is she? The questions that arise, and the self exploration thereof, are what make this Dada. Dada poets play with words, their concepts and sounds, just as the artists play with art. They have a fun, child like approach, and love to juxtapose like and unlike ideas. There is no particular style that is congruent among Dada poets and artists. There is no manifesto. They are united only in the sense that they challenge the viewers, or readers to rethink their definitions and ask, “What makes art, art anyway?” Yes, yes.
In last month’s issue of Fluid we published a Dada type poem by Jenny Wood called Star-light Frolic. She plays with words, their sounds, and places together randomly concepts that are very different only to challenge our definitions of things that are familiar to us. There is no congruent chain of thought, but a playful jumping, a bouncing frolic through the mind like a gazelle pronking at sunset. Many different concepts sparkle through the poem like facets of light. This is Dada, an established art form of nearly a century ago, and is intended to both enlighten, and challenge the readers.
Dada is a movement more of attitude rather than of style, which was the cause of the final death of the traditional academic rules and definitions of art. The Dada attitude said, “Stop asking, ‘what is art?’” They looked at art as a sort of self revelation, being more concerned with how one responds to it. The aim of the period was more about the artist’s exploration, and about evoking the viewer’s response, rather than meeting aesthetic standards. They challenged not only academic rules, but also the view of art as a commodity, and the commercialism of art. They saw it as a threat to the artist’s experimentation, innovation, and creativity. Creating artwork to satisfy the market threatens self growth and the education learned through experimentation. Dada artists demanded from their audience to demand a new art. They were most influential by the questions they arose. * If it sounds like someone is speaking openly, or is confronting inner and exterior issue. it probably can be classified as a confessional poem. This is a style of writing that thrived in the 50's and 60's, even 70's. The poet completely releases their attitude, their thought process, and relationship to the world around them by referring to personal observations and experiences, and also social and political situation.
A confessional poem should be self exploratory, with a sense of wandering rather than being led. With the use of free verse a confessional poem will sound much like the way people normally talk, often endowed with modern references. The lines are free of conventional rhyme, rhythm and meter. There is no forma structure, but is loaded with attitude and irony. The words flow together in concept rather than in structure. What many people like about this type of poetry is that it isn't staunch and formal, and refers to very human ideas and struggles.
However, just because a writing might seem simple and whimsical, it does not mean that there is a lack of though and preparation on behalf of the poet. Strange punctuation serves as a code for the meaning and expression of phrase, and also for the words' relationship to the rest of of the poem. One would read this type of poem differently, taking cues from the punctuation, line segments, alliteration, etcetera. But one must also take notice to the sound of the verbiage. The choice of words and even ;the appearance on the page is all very intentional, and play a role in the way the reader would interpret the expression. These writers write musical phrases, utilizing the sounds of the words, and imagery to convey their attitude. Without their Dada predecessors' ultimate freedom of unobscured expression, these poets would ot be as effective as they are in tapping into one's psyche and identity. They rise to the controversial occasion, and are confrontational to the faults of both humanity and the self. By these means we area able to identify, and redefine both ourselves and the world around us. In this issue of Fluid there are a few confessional poems.
For further reading check out the fallowing famous confessional poets: Robert Lowell, Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, Allen Ginsberg, Adrinne Rich, Sharon Olds, and Theodore Roethke. * Art Influences Culture, Culture Influences Art Who invented the painting? Why do we create imagery on canvas, frame it, and hang it in our homes? What influenced can a religious group from the 300's have on our modern art? Culture, science, technology and politics govern the art and architecture that people create.
Think back, as if you can remember, to the day of the Roman Empire. Head of all things political and social was the Cesar, the god-king. (They loved to exploit their ties to the ancient Greek society.) At one point Christians were persecuted and executed for their religion because they would not recognize the Cesar as a god-king, believing that their god was the only true god who demanded their loyalty above all things, above a Cesar. The first Christian Cesar was Constantine. His influence on the world would resonate in the roots of our modern world-wide society through Christianity.
In 311, or 312 A.D. the Roman emperor, Constantine legalized Christianity. This event is known as "The Edit of Milan". Prior to this Christians were not protected by the Roman Government, and were not allowed to purchase property./ Though most Christians at the time were poor, no matter how much money they had they still had to buy their dead in catacombs that they dug underground. This was free real estate. Today these catacombs are valued tunnels of history. They are embellished with decoration and wall paintings that art historians adore. Once Christianity was legalized in Roman society catacombs were no longer necessary.
After Christianity was legalized, the first Christian church was constructed. Constantine himself designed the first basilica of which churches from then on would model. The shape of the building would eventually resemble both the cross, and the Greek style political buildings his people were familiar with. He also procured the way the new religion would be presented to the public, both his comrades and subservients. So he conjured up a symbol for it,l the cross.; Now, you must understand that such a symbol was not readily received by the public. It's like using an electric chair today, as a symbol of grac3e, fiath, and redemption. There are a couple different stories at to why Constantine legalized Christianity. to be continued... ask fluid_magazine@comcast.net * The famous and fabulous Gothic Cathedral of the 12th Century has a rich heritage, meaning, and innovation behind it’s architectural design. Even modern basilicas carry their influence and style. The first basilica was quite basic, known as the Roman Basilica which was designed by Constantine, as you may have read in the December issue of Fluid. The Roman Basilica was rectangular, divided into spaces in the interior. First one would have to enter onto a porch which is a one story covered arcade, the length of the building. This leads you to the nave, which is the center aisle. The groin vaulted nave is flanked by two identical side aisles. The building is built with a longitudinal axis, and ends with semi circle apse at the end.
The walls were made of brick with a concrete core totaling 20 feet thick to support the covered vaults. The interior was made of marble and stucco. The groin vaulted ceiling stood 115 feet high. Light shown through the groin vaults which were supported by buttresses which held them to the vertical wall. The function of the building was completely secular, however. Primarily the function was to hold sessions of the court of law, but when court was not in session it functioned as a town meeting hall. It’s flexible design enabled the structure to serve many purposes, including church services.
The simple Roman Basilica design evolved into the Early Christian Latin Cross basilica. Adding a transept at the end gives it the shape of the Latin cross, where the height is greater than the width. The transept is placed between the nave and the apse. At the center of the crossing is where the altar is placed. The narthex is a one story covered arcade, like the Basilica plan, but is given a new name because it has a new function, the baptizing. The elevated nave has three segments, or is made of three stories. The first story is an arcade of elegant marble pillars. The second is known as the middle story, or the freeze. It is simply a flat wall that was often decorated with elaborate frescos or mosaics depicting inspiring biblical stories. The third story is called the clerestory because it was simply a row of windows for light. Unlike later basilicas, the Early Christian basilica was decorated only on the interior. They did not use marble veneer but just left the brick on the exterior.
The function of the Early Christian basilica was reserved strictly for religious purposes. The layout describes the path to salvation. The first entrance is into the atrium, where one can meet with Christians and discuss the bible and receive catechism. Then one approaches the narthex where they receive baptism, whence was mandatory for entering into the church. Once the person enters they proceed into the nave where they are able to receive the blessing of salvation. Between the nave and the side aisles sat the people in order of social rank, with the upper class in the nave, and the women segregated like African Americans in early American culture. The reason for the changes from the Roman plan, were to adapt the building into one specific function. The transept was added to symbolize the cross and Christ’s triumph over death. At the intersection of the transept and the nave is where the altar is placed. Still the roof was made of timber because it was the lightest material they knew. This enabled them to build the clerestory for the sake of letting light shine through, symbolizing the shining light of heaven.
The French Romanesque Pilgrimage basilica is a very significant basilica style that was based on the Early Christian.
The interior is framed by long flat walls with a clerestory of windows, and a flat wall for elaborate decoration, and an arcade at ground level just as before. But what is significantly different is that there is now decoration on the outside as well as on the inside. Narrative sculpture embellished the doors, and often depicted the “Last Judgment” which was a popular theme of medieval Christians. This was to intimidate and educate non-believers to the ways of the church. Just like the Y2K scare, people believed that the world will end at the turn of the century, and that God would judge the living and the dead. Once people realized that the end had not come, they thought they had been spared because of their efforts to improve mankind. Believing that they had to keep mankind just and full to preserve existence, the church became a stage for non-believers to proclaim their obedience to God. The function of the building still was strictly for religious matters still, but it was different in that it was able to house large numbers of people who pass through France on pilgrimage to Santiago de Compost Ella. During this time period it was believed that if one goes on a pilgrimage, or a journey to visit sacred Christian places, that one would earn their way into heaven, and redeem themselves from their wrong doings. The French Basilica aided these travelers by housing their numbers during regular church services. One way of adding seating space was to add tribunes over the galleries. Also, along the top of the Latin cross design, the aisles were extended with ambulatories at the end of the aisles for the bulk of the people to stand, like at a good night club. The length of the nave was increased, and also the side aisles were doubled for additional seating.
The basic French Gothic Cathedral ground plan is very similar, but slightly more elaborate. These are the classic monumental structures we think of when we hear the term “gothic cathedral”. The nave elevation still consists of three parts, but the gallery has been removed, and the triforium is a bit larger. Also, the clerestory is larger to let more light in. The bottom level is of an arcade of pointed arches (“classic gothic”).
Now, of course like all fashion trends, there is a small beginning and then a crescendo to the prolific middle, and finally a dwindling toward death, so has the Gothic period of the 1200-1300 A.D. There are also variations of trends between regions as well as through time. One thing that all gothic style architecture has in common is that the buildings are huge, have pointed arches, and elaborate stained glass. French Gothic is clean, with a skeleton frame system, a rose window, a thin building with glass walls, and a sense of dematerialization of mass. They are tall and airy. The English Gothic architecture is half way between the French style, and the traditional Italian style. The English uphold a sense of air and also weight, while the Italian Gothic style is strictly heavy and blocky, with respect to the early Romanesque design.
The French decorated with stained glass, but that which one cannot see from the outside. On the outside the buildings were enamored with dramatic relief sculpture. Their use of ribbed vaults looks similar to the Roman groin vault. But their use of vaults was different for load bearing purposes. A cross vault is most commonly used because the centers of the two barrel vaults, channels the weight to the four corners. Typical French style elements are the pointed gable, pointed arches, the rose window (stained glass circle in the front of the building as seen in Grand Rapids) relief sculptures at the door way, and two towers at the ends in the front. (Monet painted a local French basilica in many different lights of day, and you’ll notice the facade complete with the two towers, and a circular rose window of stained glass in the middle.)
So with the skeletal structure, ribbed vault system, piers, and a thin veneer of light stones on the exterior, the French were able to lighten the weight of the basilica, and therefore could make it taller, and more majestic.
The Italians on the other hand believed that majesty is achieved through tradition, and offered the sense of power, and majesty through a heavy, bold, and a broad architectural style, rather than a tall, airy feeling of ethereality. The Italians covered the most ground space for what they offered in architecture. They created a surface inside the building simply to be painted. Architecture itself has little merit, but the paintings that embellish it has much. In the Italian culture the painters have the most important task of decorating, interior design, and intellectual, emotional, and religious influence. They reject the sense of dematerialization, as well as the use of vaults, and continue using the traditional brick and timber roofs.
The English, on the other hand, utilized the philosophies and ingenuities of both spectrums. Still there was the gallery, but because they did not use flying butteries to create the skeletal structure and airy feeling, they used the arch in their galleries to support the walls. In the English Gothic cathedral there is an emphasis on longitude, not latitude. They use a variety of styles, utilizing the French innovations, combined with the Italian tradition. Their vaults were elaborate, tall and complicated, while their sculptural figures were very Roman, in the traditional contrapposto pose, and such. The English High Gothic was long and low, and on the west facade there is often a pointed stained glass window. There is no circular rose window like the French, but yet there is the French-worthy two towers at the ends of the face of the building (facade). Yet, they loved sculpture and ladened their basilicas with them.
The Italians used banded, two toned marble on both the inside and the outside. Mosaics embellished the interior and also the exterior. Also, in keeping true to Romanesque tradition they used a timber roof, yet in contrary used a pointed gable and a rose window. Italians also used the pointed arches, characteristic of the Gothic period, as well as elaborate gargoyles. to be continued... ask fluid_magazine@comcast.net
* Most people think of prehistoric cultures as being primitive, but there is evidence of technology such as Stonehenge that proves that the people were quite sophisticated. They were aware of the earth, stars, planets and their cycles, and comprehended physics enough to measure, cut and transport mega monoliths to construct an amazingly accurate structure that which baffles us today.
Pre-historic simply means before history. These people did not live in caves, and bang stones together, but lived in timber houses with reed thatch roofs. Egyptians were a sophisticated ancient culture, but they are not pre-historic because they recorded their events of which we have access to. Stonehenge tells us that the people were perhaps people of the earth and sky, who made things from earthen materials such as grass, reeds and timber, materials which eventually decay. The only remnants that we have to prove their existence are that which are made of stone, like “Venus of Willendorf”. Therefore one might be misled that all they worked with is stone, and we call the period the Stone Age.
There are several circular burial mounds in the area of Stonehenge, so the theme has been practiced for centuries before it was even built. People were buried together. Inside many of these mounds are the remains of several people, though some parts are missing. Their clean bones are arranged according to type, with skulls stacked on skulls, legs and arms arranged together, and so forth. The door way is a post and lentil type, meaning two vertical posts, and a horizontal beam overhead. This is the same type of construction used in Stonehenge. Through the door is a hallway that leads to the center, a circle, where family and friends meditate on or mourn over the dead. This might give us an idea of the function of Stonehenge in relation to its design.
Activity on the sight began in 5000 B.C., whereas the monoliths didn’t arrive until roughly 2500 B.C. The construction lasted until 1100 B.C., which tells us that the area has remained an active epicenter of culture for a very long time. For 2500 years it was strictly a burial site. There was just a circular ditch with several skeletons, a mass burial. They covered the bodies with earth and stones which created a bank, altering the landscape. Modern artists have called this earth art.
In the center of the ring is the remains of 56 wooden posts. There was a circular wooden building, probably with a thatch roof, before any of the stones arrived. By 600 B.C. the wooden posts were replaced with bluestones.
Stonehenge grew as the people grew in both culture and technology. On the inside of the circular mass burial mound are several holes where individual bodies are laid. These holes were not originally intended for individual burials, but were dug for the bluestone being quarried at the time roughly 200 miles or further away. The blue stones, now erected stand 6 feet high.
The people learned much from this experience about how to quarry, transport, and erect the monoliths, which enabled them to construct the outer ring made from larger, near by sandstone called sarsen. It took a century to construct the post and lentils of the outer ring. The stones stand 14-17 feet tall, and the diameter of the circle is 106 feet. The ground slopes, so the height differentiates accordingly, yet the thirty horizontal lentils that rest on top with carpentry joints, remain completely level, and are curved to form a perfect circle. On the inside of the blue stone stands the tallest of the sarsens, five groups of post and lentil triathlons standing independently, 25 feet tall, 8 feet below ground and weigh 45-50 tons a piece. They form a circle, with one end open. Today, people know that the blue stones were erected first, but it is not clear whether the inner ring, or the outer ring of sarsens was created first. Nonetheless, it is assumed that the blue stones had to be moved out of the way for the largest of monoliths to be constructed inside their circle. A sense of trial and error is seen in that some sarsens have four feet below ground, and others have eight feet below ground. The ones that are placed deeper in the ground are those that which still stand today.
In the center there is an alter, and a heel stone which mark the sun’s location of both summer and winter solstice. Most of the ground is chalky white, and wind whistles through the triathlons. There is an avenue dug into the chalk, with ridges on either side leading out from the center, through the horse shoe. If one were to stand at the alter and look down the avenue, between the posts, to the heel stone on summer or winter solstice, you would see the sun, perfectly aligned with the placement of each object. In old religions people hold ceremonies on winter and summer solstices, and such ceremonies were likely held there.
The last of the construction was that of the sarsens, done in 1100 B.C. Other cultures seemed to have occupied the site much later, including the Romans in 100 A.D. Through out the land lay several such stones in mid quarry, plucked from the ground, some carved into shape, abandoned long ago, giving notice to their continuing work, sense of eternity, and ambition as a sophisticated society. Their ancestors remained for them as they do today, with their bones arranged with care in burial mounds that dot the expanding landscape. Mysteriously intriguing, what ever these people left behind teach us only that though cultures and technology may evolve, people as a whole seem to have remained quite the same in spite of time. *
Cubism is a popular art style that everyone knows of, but not necessarily understands. Cubism is not about creating objects with cubes, but about seeing multiple view points at once.
Though Picasso gets most of the credit for founding the genre, he could not have done it with out his good friend Georges Braque. They would meet at cafes and discuss their ideas, exchange thoughts and philosophy of art with one another. Unfortunately Baroque was drafted to serve in World War I, so Picasso continued to paint and influence the art world. One of Picasso’s most notable paintings is Guernica. This is a large painting done to commemorate the town as being the first to have fallen to civilian bombing in the First World War. With a somber pallet he depicts the fallen and the agony of wartime destruction.
Since then he’s become a household name. Most people can associate Picasso with cubism today, though he did far more beyond the style. He is also famous for his Rose Period and Blue Periods. That’s another article!
The forming of the Cubist movement is a lengthy evolution that can be seen in the progression of art from the two artists, Picaso and Braque. If we would place their works together in chronological order we can see a progress of ideas and experimentation that would eventually influence the world. With out cubism there would be no abstract art, which has become a standard in art schools worldwide. As cubism evolved other artists quickly took influence of it’s style and concept. Other artists kept the momentum going by furthering the style into new beasts like the lesser known art movements, Cubo-Futurism, American Cubism, and later Abstract art, Futurism, Supermatism and De Stijl.
By incorporating paper in with the work, letters and notes, or even sand in some cases, early Cubists created a mere glimpse at what would come of modern art, and the questions it will ask, or more importantly what questions that it doesn’t ask.
Cubists brought questions to the table, questions about art, how it is created, about how we respond to it. They challenged basic standards that have been held for centuries, eventually detaching themselves from subject matter and connotations of color and objects. Cubists are known for breaking down art and reconstructing it in a new way. By doing this an artist can not only show many sides of an object at once, but can also create a new way of seeing it, or even form a new reality. They regarded the process of creating art as being highly analytical, and an intellectual journey.
The movement itself was an evolutionary journey. The first phase is known as Analytic cubism. Early cubist paintings are highly finished and sophisticated. Their subjects are still life or portraiture, but there is no distinction between figure and ground. The whole composition is broken down. The idea for all cubists is to take a painting, shatter it like glass, analyze the fragments, reduce them, and then reassemble them. Analytic cubists diluted the pigments so that the paint would become transparent. They overlapped translucent colors to see the layer beneath it, like frames of glass overlapping. Viewers can journey inward and outward as well as up, down and sideways. How they overlap is very intentional and structured. They guide the viewer from one facet to the next in sequence, and create a deliberate rhythm.
Their somber colors, clean lines, and geometric rhythms are what the cubo-futurists loved. They were cubists who were fascinated with machine forms, machine work and movement, and yet were well aware of their dehumanizing effect.
Synthetic cubism is a direct take from analytic cubism mostly in concept. They used thick opaque paint. No transparency increases legibility. This gave it a collage look that they used to express an anti-traditional attitude. They also argued the legitimate use of numbers and printed letters as pictorial elements. Bringing in found objects will become a controversy as their predecessors further this concept.
All of this was happening in Europe. Americans were completely unaware of cubism until the Armory show in 1913. The general public rejected it, hated it, and didn’t understand it, while a few New York artists embraced it. They took the concept and made it their own, calling it American Cubism.
Cubism is a well known art style whose influence goes far deeper than most people realize. Next time you look at art you can possibly see the effort and philosophy that goes into it. Take your time and really look at the art pieces you see, and explore these ideas mentioned, and explore yourself as well. Note how you respond and why, and the journey will be a valued lesson about yourself, as well as about the art. * Perspective & Ideals of Renaissance Art Perspective was born during the Renaissance. It is a
system for creating the illusion of deep space on a two dimensional surface. The
system was created so that a consistent sense of deep space can be rendered
accurately, again and again. There are two types of perspective that are used,
Atmospheric and Linear perspective. end PANEL PAINTING, THE PREDECESSOR OF THE CANVAS Before canvas, there was panel for painting on. Why do artists paint on a canvas? Where did this idea
come from? It seems so ordinary, so standard, but why? Surely artists could
paint on anything, and do. Art is made out of just about everything now days.
But traditionally art that was not an oil painting on a canvas was considered
sub-standard. Art used to have a hierarchy, and possibly still does today. As an
artist I know that buyers recognize the formality of canvas paintings, and
framed art, and the informality of pencil, charcoal, and unframed art. These
standards are traditional standards of art. These are ideals that go back at
least as far as the 14th Century.
Susan Stanek
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