Out of Time and Space Assignment

Can you be out of time and space?

Yes, you can be out of space and time. I think this unit title means to practically be in a fantasy world. Humans are closest to this state when we are day dreaming in class, for example. You could be day dreaming about being in a whole different time (eg; time of the dinosaurs) and be in a different galaxy, yet still be day dreaming, sitting on your chair in class. Another example is; when you are dreaming. When you dream you can be out of time and space, as you can dream about anything, anyone or anywhere. Dreams often tend to be surrealistic and often include very bizarre images in your head from your subconscious mind.

Research definition of COLLAGE: A collage is an art form in which various small objects that are seemingly unrelated towards each other are pasted together to form a symbolic effect or suggestive effect, such as; bits of newspaper, cloth, pressed flowers, photographs etc.

This is a collage by Ben Frost. I think Ben has a very imaginative mind, and his work is genius. (:

Dada and Surrealism: Dada or Dadaism is a form of cultural movement that began in Zurich, Switzerland. Its purpose was to ridicule what its participants considered to be the meaninglessness of the modern world. Dada was anti-aesthetic, anti-rational and anti-idealistic. After the war, many of the artists who had participated in the Dada movement began to practice in a Surrealist mode. Through the use of unconventional techniques such as automatism and frottage, Surrealist artists attempted to tap into the dream-world of the subliminal mind, visualizing its secrets and mysteries.

John Heartfield:

John Heartfield is a very influential artist and propagandist for peace. He was born in 1981 in Berlin and died in 1968. One of his influences in art, Bertolt Brecht, whom he met, he developed photomontage into a form of political and artistic representation. Heartfield worked for communist publications such as; the daily Die Rote Fahne and the weekly Arbeiter-Illustrierte-Zeitung. The publications included some of Heartfield’s works which are best remembered. John Heartfield often did photomontages of Adolf Hitler, the Nazi’s and often the Nazi symbols (such as the swastikas) in order to undermine their propaganda message. One of his famous works such as the piece entitled, ‘Hurrah, die Butter ist Alle!’ which in english translates, ‘Hurray, the butter is gone!’

This piece of work was made in 1935 and is a parody of the propaganda message. The photomontage shows a family sitting at a kitchen table, on the back wall is a portrait of Adolf Hitler and the wallpaper is emblemized with the Nazi symbol (the swastika). The family consisting of a mother, father, old woman, young man, baby and a dog, are all attempting to eat a piece of metal. Such as; the mother is eating a bicycle handlebars, the old woman is eating a shovel etc. On the bottom of this photomontage is a quote that reads: "Iron has always made a nation strong, butter and lard have only made the people fat".

Another one of his famous works is a piece called, ‘The German oak tree.’ This photomontage shows Hitler watering the roots of an oak tree which bears a fruit of shells and iron helmets marked with the swastika. I think this photomontage is showing that Hitler was making the number of Nazi’s grow with his manipulating powers. John made reality look humorous but very serious at the same time. I like how his works are one set colour, like the sepia or black and white, as it makes it look realistic, however, different colours make it look more interesting.

Max Ernst was born in Germany, 1891 and died in 1976. Ernst is considered to be one of the primary establishers of Dada and Surrealism. He thought that Dada was Communism but with individuals who had the right to express themselves externally. He served in the German Army in WW1. This was an experience that he established new ideas and he joined the German Dada group. Max created several art techniques such as the ‘frotagge’ and, ‘grattage.’

'Forest and Dove' this was made by using the Grattage technique. The grattage technique is when the piece of work reveals other objects that have been placed underneath.

This piece of work is called the, “Epiphany.” This image is suggesting strange, twisted, hidden human, animal and plant forms which Max has put together to form one finished painting. The frottage technique is when pencil rubbings of objects are used as a source of images. He said he was inspired by grain in planks of wooden flooring; the patterns in the grain suggested strange images to him. He captured these by laying sheets of paper on the floor and then rubbing over them with a soft pencil.

Ernst developed an interest with birds which was seen in his works and others too. He created works with a bird named, Loplop. Many artists had an alter-ego, but Max Ernst had Loplop. This piece of work is called, “Loplop introduces Loplop.” Loplop often appeared in other artists’ collages aswell.

Ernst grew great controversy with his painting in 1926, “The Virgin Chastises the infant Jesus before Three Witnesses.” This painting is showing Mary spanking Jesus Christ. Whilst Mary is punishing Jesus, her halo is still above her head; however, Jesus’ is lying on the floor, sensing that he must have done something very wrong. Max was a very interesting man, his works are quite humorous and well-thought of.

Richard Huelsenbeck

Huelsenbeck was born in Germany, 1892 and died in 1974. In 1917, after immigrating to Switzerland he moved to Berlin, which he took with him ideas and techniques which helped him find the Berlin Dada group. Huelsenbeck’s work was very angry, political and bleak, which separated him from the Paris Dadas, who were not as political and were far more theatrical than the Berlin Dadas. He was also a poet and writer.

The End of the World

The cows sit on the telegraph poles and play chess
The cockatoo under the skirts of the Spanish dancer
Sings as sadly as a headquaters bugler and the cannon lament all day
That is the lavender landscape Herr Mayer was talking about
when he lost his eye
Only the fire department can drive the nightmare from the drawing-
room but all the hoses are broken
Ah yes Sonya they all take the celluloid doll for a changeling
and shout: God save the King
The whole Monist Club is gathered on the steamship Meyerbeer
But only the pilot has any conception of high C
I pull the anatomical atlas out of my toe
a serious study begins
Have you seen the fish that have been standing in front of the
opera in cutaways
for the last two days and nights...?
Ah ah ye great devils - ah ah ye keepers of bees and commandments
With a bow wow wow with a bow woe woe who does today not know
what our Father Homer wrote
I hold peace and war in my toga but I'll take a cherry flip
Today nobody knows whether he was tomorrow
They beat time with a coffin lid
If somebody had the nerve to rip the tail feathers
out of the trolley car it's a great age
The professors of zoology gather in the meadows
With the palms of their hands they turn back the rainbows
the great magician sets the tomatoes on his forehead
Again thou hauntest castle and grounds
The roebuck whistles the stallion bounds
(And this is how the world is this is all that's ahead of us).

This is one of Richard’s most well-known piece of work. This poem sums up all the things that have come into this world. Huelsenbeck was the editor of well-known Dadaism magazine, called “Dada Almanac.” Huelsenbeck’s work was very humorous and creative. I like how Richard also was a poet, because not all the time can you put your words into a piece of artwork, and a poem sums it all up. His poems are very detailed and descriptive.

Hannah Hoch;

Hannah Hoch was born in 1889 and died in 1978 and was a German Dada artist. In 1915, Hoch began an influential relationship with Raoul Haussmann, who was a member of the Berlin Dada movement. She soon became involved in the Dada movement in 1919. Hannah worked a lot on many photomontages. Many of her pieces review the beauty industry and at the time she was gaining significant mass media through the fashion industry. Her works from 1926 to 1935 often depicted same sex couples and women were the main central theme of her work, as she was sexually involved with women and had a relationship between 1926 to 1929. Hoch also made strong statements on racial discrimination. One of her most famous works, Schnitt mit dem Küchenmesser DADA durch die letzte weimarer Bierbauchkulturepoche Deutschlands ("Cut with the Dada Kitchen Knife through the Last Weimar Beer-Belly Cultural Epoch in Germany"), which was made in 1919. This piece was created with combined images from the newspapers of the time which were re-created to make a new statement about life and the art in Dada movement. Hannah’s techniques in which she creates collages make them look very complex, but very mischievous and outgoing.

Das schöne Mädchen (The Beautiful Girl, 1919-1920). This photomontage of “The Beautiful Girl,” shows a girl with a modern bathing suit and a light bulb as her head and all around her are various images of industrialization. In the top right corner, there is a silhouette of a woman with cat’s eyes. In this juxtopositioning of images by Hoch, it reflects how fast technology is re-evolving around the woman in an optimistic way. I like this piece of work, because it is very detailed and artistic. The way the big wig is placed upon a head in the middle of the piece makes it unrealistic, but makes the photomontage look really amazing.

Kurt Schwitters;

He was born in 1887 and died in 1848, he was a German Painter. 1901, Kurt experienced his first epileptic seizure, which exempted him from military service in WW1. Kurt started his artistic career as a post-impressionist, however, as World War progressed his work became darker and soon developed an Expressionist tone. Expressionism was a German art movement which was to present the world under a subjective perspective and violently distorting it to obtain an emotional effect. He is most famous for his collages, called Merz Pictures. Schwitters joined the Berlin Dada in either 1918 or 1919 and according to Raoul Hausmann, Richard Huelsenbeck rejected the application because of Kurt’s links to Expressionism which was seen by the Dadaists as hopelessly romantic. Most of his works attempt to make coherent aesthetic sense around the work of Kurt, using fragments of found objects. A piece of collage, Picture with Turning Wheel, combines a series of wheels that only turn clockwise. I think Kurt’s collages are really amazing, because I like the way he lays on different images on top of others and it soon creates a collage with many layers that look absolutely great.

Joseph Cornell;

Cornell was born in 1903 and died in 1972 that was an American artist and sculpture. Joseph was one of the establishers of assemblage and was influence by surrealists, which was seen in many of his works. His most characteristic art works was to have boxed assemblages created from found objects. The boxes in which he makes them from, are simple boxes with usually a glass front, and then arranged surprising collections of photographs, in a way that combines Constructivism with the fantasy of Surrealism. Constructivists were early pioneers of the techniques of photomontage and worked on public festivals and street designs. One of his famous works, included a series of boxes called, Medici Slot Machine boxes. The boxes’ power and pleasure lie in how they never fully give up their mysteries. Many of his works relied on the Surrealist technique of irrational juxtaposition. Cornell also made boxed assemblages that reflected his own interests in life, such as his fascination with birds. He produced boxed assemblages of carved, colorful and various birds and placed them on harsh white backgrounds I think that Joseph Cornell is a genius! His works are amazing. The way he created something as simple as a box into something extraordinary as 3D objects and photographs with a glass in front, makes it look playful and interactive.

Winston Smith:

Winston is best known for kidnapping ‘innocent’ pictures from the pages of vontage magazines and then to diabolically glue those into compromising or politically revealing positions in his surreal collage landscapes. Winston first came into fame by creating a ‘hard hitting political piece’, which was Jesus, nailed to a cross of dollars that was used for Dead Kennedy’s album. The album was banned in England and condemned by the American Religious Right. Two decades later, Winston’s style continues to have political punch, but has also developed a classical Surrealism effect on his works. His recent album cover for Tijuana No!'s, called, Contra Revolucion Avenue. I really like Winton Smith’s art works, because I like how he uses vintage images from old magazines and positions them in places where you thought could never happen. I like how he is not afraid of the public or what they will think. His collages are very unique but yet subtle. His works make a statement about himself, and that is that he likes to have fun with his works and doesn’t care whether an image can go there or not.

Raoul Hausmann:

Raoul was born in 1886 and died in 1971. He was an Austrian artist and writer. He was one of the key-figures of Berlin Dada, with his experimental photographic collages, which made a profound influence on the Europeans. Hausmann was influenced by once seeing expressionist paintings, soon after he began experimenting with expressionists’ prints. Hausmann in 1917 was one of a group of artists that were unappreciated and soon began the start of the Berlin dada around him. Hausmann developed a photomontage process and printed his first 'posters' and poems. One of his famous works, Der Geist Unserer Zeit - Mechanischer Kopf (Mechanical Head [The Spirit of Our Age]), which was produced in 1920. This is the only surviving assemblage. Hausmann constructed it form a hairdressers wig-making dummy with various measuring devices attached such as; a ruler, pocket watch etc. As said by Jonathan Jones, “Hausmann turns inside out the notion of the head as seat of reason, an assumption that lies behind the European fascination with the portrait. He reveals a head that is penetrated and governed by brute external forces." I like how this construction is very detailed and complicated. It makes it look freaky with all the nails and staples on the dummy head, but the different objects that surround it make it look like it has some story to tell. Also, the colors that are used for the objects relate to the rest of the dummy head. The colors are mostly copper and brown colors. These colors make it look vintage and old (which it is), however, it gives it a nice effect.

Anne Zalhalka:

Anne is an Australian artist whose works play with different pictorial conventions. She as born in Sydney in 1957. Her work exhibits a strong connection to documentary photography. Many of her works are digitally photographed and created. She has worked to challenge the iconographic Australian images that have come to define us. She has created a range of alternative images to represent the diverse Australian population. Zalhaka works with familiar images of our nation and subverts them with a humorous and critical edge. One of her most famous works include; Hall of mirrors. Personally, I think her work is genius. She has got iconic Australian images, and created them into a work of art and put her own personality and humour into it, to make it look playful. I think the photographs are a great example of a great Australian artist.

The end. :D