Hello viewers ๐
I am Kavita Chauhan,
a student of M.A. sem-2 department of English, M.K.B.U.
Thinking Activity
This Blog is a part of the thinking Activity of the trends and movements in this Blog .
-Assigned by megha ma'am.
1. surrealism:
Points in shortcut :
* Surrealism is 20th century style and movements start in French.
* Meaning of surrealism: " super - realism (beyond realist).
* Given word surrealism by France-Adre Breton (he was main festo of surrealism)
1919-1923(heroic epoch)
* Revolt against standard morality logical reasoning, concentrations and names
*Surrealism talk about freedom no boundry.
Directed against sung traditionlism
* emphasis on consciousness in sculpture, painting, literature ect.
*Unconscious state is focused.
Surrealism
Surrealism was a movement in visual art and literature that flourished in Europe between World Wars I and II. The movement represented a reaction against what its members saw as the destruction wrought by the “rationalism” that had guided European culture and politics previously and that had culminated in the horrors of World War I. Drawing heavily on theories adapted from Sigmund Freud, Surrealists endeavoured to bypass social conventions and education to explore the subconscious through a number of techniques, including automatic drawing, a spontaneous uncensored recording of chaotic images that “erupt” into the consciousness of the artist; and exquisite corpse, whereby an artist draws a part of the human body (a head, for example), folds the paper, and passes it to the next artist, who adds the next part (a torso, perhaps), and so on, until a collective composition is complete.
• What is surrealism?
What is Surrealism in art? Surrealism is an art style that developed in the 1920s, largely as a response to the horrors of the First World War. It is challenging to pin down a coherent Surrealism art definition because the movement itself resists categorization. However, at its core, Surrealism aimed to access and celebrate the unconscious mind, free of the constraints of formal Enlightenment thinking. While Surrealism is today most closely associated with visual art, it was also a movement that encompassed literary works, poetry, cinema, music, and even politics. Surrealism as a movement tapered off in the 1960s, but its influence is still felt in the art and literature of the present day.
• History of Surrealism:
While Surrealism got its start in the 1920s, there were many art movements and individual works of art that provided important inspiration for Surrealism. Some early artists combined elements in strange ways much like the Surrealists did. For example, French painter Franรงois de Nomรฉ was born in 1593 (date of death unknown) and produced artwork that could be considered proto-Surrealist.
A depiction of the biblical story of Daniel in the lion
Surrealism art characteristics can be found in earlier works
Hieronymus Bosch, a Dutch painter who lived from around 1450 until 1516, also created artwork that is now famous for its strange creatures and proto-Surrealist elements.
The creatures found in many of the paintings Bosch created are similar to Surrealist figures
Perhaps most notably, Surrealism grew out of Dada, which was an anti-art movement that directly followed the First World War and allowed participants to use their work to try and come to terms with what they had experienced. Max Ernst, now considered a noted Surrealist, actually had his roots in Dada, as did many other Surrealist artists.
•Surrealism Art Characteristics:
- Expressions of the subconscious mind.
- Art designed to unsettle and transgress boundaries.
- The liberation of thought and language.
- Chance, randomness, and unpredictability
Classroom activities of surrealism:
Painting draw by me it's a part of classroom activities .
Photo click by me part of classroom activities
2. Modernism and Postmodernism:
Modernism and Postmodernism are two different movements that exhibit specific differences between them. Each one is based on changes in cultural and social behavior around the world. Also, they started in distant periods beginning from the 19th and 20th centuries. These movements came as a result of the thinking patterns of the society during those times.
• Modernism:-
Literary modernism, or modernist literature, has its origins in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, mainly in Europe and North America, and is characterized by a self-conscious break with traditional ways of writing, in both poetry and prose fiction
The horrors of World War I (1914-19), with its accompanying atrocities and senselessness became the catalyst for the Modernist movement in literature and art. Modernist authors felt betrayed by the war, believing the institutions in which they were taught to believe had led the civilized world into a bloody conflict. They no longer considered these institutions as reliable means to access the meaning of life.
Modernism relates to a sequence of cultural movements that happened in the late nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries. They included reforming developments in architecture, art, music, literature, and applied techniques. Modernism flourished between 860s and 1940s; preferably till 1945 when World War II ended. During that time, a lot of importance was given to literary works. Also, this movement paid a lot of significance to original works, such as paintings, sculpture, architecture, and poetry. In fact, during this time original art was considered a primary creation
• Postmodernism:-
Postmodernism describes a broad movement that developed in the late 20th-century and focused on philosophy, the arts, architecture, and criticism which marked a departure from modernism. In fact, postmodernism is typically defined by an attitude of skepticism, irony or rejection towards ideologies and various tenets of universalism, which included objective notions of reason, human nature, social progress, among others. Moreover, this movement is associated with schools of thought such as deconstruction and poststructuralism.
• how does postmodernism differ from modernism?
Postmodernism and modernism are distinct cultural, artistic, and intellectual movements that emerged during different periods and have different philosophies and characteristics. Here are some key differences between the two:
• Historical Context:
Modernism: Modernism emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, roughly from the 1890s to the 1940s. It was a response to the rapid social, political, and technological changes of the time, such as industrialization and urbanization.
Postmodernism: Postmodernism began to take shape in the mid-20th century, around the 1950s, and continued into the late 20th century. It was a reaction to the perceived failures and limitations of modernism, particularly in addressing social and cultural complexities.
• Rejection of Grand Narratives:
Modernism: Modernism often embraced grand narratives and a belief in progress, rationality, and the possibility of achieving universal truths. It aimed for purity, simplicity, and clarity in art, literature, and design.
Postmodernism: Postmodernism rejected grand narratives and the idea of a single, objective truth. It embraced ambiguity, pluralism, and the notion that truth is relative and context-dependent. Postmodern works often play with multiple perspectives and interpretations.
• Style and Aesthetics:
Modernism: Modernist art and literature favored abstraction, minimalism, and formal experimentation. It aimed for originality and innovation, often breaking away from traditional conventions.
Postmodernism: Postmodern art and literature frequently incorporated pastiche, parody, and irony. It borrowed from various styles and sources, mixing high and low culture, and challenging the notion of originality.
• Attitude Toward Tradition:
Modernism: Modernism often sought to break with tradition and establish new forms and expressions. It aimed to transcend the past and create something entirely new.
Postmodernism: Postmodernism was more open to reinterpreting and reappropriating elements from the past. It questioned the idea of a linear historical progression and valued the recycling of cultural references.
• Subjectivity vs. Objectivity:
Modernism: Modernist works often aspired to objectivity and universality, attempting to depict the world as it truly is. They emphasized the artist's individual vision but within a broader search for truth.
Postmodernism: Postmodernism emphasized subjectivity and the idea that reality is constructed through language, culture, and individual perspectives. It celebrated the artist's and viewer's role in creating meaning.
• Social and Political Engagement:
Modernism: Modernism often engaged with political and social issues of the time but sometimes leaned towards abstraction and formalism, which could be seen as a degree of detachment.
Postmodernism: Postmodernism was more overtly political and critical of established power structures. It explored issues of identity, race, gender, and class in a more direct and confrontational manner.
•Characteristics of both:
Mordenism:-
-F ocus on forms rather than meaning:
- Changes in culture values and beliefs:
- Importance of unconscious mind:
- Interest in non - westen culture:
- Change in technology:
- Growing science:
Postmodernism:-
- Metafiction
- Fragmentation
- Parody
- Pastiche
- Intertextuality
- Deconstruction
- Minimalism
- Maximilism
- Magic realism
It's important to note that these are general tendencies, and there can be overlap and variations within both modernist and postmodernist works. Additionally, postmodernism is not just a rejection of modernism but also a complex cultural phenomenon that encompasses a wide range of perspectives and approaches.
3.Dada Movment :
After the world war I &II (1915 to 1922)
Dada, nihilistic and anti aesthetic movement in the arts that flourished primarily in Zรผrich, Switzerland.
Tristan Tzara ,give this word Dada
" The is nothing important in this world".
What Is Dadaism?
Dada was an artistic and literary movement in Europe and the United States that began in the early twentieth century during the cultural and social upheaval following the first World War. Dadaism mocked and antagonized the conventions of art itself, emphasizing the illogical, irrational, and absurd.
Dadaist artists often utilized collage, montage, and assemblage of disparate elements to create their art. These artists often had left-wing political views and created work that questioned every aspect of society and culture.
A Brief History of Dadaism:
Beginning with a group of artists working in Zurich, Switzerland, Dadaism quickly became an international movement that spread throughout Europe and the U.S., with centers in Paris, Cologne, Berlin, and New York City. The art, poetry, and performances created by Dadaist artists had a lasting impact on avant-garde art in Europe.
The new ways of thinking and creating promoted by Dadaism influenced Surrealism and countless other conceptual art movements like Fluxus and Pop Art. Here is a brief overview of the origins of Dadaism:
• Early influences: Dadaism drew upon several trends and artistic movements that occurred in Europe, including Cubism and Futurism. One of the first artists to be associated with the Dada movement was the French sculptor Marcel Duchamp. In the early 1910s, he coined the term “anti-art” to describe his readymades. These were prefabricated, mass-produced objects presented in a gallery as art to question the elitist nature of art itself.
• World War I displacement: Throughout World War I, many European artists flocked to neutral cities like Zurich, Switzerland, to find a sense of creative community. As the war raged throughout Europe, their art and writing became more dissident, experimental, radical, and irreverent. In 1916, poet Hugo Ball opened the Cabaret Voltaire, which became a haven for artists to stage spoken-word poetry, performance art, and other provocative avant-garde shows.
•Coining the term “Dada”: There is some dispute over the definitive origin of the word “Dada,” but many art historians trace it back to one night at the Cabaret Voltaire. The artist Richard Huelsenbeck and the writer Hugo Ball turned to a random page in a French-German dictionary and found the word “dada,” meaning “yes yes” in Romanian and “rocking horse” or “hobbyhorse” in French. They liked that it sounded like a nonsense word and used it to describe the kind of absurdist art that they and their contemporaries—like Tristan Tzara, Jean Arp, and Marcel Janco—were creating at the time.
Characteristics of Dadaism:-
Dadaism eschewed the classical rules of art and defied conventions, but there are several recognizable characteristics of Dada art.
1. Made from found objects: Dada artists often incorporated found objects or images from mass media into their art through collages and readymades. The artist Marcel Duchamp famously created Dadaist readymade sculptures by manipulating found, prefabricated objects in a simple way, then presenting them in a gallery as art. Artist Hannah Hoch is famous for her use of collage. She pioneered photomontage, in which elements of different photos are pasted together to create a new image.
2. Nonsensical: Dadaist art often features irrationality, humor, and silliness. Marcel Duchamp famously painted a mustache on a postcard of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa to show his irreverence for established artistic traditions and his sense of humor.
3. Spontaneous: Dadaist art was often spontaneous, playing with the elements of chance and encouraging spur-of-the-moment creativity. At Dada shows, poems would be created by cutting words out of a single sheet of newspaper, scattering them on the ground, and then randomly organizing them onto a page.
Famous Dadaist Artists
Here are five famous artists who were prominent in the Dada movement.
1. Francis Picabia: Picabia was a French printmaker and painter who often created spontaneous conceptual works. In his Dadaist self-portrait Tableau Rastrada, he collaged elements from found media to create an image depicting himself as a social-climbing playboy.
2. Hannah Hoch: Hannah Hoch was a German photographer and artist known for collages and photomontages. Her 1919 collage Cut with the Kitchen Knife Dada through the Beer-Belly of the Weimar Republic is a series of disparate
images cut from mass media to create a piece of art critiquing the Weimar German Government.
3. Hugo Ball: Poet and author Hugo Ball was one of the founding members of the Dada movement. Ball opened the Cafรฉ Voltaire—a Dadaist haven—and allegedly gave the movement its name.
4. Man Ray: Man Ray was a Surrealist and Dadaist photographer famous for manipulating his photographs to create strange and surreal compositions. He lived and worked in Paris in the 1920s, and his work was exhibited in the first Surrealist exhibition. One of his most famous photos is Ingres’s Violin, which shows a seated nude woman pictured from behind with the F-holes of a violin superimposed on her back.
5. Marcel Duchamp: French artist Marcel Duchamp began his career in Paris in the 1910s and fled to America following World War I. Duchamp was most famous for creating the first readymade sculptures, including the 1913 sculpture Bicycle Wheel—a bicycle wheel mounted upside down on a three-legged stool—and the 1917 sculpture Fountain—a urinal turned upside-down and mounted on a pedestal.
Dada movement :Poem written by me as part of classroom activities
Thank you for visiting ๐
