- Art represents a freedom of expression by an individual. Through various colors and techniques, an artist can depict any emotion he/she is feeling; moreover, art can also convey rebellion and protest against a commanding institution whether it is a school or a government. It is this overwhelming freedom that causes authoritarian thinkers or regimes to feel threatened, for any work of art can provoke mass numbers of people to feel a certain way towards government policies, for example. In chapter five of the article “Practices of Looking,” the author emphasizes the significant effect mass media has whether it is through television, newspaper, or magazines. Artists and their art as well as their dissonant views concerning the government can be easily accessible to the public who may begin to harbor the same ideas as the artists themselves. This, then, may cause authoritative figures to fear revolt.
This may also be the reason why Plato stated his disapproval so adamantly against all works of art except for art that furthers the republic or state. Recalling Plato’s Republic, he clearly states the inferiority of artists and the deceitful nature of the goods they produce; however, the only way art is justified, claims Plato, is if it progresses the state as well as the state’s agenda. - Surrealism began in 1917 and centered in Paris. According to Oxford University Press’ Grove Art Online, this art movement was inspired by Freudian discoveries as well as Marxist ideas. Surrealists, the most famous being Salvador Dali, sought to create art that could not be easily or logically understood.
"My painting is visible images which conceal nothing; they evoke mystery and, indeed, when one sees one of my pictures, one asks oneself this simple question 'What does that mean'? It does not mean anything, because mystery means nothing either, it is unknowable."
-- Rene Magritte
Rene Magritte, the Belgium painter of the infamous The Treachery of Images, dedicated himself entirely to painting in 1926 at the age of twenty-eight (Grove Art Online). He led the Surrealist movement in Belgium and later moved to France in 1940. Magritte’s art depicts simple objects such as trees, chairs, windows, and doors; however, he places them in bizarre positions and “gives new meaning” to each object (CGFA).
Magritte’s paintings portray the “concept of the power of desire and eroticism and wanted to translate this idea through unconventional objects” (Surrealism.org). In the painting Attempting the Impossible, a man is shown trying to paint what he deems is the perfect woman. Because of this, one can assume that he has sexual desires and can only fulfill them through a woman he creates. Magritte also paid no heed to “aesthetic preference” (Grove Art Online). His paintings definitely deviate from “reality,” for it is impossible to paint a perfect woman. His paintings of “common” objects are really not common at all: the painting The Window shows an oversized translucent hand reaching up to catch a bird and his painting Woman Bathing shows a distorted woman with unrecognizable facial features.
a.) Degeneracy describes a flight from the norm. According to Hitler’s view, anything that was not traditional or Aryan was degenerate: Jews, Bolsheviks, mental patients, erotic art, indiscernible art, art depicting objects as they are not, dissonant music, and everything unconventional.
b.) Hitler saw degeneracy in Magritte’s art because Magritte’s paintings did not depict things as they are. The deformed woman in Woman Bathing does not look like a woman in reality. As we saw in the film clip in class, a smiling, yellow cow was labeled as degenerate because a real cow on a farm would not truly look like the one in the painting. In the same way, Magritte’s “common” objects are portrayed unrealistically.
The “body politic” is threatened by these images because the public may begin to analyze the meaning behind each of the paintings, and the meanings may not be in support of the government. They may even begin to believe that a perfect woman really can be molded.
c.) The body in art was the main site for accusations of degeneracy because the body has the ability to be sexual and diseased. A nude body in a painting may immediately register erotic thoughts in the mind of the viewer unless crafted to the extent of godliness (as in the art displayed in the House of German Art).
d.) Mosse’s argument that beauty with sensuality is a threat to the social order deals with the fact that normal everyday life cannot go on if everything beautiful has an underlying sensuality about it; moreover, a society must have respectability in order to function correctly without chaos. The issues discussed in our readings that spiked conflict generally involves sensuality and disturbs the respectability of a society.
3. The projected Freedom Tower is an image that communicates to the world that, although the US has been hit, America will still continue to live and thrive. The building will be built over the area where the Twin Towers once stood as a symbol of rebirth from death and the steadfastness of the America and her citizens. The ideologies of perseverance and strength are especially prevalent in the US; also, the building of this skyscraper is helpful in gaining support for the government and its agendas, for it provides hope for those who will look upon it.
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2 comments:
I really liked the way you defined degeneracy according to Hitler. He definately seemed averse to anything not "perfect" (in his eyes), yet not all such things were necessarily dangerous or threatening. It seems that the threat comes, not really from the art, but from the possible interpretations of it (which require individual thought).
Also, regarding the reason for accusations of degeneracy in the body... at first I didn't understand what being sexual or diseased really had to do with it. But, thinking about it, disease itself could easily be connected to Hitler's concept of the degenerate as it is not normal and causes imperfection.
As for sexuality, that could be deemed threatening in itself due to its close connection with emotion (and the individual). I really liked the way you drew a connection between sensuality and chaos through the idea of necessary respectability, as mentioned in the article as well.
I thought your commentary on Rene Magritte was interesting. In the quote you gave she essentially said that her art is not supposed to convey any particular message, that it is meant to be "mysterious" and "unknowable". Yet you then go on to talk about all the different messages Magritte's artwork portrays. I think you are right in doing this because everyone has a point they are trying to get across when they create a work of art (whether this is subconscious or conscious is another issue). You can always learn something about the artist and their culture by looking at the art they have created.
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