Blogging Assignment 1

Porky Pig is an acoustic, "hipster" style of music band that makes music from the heart, soul, and mind (sans all that electric guitar BS)

PART 2:

a.)

        When learning about Dadaism, the first thing you'll hear about is this funky sounding term called "Avant-Garde", but what does it mean? Well, when it was first employed by French utopia scientist Henri de Saint-Simon in the 1820s it had ties to militaristic connotations, but as the term developed further it came to signify the advanced socio-political and aesthetic position to which one aspiring modern artist should hold himself/herself to. In the 19th century, art was heavily linked and influenced to the Bourgeois at that time. However, as we entered the 20th century, Dadaism took over what modern art was and could be. For example, several key artistic movements of the time influenced the Dadaistic takeover, such as Futurism in Italy, Constructivism in Russia, and De Stijl in Holland. These movements and historical events influenced heavily the type of art we saw at this time. For instance, those Constructivists in Russia that I just mentioned saw themselves responding directly to the Bolshevik Revolution by incorporating the themes, mood, and feelings of people and society there at that time. In conclusion, it was all wrapped up in this idea that social and political radicalism, change, and revolution should go hand in hand with artistic innovation. And that's just what was seen!

b.)

         When Peter Burger said that artists in the 20th century were interested in undermining the "autonomy" of art and replacing it with art that is influenced by the "praxis of life", I think it is pretty clear what he meant. This statement relates back almost directly to what I just said above with the idea being that art started to take influence from what was going on in society around you rather than, as Burger put it, "art for arts sake". When there's so much radicalism and revolution going on, it makes sense to catalog such history through artistic creations rather than using art to make mindless, pointless things that have no real significance or longevity in terms of their ability to be appreciated.

c.)

       These two artpieces I've chosen are examples of some modern day Dadism art. These creations don't embody quite as much of that reflection of current day society in their tone, but what makes them unique is the way they tweak existing art and objects in inquisitive ways. For example, on the left here we have the classic Mona Lisa painting by Leonardo DaVinci, which we've all seen, but the twist here is that she's been given a curly-Q moustache and beard. Similarly, the artpiece below depicts a regular ol' metronome with a print of an eye attached to what would normally be the metal slider that controls the speed of the metronome. So what does this mean? Well what makes it so unique is that it's open for interpretation! Personally, I think this is a play on the idea that time is constantly being watched, but in reality, we can never actually control it.