Before Class: Chapter Thirteen

1. Sum up the reading in your own words in 1 paragraph.
This chapter showed a lot of changes going on in the twentieth century, mainly political, but those changes influenced the introduction of new style in advertisement. Pablo Picasso used geometric lines combined with African tribal art to form Cubism along with Paul Cezanne. Both Picasso and Cezanna were demonstrating a new way of conveying feeling with abstract figures and geometric planes. Cubism has influenced how painting and graphic design are still done today. Filippo Marinetti was a poet during this time that began Futurism. Futurism was a movement where the arts were up against the new science and the industrial age. Typography and poetry were the main focuses of the chapter. The style during this time was very chaotic and not very harmonious. The Dadaists were a group who were rebelling against WWI, their works were meant to shock and have a feeling a strong negativity and destruction. Expressionism and surrealism were two other movements that were big in Europe during this time. Surrealism was the complete opposite of Dada movement/style with poetic faith in the spirits of mankind and humanity. Two larger expressionists groups that were big in Germany were "The Bridge" and "The Blue Rider". "The Bridge" expressed their emotions by working the subject matter, while "The Blue Rider" expressed their emotions through perceptions given by an object. There was also some changes in photography during this time. A big player, Man Ray used Dada and surrealism in his photography, manipulating things in the dark room, and using different set-ups. He also started using solarization to strengthen contours in photos.

2. Name the one thing (or person) you found most interesting from the reading.
Man Ray and the photography section were the most interesting sections for me because of my interest in photography and seeing the changes that occurred during this different time periods. I enjoy seeing how photography and how pictures have developed since the time of the cameras creation.

3. State at least one question you have after the reading. (if you state none here, you’d better have more detail done above to offset the work.)
I was confused by some of the Dada works. I didn't understand the meaning behind some of the images, for example figures 13-32 through 13-38. What is the meaning behind some of these images?