...Political Movements in the 20th Century HUM/300 Political Movements in the 20th Century During the 20th century several major political events took place that changed the worldwide view of civilization and shook up the collective consciousness. World War I and II showed the dark side of technology when used to hurt humanity. Civil movements surged around the world as a result of minorities trying to regain their identity, which various governments throughout the world restricted. The authors will examine major political events that had a notable effect on the 20th century, including, the influences of World War I and II, the surge of the Civil Rights Movement, and the Gender Equality Movement. The author’s examination will consider the works of artists and how his or her creative expression reflected the mood of the era. Political Events: World War I and II World War I (WWI) started in 1914, and lasted through 1918. The political event that triggered this war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The war tactics employed in World War I changed the methods and strategies in future conflicts bringing more devastation. Some of the new strategies included trench warfare, chemical warfare, and upgraded technology; it introduced chemical weapons including chlorine and phosgene, which produced devastating damages. The exposure to high levels of these gases resulted in temporary blindness, difficulty...
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...The counter cultural movement began in 1960s in the wake of Vietnam war. The young people were frustrated due to racism, gender issues, consumerism, and the conservative nature of society in general. They were looking for a change and found it in the emerging counter cultural movements of 1960s. The youngsters began to question the traditional values and culture of the Orthodox American society. They welcomed sex, drugs and pop music. The counter culture movement reached its heights in 1969, when the young people attended the Woodstock Music and Art Festival at Newyork. The festival became a symbol of anti-war movement. The festival was a mixture of hippie, pop and drug culture. One of the notable feature of the counter culture movement was the sexual freedom and rise of feminism. There was a steep rise in abortions, orphans and divorce. Political activism on the part of women resulted in the formation of National organization for Women (NOW). Other than women, homosexuals were also raised their voice for equality which was later included the Civil Rights issue. Stone Wall Inn riots in 1969 and the establishment of Gay Liberation Front were important steps in their struggle for civil rights. The counter cultural sentiments were also expressed in movies and arts. The movement did not limit in North America alone, but spread to Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand. An international rock and roll group from Britain known as the Beatles was widely popular. The counter culture...
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...Women in our country have been second class citizens since our countries inception and still struggle today with maintaining equal rights. Women in the United States have faced a long and arduous road towards acquiring equal rights in the eyes of the government and still fight today to be seen as equals in all that they do. From the time before the Civil War until present day the issue of equal rights for women has been fought for by many activists. Women have struggled with issues such as the right to vote in elections and receive equal pay for equal work in the workplace. There have been many victories in the battle to become equal citizens by women, but there have also been many setbacks throughout the history of our country. In 1868 one of the pioneers of the women’s movement Elizabeth Stanton gave a speech to the Women’s Suffrage Convention entitled the Destructive Male. “Twenty years earlier, at Seneca Falls, New York, she had helped to launch the women’s right movement in America.”(History, Art & Archives 2013) In her speech she outlined how masculinity offered elements of negativity to the world and that a woman’s touch would be needed to help counter balance this fact. “The male element is a destructive force, stern, selfish, aggrandizing, loving war, violence, conquest, acquisition, breeding in the material and moral world alike discord, disorder, disease, and death.” (Stanton, Elizabeth, 1868) Her speech at the convention is important because it outlined how women...
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...Lovatt September 28, 2015 Martha Rosler’s Gender Perspective During the Age of War As a form of art, photography expresses documents, personal visions, and memories that can often define images as very powerful and iconic. In the series Bringing the War Home: House Beautiful (1967-72), Martha Rosler, an American artist specializing in video, performance, installation and photo-text about art and culture, compiles ten photomontages from different magazines in order to convey the controversial issue of war during the early second part of the 20th century. Rosler uses a variety of mediums, but her most recognizable medium is photomontages and photo-collage. Constructed during the peak of U.S. military engagement in Vietnam and an outgrowth of Rosler’s self involvement with anti-war activities, these photographs are a response to the artist’s “frustration with the images we saw in television and print media, even with anti-war flyers and posters. The images we saw were always very far away, in a place we couldn’t imagine.” Through her choice to use colored images, she assembles photos together from homemaking women’s magazine such as Life Magazine and images from war. She accentuates the dominance of domestic representation and intersects it between war imagery by juxtaposing in a brutal and sometimes incongruous way. Rosler’s montages reconnect the two sides of human experience: the war in Vietnam, and the everyday-life in America. One of Rosler’s iconic image: Cleaning...
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...Throughout history, art has been a tool for many to express themselves and the events surrounding them. The works of great artists are not only personal, but revolutionary. On occasion, paintings can influence the spectator, for better or worse. Artists, such as Pablo Picasso, Frida Kahlo, and those who designed world war one propaganda, demonstrate their views and worldly perceptions to change others. Picasso’s Guernica shows the brutalities of war, as propaganda tried to hide it. Kahlo paints her life as a mexican women imposed with Western culture in Las Dos Fridas, while street art gives a loud and accessible message to those who come across it. All these examples exemplify real occurrences, that were published and used as a front for mainstream...
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...Kate Kollwitz was an exceptional artist who transformed emotions and experiences into art. Kollwitz art is the reflection of civilian victims and the pain war has brought upon individuals and society as a whole. Kollwitz expressed the devastating effects that war brought upon people, and the lives and souls that were destroyed and shattered. Through Kollwitz art, she stands against war to protect human lives, and not only does she raise conscious to others about the effects of war, but reveals the injustice and how inhumane war was. Before Kollwitz became opposed to war in great ways, her religion and socialism anchored her motifs and commitment for a social growth and a world that depicted the beauty she saw in art, which was the freedom...
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...Art and Children during the Sri Lankan Civil War The novel, Island of a Thousand Mirrors, by Nayomi Munaweera, takes place during the Sri Lankan Civil War, and reveals the hardships that two young women must go through as a result of the war. In the article The Effectiveness of Art Therapy in the Treatment of Traumatized Adults: A Systematic Review on Art Therapy and Trauma, by Schouten et al., discusses the benefits of art to people who have experienced trauma. Munaweera touches on the use of art to aid children who have suffered due to the civil war, by incorporating the issue of war orphans and art therapy into the story, she is bringing awareness of the issue to her readers. While Munaweera’s novel mainly follows two young women, Yasodhara and Saraswathi, on...
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...Neil.L Guernica American has been through many wars throughout the years. You can hear and learn about wars through textbooks, libraries, classrooms, and websites; but what about pictures and the art museums. A picture is worth a thousand words, and that is exactly what Pablo Picasso did with his painting Guernica. Guernica is a painting by famous Spanish artist Pablo Picasso. It was painted as a reaction to the aerial bombing of Guernica, Spain by German and Italian forces during the Spanish Civil War in 1937. The Spanish Republic, government of Spain, appointed Picasso to paint a large mural about the bombing to display at the 1937 World’s Fair in Paris. Guernica show the anguish, horror and pain inflicted on humanity and the innocent. It shows the destructions of war and the awareness for others to remember and never forget. Guernica is a powerful painting, considered a “Masterpiece” by Pablo Picasso and has become an anti-war icon. Guernica became a very powerful art work for many reasons but, most importantly for its usage of colors and of imagery depicting the emotions the characters are showing in the painting. Guernica consists of shades of blacks, grays and whites, representing sadness, and dark emotions for the characters and the event of the bombing. It shows the pains of the innocent, a woman wailing over a dead child in her hands, a horse ripped open, tragic events with images of soldier, flames painted to signify the town on fire and people...
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...American Art. In this painting that was created in 1943, there is no text, only an image and it still communicates a strong message about its time. Although, this image-based design was used as a magazine cover for Post. This strong message is one of the reasons why many people are familiar with Rosie the Riveter and it is still popular today. Rockwell chose Mary Dole (now Mary Keefe), a nineteen year old telephone operator, as the model for Rosie. She met Mary Rockwell, Norman Rockwell’s wife, while paying her telephone bill. Later on, Rockwell called and asked if she “wouldn’t mind posing for a painting” (Knight 2013). She sat for several photographs and the end result is what is seen today. In the painting, Rosie is seen sitting wearing a blue shirt with overalls and penny loafers with red socks. She is also seen holding a sandwich and has a white handkerchief in her...
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...Does contemporary art focus on conceptual art is important nowadays? 28 different arts make up what is called contemporary art. Some of which are Burt art, Neo Dadaism, Pop art, Op art, Minimalism, Body art, and Conceptual art among others. These popped up in the 20th century, having as a main trait their uniqueness and authenticity from what was learn or seen in the past. I’m going to focus in Conceptual art. “Conceptual Art emerged during a period of social, political and cultural upheaval in the 1960s. It was a reaction to the perceived constraints of Modernism and the increasing commodification of the art object. Artists sought the means to think beyond the medium-specific aspects of traditional art forms, such as originality, style, expression, craft, permanence, decoration and display, attributed to painting and sculpture. They used language and text to directly disseminate ideas, demystify artistic production and negate visually. Artworks took the form of written statements, declarations, definitions and invitations.” (Moran) After reading several books, I’ve learned that conceptual art is focused in the concept than in the actual object presented to you, meaning that to understand conceptual art you need to understand what the artist is trying to express, so that what you may see may not always be the true meaning of what is trying to be conveyed. “The artist has no control over the way a viewer will perceive the work. Different people will understand the same thing...
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...Name Course Professor Date Module 10 Forum World War 1 (WW1) had great impact on so many things. One major impact was the avenue it created for future wars and revolutions. This led to the cold war and World War 2. The WW1 led to the emancipation of women. Women now gained more right as compared to before the war. The World War 1 can also be stated to have led to the great depression. This is because the war cost billion of dollars and many countries that were involved either directly or indirectly were in debt and owed a lot of money. The other impact of the trench war was the fact that male dominance stopped being common and the patriarch ideals were also done away with as they become infamous. Male dominance became less famous as they had no careers after the war. Most of them could not get careers after the war as they had joined the army at a young age. The war had a great impact on the art especially the Russian revolution. Artist got new ideas and the themes of their paintings become one sided, most of the arts had revolution inspire themes. At this time, a group of artists emerged a good example of the groups was the Association of Russian Revolutionary Artist (ARRA). The ARRA got their themes from the Russian revolution. Sculptures and painting were created all showing the impact of the Russian revolution. For example, Lanser, an artist decorated the Moscow Railway station with paintings that demonstrated the work of the soviet construction. The Russian revolution...
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...by World War II, which started on September 1, 1939. The War affected everything about this decade. Men were off fighting, so women had to work in the factories or wherever they could find work in order to support their families. Art and Architecture changed drastically and the radio became a vital piece to American living. Fashion became almost recyclable as new trends became more practical and theatre and film took a wild ride during this outstanding decade. Everything from sports to books were altered due to this war and the events that took place then have shaped the way that we live now. Unemployment rates in 1940 were an overwhelming 8,120,000 but that soon changed by 55% once men went off to war and women got a chance to fill those empty positions. At this time minimum wage was $.43 per hour. First, single women were chosen to work and then in 1943 with mostly all single women employed, married women were allowed to work as well. With women working, it became hard for them to balance both home life and the work world, too. Automobile production began to decline in 1942 and decreased food supplies began in 1943. To try to rehabilitate this food drought, victory gardens were reinstituted and supplied 40% of the vegetables consumed on the home front. With WWII ending in 1945 the US emerged from the war as a world superpower. With all of the men returning home, the baby boom was formed, which is still having repercussions on American society today. After the war ended, Americans...
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...Yong Soon Min: Art Connecting With Cultural Experiences Yong Soon Min is a Korean born artist that emigrated from South Korea to the United States as a seven year-old child. Having been born at the end of the Korean War and growing up in the Cold War Era, she felt a strong connection to her cultural ties and grew up with some discomfort in having to adjust to life as a an immigrant. She derives inspiration for her artwork through her own personal experiences as both Asian and American while embodying the motto “Personal is political” (Oxford University Press 317). A great deal of her work is done in a mixed media format or as a performance piece and often calls for audience participation (Oxford University Press 317). DMZ-XING Yong Soon Min, DMZ-XING, 1994, (Mixed-Media Installation) One such piece by Min is called DMZ-XING (1994), a mixed-media piece taking its name from the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Yong Soon Min created an installation in 19pictures, and a series of narrative texts strewn about (Min 134). Here, she was capturing and retelling her own story as well as the stories of several families from Asia—Cambodia, Korea, Viet Nam, and others—that escaped from their homelands due to the onslaught of wars, and the experiences that they encountered while acclimating to the new experiences they would find for themselves in America (Min 134). Particularly in focus within the art piece is the story of a Laotian man, Mr. Saengaly, who fled with his wife to America...
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...is one of the more famous dictators. After he emerged victorious from a brutal civil war, he declared himself dictator for life. The consuls did not take too generously to this and a group of them showed their distaste by murdering Caesar. After another decade and a half of civil war Caesar's grandnephew Augustus was the victor in the brutal civil war. He claimed he restored the republic. He now controlled all of Rome--- including the empire. He became the first emperor of Rome. Roman religion is deeply rooted in an ancient belief in spirits. They believed that spirits guided peoples lives. over time, the spirits became gods and goddesses over the Romans. Every one had special powers. The chief god of the Romans was Jupiter, he controlled the sky, daylight, and weather. They also had temples for their gods, at altars in courtyards, sheep were sacrificed and gifts were left to please the god. Often people had shrines in their homes that they prayed to every morning and left food at in order to please the gods and ask for their protection. The Roman civilization was very cultured. People were always explored the world, searching for ways to explain its secrects. Artists took note of the world they saw in paintings, mosaics, and sculpltures. Books, poems, and plays came from writers. Historians wrote about Rome’s origins, emperors, wars, and even everyday life. The Romans perfected the art of cameo-making, a cameo is a stone with a design carved on it. Paintings in homes were...
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...separate others by race, ethnicity, gender, and or class, oppression exists. Oppression is a system, such as the organizational structure of a border, that maintains an advantage based on social group memberships. The operation and administration of policies and laws regarding the border are used to control on individual, institutional, and cultural levels. The US-Mexico border embodies and establishes an “us vs. them” mentality with parameters of inclusion and exclusion, creating the ability to marginalize and oppress those trying to cross over. However, from this despicable truth, social transformation is brewing and forming in the suffering of artists existing in the midst of this oppression. Through their experiences, they create art that not only reflects their culture and ethnicity, but also celebrates the very category that is used to marginalize and control, bringing awareness to their plight. Gloria Anzaldua an author and poet, brings awareness to borders in her essay “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” from Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza (1987), using her talent as a means for social transformation. Anzaldúa posits there is more to a border than a simple divide and borders can exist in both actual and implied spaces. Through her poetry and prose Anzaldua cultivates cultural appreciation and calls for public awareness of the oppressed, specifically speaking to her own experience of linguistic borders. She writes “In childhood we are told that our language is...
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