Day 10

1. Days Notes

Bauhaus 1919-1933

14 years

33 faculty

1250 students

1919-1925

            Weimar

1923 First public exhibition   

1924 Letter of resignation

1925-1932

            Dessau

            1928 Groupius replaced by Meyers

1930 Replaced by Van der Rohe

                        Was a factory town.

1932-1933

            Berlin

Utopian desire to create a new spiritual society.

Unity of artists & craftsmen to build for the future.

Ideas from all the advanced art and design movements were explored and applied to functional design.

Paul Klee

Moholy Nagy

Hungarian constructivist. Experiments with everything. Brought in to replace Itten. Made Walter Groupus’s secondhand man. Experiments with combining photography and typography. Emphasis on Clarity. Communication should never be impaired by aesthetic. Develops photoplastics.

Johannas Itten

In charge of designing the courses for Bauhaus. To become an artist you would have to become an apprentice. Lives until 1967. He was trying to release each individuals talents. Taught the fundamental principles of drawing.

Herbert Bayer

            Gives the universal alphabet.

Kandinsky

Mien Van der Rohe

            From Rhineland.

Walter Groupus

First director of the Bauhaus. Lived until 1969 (same time as land on moon) while seeing the devastation during war he thinks of ways to tame technology to benefit society. In hopes of letting the students do what they want, he resigns but picks someone he didn’t look closer at… not a friend to the Nazi’s. Mien Van der Rohe.

Oscar Schlemmer

Joseph Albers

Jan Tschichold

21yrs old when he goes to Bauhaus exhibition. 1925, writing and publishing a paper that explains the new typography to typewriters and designers. Because he understood it so well he was able to explain to a everyday person. 1928 he writes the seminal book The New Typography. (bible for the time) The aim of every typographic work is to deliver a message in the most efficient manner. Captured by Nazi Germany but escapes and goes to Switzerland. Write The Pelican History of Art. Returns to the classical typography compared to what he wrote in previous books.

2. Personal Thoughts


The idea of someone being so young to be inspired such as Tschicold is amazing. To understand the ideas so thoroughly and be able to teach it others that couldn't fathom it is incredible. The story behind the Bauhaus is something I really do wish we were taught when we were younger. If this was taught then, myself and other students would probably have a better appreciation for history in general.
3. Questions


What happened to the students after the Bauhaus ended? Were there books that were written for the Bauhaus that were destroyed or did they survive the moves and end of the Bauhaus?

Day 9

1. Days Notes

03/13/12

Romance with Revolution video

Can you imagine being put on a train going to the artic circle for your art? Because someone didn’t like it so the train would bring you to a prison, would you still create art?

Every single day you’re in school trying to please your teachers. As students we aren’t supposed to follow others rather push the boundaries and do what you were supposed to do.

El Lissizky helped pioneer suprematism; he influences constructivism and the destijl movement. Prouns, these are experiments to explore painting and architecture. (Beat the whites with the red wedge) Brings his sensibility to page design. Writes a book called the Ism’s of art, what’s going on in art. Developed mathematical grid system for the pages, written in German French and English.

Video Potemkin

The way the man dresses and carries himself tells us he has power. The camera angle tells a lot about the scene shows that the workers are below the man is a uniform. The doctor is trying to convince the sailors that the meat is fine and to just wash off the maggots. The people in the city start to stand with the sailors and bring them better food. The guards start to chase after the people and a child falls on the stairs and the mother is  angered and hurt. The soldier’s shadows stand taller than the woman and the camera angles down of the woman and her son as they shoot her down. Another woman is shot trying to protect her child in a carriage. The carriage rolls down the steps and no one goes for the child. All the people witness this tragedy but don’t have the gusts to get out of the corners, which they cower in.

Products and advertisements are seen as art because of the social need.

Constructivism needs to have a social need

De Stijl functions and ends with the same leader. Its utopian approach to aesthetics. Based on the idea of functionalism. Rectal linear planes, primary colors and black and white. Sought to express mathematical structures to understand the universe and universal harmony.

Theo Dan Doesburg

Architecture, furniture, sculpture and painting.

Format changes to asymmetrical composition.

Dadaism

World is chaos and has no meaning, so why should art have no meaning?

1919-1933 The Bauhaus is centered on the idea of Utopian idea to change the world. Looking for unity and craftsmen to form a new future much like the arts and crafts movement. Welmar, Dessau, and Berlin. In the 14 years there was 30 faculty members and not many students.  The first public art show is in 1923 to show the world what they’ve been doing and teaching. They are receiving money from the state. After the exhibition, the dean quits because of the estranged thoughts of people also the Nazi’s are starting to take over. The guy he picked to replace him was a communist who doesn’t last long. They work in a old abandoned factor after moving to berlin.

Many cities that are falling under will build an art school to spice up the area.

2. Personal Notes:

The video this week was a lot more lively then the last video. Although still depressing. It would pretty much suck if you were sent to jail for doing you believe in or just love. Can’t wait for the motion design presentation tomorrow! The second video is depressing in which we watch how the people are treated and how sad the lives of people can be. Death and bloodshed is a main point throughout the film. Always be willing to explore new stuff, don’t always stick to one thing. The Bauhaus inspired many people and still is used in history today because of the powerfulness of the movement. The video ending class, shows the determination of students trying to prove their worth by disobeying the dean. Through thick and thin artists will stick together and show the world what they have to say whether the public likes it or not.

3. Questions

Was there ever a time when the Russians weren't so depressing?

If the Bauhaus was such a large influence throughout art history, why was it never mentioned when we had middle school or high school world history?