Monday, September 19, 2011

John Heartfield Response


I think Heartfield, himself, is a rather inspiring person. Not only is his artwork motivational, but just him being him is as well. It takes guts to protest against a ruling power such as Adolf Hitler. Since Heartfield's work is mostly satirical, it indirectly implies a couple things. Satires are used to ridicule the subject in a clever/witty manner which often ends in a funny outcome. The way I see it, this could mean that Heartfield was laughing at Hitler. Creating art that directly goes against Hitler and his actions was an extremely bold move. Though, I am sure his work inspired others and provided those with failing spirits to see the brighter side again.
Going through Heartfield's gallery, I took a liking to "Hurrah, the Butter is All Gone!". One reason why I enjoyed this picture was because I thought it was pretty funny. The whole idea is just ridiculous, people eating metal. I got a good laugh out of this one; even the baby and dog are eating pieces of metal! This picture directly attacks Hitler's actions. For one, Heartfield is insulting the constant creation and increase of weaponry. Hitler is being so extreme that the men he was will not even be able to use the new weaponry if they are not well nourished. Hitler spent his time increasing firepower that food production was not as high as it used to be. So, what is left for the people to eat? Metal: a serious ingredient to keep the human body healthy. Basically, that is how I believe Heartfield was attacking Hitler's stance, and to me, it was a truly clever.

1 comment:

  1. I agree with you that the pictures can sometimes be funny because of how ridiculous they are. It shows how ridiculous Hitler is and was. The craziness of Heartfield's work does not even begin to show how wrong he must have felt about what Hitler was doing.

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