I found John Heartfield’s artwork to be very intriguing. His work certainly provoked conventional thought at the time and really put taboo political figures, like Hitler, and ideas in the spotlight, ultimately trying to deconstruct corruption and government. He was in the German military and witnessed a lot of things that he did not agree with and thus started thinking against the “system” that Hitler was controlling and illustrated that thinking through his Dada artwork. He uses a lot symbolism and symbols to represent different things and put things into perspective. I personally liked his portrayal of Hitler as a primate to depict his savage-like take on the world. Heartfield was creating a revolution through his artwork and I think that’s one of the best ways to start one.
The piece that I chose is by Heartfield himself. I think the piece depicts the upper class and their savage ways (depicted by a vicious wild animal) at trying to literally take over, rule over, and change the world to coincide with their wants and values. The rich and powerful will do anything to try and get to that level, even if it’s killing, but they will eventually find out that they wont be able to survive if they do that – therefore being called “the last hope for the rich.”
That's pretty cool how you said Heartfield was trying to create a revolution through his art. I never thought of his work like that. His art was clever to begin with, but now imagining that he was trying to start a revolution makes it that much more intriguing.
ReplyDeleteI also like your theory of art as a revolution. Sometimes images such as Heartfield's can have more power and influence over one's mind than any action.
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