When reading about John Heartfield, I was struck by the fact that “Heartfield’s work was banned during the Third Reich.” The ban of his artwork illustrates how powerful and effective his photomontages were, sparking an interest in what his artwork entailed. Immediately, I began to investigate Heartfield’s art and found certain pieces especially effective.
I decided to investigate the relationship between Heartfield and Hitler, due to his notoriety. The piece above I found very effective in using text and a picture (like Barbara Kruger) in order to communicate a political message. Heartfield references the famous line “I don't see parties. I just see Germans.”, but instead states “I don't see parties. I just see prisoners.” His work serves as a very effective commentary on the social setting in Germany.
Though Heartfield knew the potential consequences of speaking out with his artistic creations, he continued to center Hitler’s travesties in his art. It is hard to believe an artist is willing to put his life on the line in order to send people a political message through photomontage and propaganda! The website discusses how Heartfield’s works hard to “be removed from the exhibition” due to the events surrounding his art – which demonstrates how incredibly powerful his pieces were.
A picture I found striking in Heartfield’s collection was Adolf Hitler hollowed out with coins inside his body. The photomontage is very eerie and makes you think about the intentions of the Nazi leader. The way the piece was created makes it look very modern and represents Heartfield’s sentiments!
I thought the bottom photomontage of Hitler was really effecting, too. I loved that Heartfield portrayed coins and a Swastika as Hitler's vital organs, as if those objects or symbols of gluttony and terrorism are the very things he can't survive without. Also, the coin esophagus-like organ leading up to Hitler's voice made me think it's like where his "voice" of "reason" was coming from; money, or greed, etc. Images like this are what make art so potent.
ReplyDeleteI just want to say that that's awesome that you decided to go outside of the article and look into Heartfield's possible interactions with Hitler. You must've found Heartfield and his story really interesting. :) Also, this piece that you picked by Heartfield is hysterical. It reminds me of this piggy-bank type robot I had when I was a kid... it ate my change. It is not unlike Hitler and his insidious, immoral nature. Selfish, narcissistic, greedy -- all that this image represents.
ReplyDeleteI really love this image that you posted, so I just had to comment because of it! I like the way the artist is really getting his point across, but at the same time, it's artistically beautiful in a way. I mean, if you think about it, this kind of stuff was really incredible at the time, as it was all done by hand. Now, we see these sorts of images all the time, so they're not as impressive.
ReplyDelete