BBL Episode 4: German Expressionism

[peficaro]

she's a bit scarry ...

[hotsizzleakadafizz]

wow she really butchered those German words.

[barefootfiona]

I imagine I person on the phone :"No... Ya...", who then tells a young child to attack a kite. "Sock le kite!"

Noy-ya. Such-lich-kite. Th "ch" is like Scots 'loch', or at the very least a 'sh'.

[davidmckenna96]

5:25 Wow... she did not just say that :(

[NinkasiDelight]

neue sachlichkeit I love it!

[PhotonDrive]

She's totally wrong! Her ideas are 19th century - "Naturalism". She has no paintings by DIX or GROSZ, so she doesn't realize they were engaged in CHANGING THINGS by DIRECT POLITICAL ACTION! War EXORCISM, Yes, by Marc & others. But later, SATIRE of "the mad-men in charge of the Asylum" - who still are, in the very recent 'Pub administration! Think of the TORTURE, & remember, the Germans "didn't know" either!?!

[breaks0]

Great point. All the major modern European movements starting w/the Futurists did that. To make a crude comparison, it's kind of like what Muslims say about Islam: the idea of each of these major movements was to develop a whole system of aesthetics, political and cultural agendas that was systemically complete and could attempt, at some level, to "revolutionize" a given culture, in a modernist manner. This and Futurism (despite its unfortunate fascist associations) are my fave modern movements.

[PhotonDrive]

Another interesting point is the advent of Constructivism in Russia & Holland, and then it's expulsion to Germany. Weilding enormous influence of Arch. & machine design of the whole environment: Yet they were expelled for 2 reasons. Children of the middle class were suspect, but only cosmopoliton ones. 2) Peasant adherance to Rev. regime was mandatory, & they wanted folk art & entrance to grandiose Ballets! Org principle of Leningrad was Avant-Garde; Moscow the agit-prop group. This meant split.

[breaks0]

Socialist Realism vs. Constructivism, ya I know the basic history. I know little about constructivism outside Russia or after Lenin's death. Tatlin, Malevich and some of the others are among my modernist European art "heroes" so to speak, though I guess in the case of Russian constructivism it's because of the political agenda as much as the aesthetic appeal of the work. Russian futurism and the early 20th century avant garde (esp Cubofuturism) is fascinating and beautiful as well.

[barefootfiona]

@PhotonDrive Hi! Excuse me, but I'm very interested in what you had to say though I don't know much about art history. I'm about to begin studying German at University so I've been reading a lot of expressionist plays and my godfather is descended from a German expressionist painter, on top of which expressionist artworks have always appealed to me. If you wouldn't mind, could you possibly give me a short introduction to German expressionism? Comments are very limiting, so you could PM me?