Modernism after WWI: Dada and ExpressionismThe Aftermath of World War I (1914-1918)--Casualties (military and civilian)--Dead: 16 million--Wounded: 21 million--Serious psychological damage (PTSD/shell shock): unknown--“The lost generation”--Technologies of Killing:--Machine guns--Poison gasDada--Historical context: reaction to World War I, started in Zurich, Switzerland--Major figures:--Tristan Tzara (1896-1963), writer--Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968), visual artist--Philosophy: anything can be art, so nothing is art. Anarchism--Aesthetics: nonsense--Chance poems—Ex.“Indecisive upside down children sadness dedicatedHi effervescent plethora tee-hee Feather bunny rabbit plane”--Our ClassScene from The Gas Heart by Tristan Tzara--Characters:--Eye--Mouth--Nose--Ear--NeckExpressionism--First develops in Germany--Starts in 1900s, peaks in 1920s --Elements spread throughout Europe and especially America--Reaction against realism--Realism—Objective truth--Expressionism—Subjective experience--Major Goal:--Show the individual in struggle with a hostile or nonsensical worldAesthetics of Expressionism--Writing--Individual against impersonal, denaturalized and/or hostile world, written from their POV--Characters abstracted or archetypal--Suspicion of technology, bureaucracy (government or corporate)--Design--Try to create external version of main character’s internal life/perception--Sharp angles--Strong contrasts (black and white, light and shadow), film
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