Posts Tagged Art

Andy Warhol, with Archie, by Jack Mitchell, 1973. (Source)

“They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.”

- Andy Warhol, Pop Artist

Muybridge sequence of a horse galloping (Source).

In 1872, Leland Stanford, an industrialist and horseman, commissioned English photographer Eadweard Muybridge to help determine whether a horse ever lifts all four feet completely off the ground at any given time during a trot or gallop.  While trying to figure out Stanford’s question Muybridge invented a motion picture projector and new photographic techniques.

Photo Credits: Wikimedia Commons/Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley

After over five years of experiments and engineering, Stanford finally got his answer when Muybridge was able to build a camera that was up to the job. Not just one camera, but a dozen of them!

Muybridge lined all 12 cameras alongside the track. As the horse passed the cameras, it would trigger strings that would activate the shutters one at a time and in sequence. Among the resulting images was Stanford’s answer: Yes, all four hooves leave the ground, briefly, during a trot.

Not completely satisfied, Stanford wanted to try it again but with a galloping horse to see if it the result was the same. In June 1878, Muybridge repeated the exercise with a galloping horse. However, this time he doubled the amount of cameras from 12 to 24 and placed them 27 inches apart.

The horse, Sallie Gardner, kicked the camera strings as she galloped by. In order to reflect as much light as possible, the track was lined with cloth sheets.

The Horse in Motion by Eadweard Muybridge. “Sallie Gardner,” owned by Leland Stanford; running at a 1:40 gait over the Palo Alto track, June 19, 1878. Photo Credit: Library of Congress

In order to display the images, Muybridge created what is considered to be the first movie projector – a Zoopraxiscope. He would copy the images in the form of silhouettes onto glass disks. When rotated, the images appeared as if in motion and one rotation lasted about 3 seconds.

While Sallie Gardner at a Gallop was an experiment, it was also one of the earliest silent films. Muybridge achieved many impressive photographic feats during his lifetime and was considered a pioneer in photographic studies of motion and motion picture projection.

[Zim's Note: Since I could not find any place within this post to organically include the following two "trivia" facts about Muybridge and Stanford, I decided to just include it here as a footnote.

• Muybridge literally got away with murder in 1874. He was prosecuted and acquitted in the murder of his young wife's lover, Harry Larkyns, a San Francisco Post drama critic. The jury found that the killing was a justifiable homicide under "unwritten law."
• In 1885, Leland Stanford founded Stanford University along with his wife Jane as a memorial for their only child Leland Stanford, Jr., who died of typhoid fever at the age of fifteen. Stanford University's official name is actually "Leland Stanford Junior University."]

Sources
Leslie, Mitchell, “The Man Who Stopped Time,” Stanford Alumni Magazine, May/June 2001.
Joe Rayment, “Eadweard J. Muybridge – one of the original men in motion – celebrated with a Google Doodle,” National Post, April 9, 2012.
Joe Stanford, “Cantor exhibit showcases motion-study photography,” Stanford Report, February 12, 2003.
“Sallie Gardner at a Gallop,” San Francisco Museum.
“The Birth of the University,” Stanford University.

“I see dance being used as communication between body and soul, to express what is too deep to find for words.”

Ruth St. Denis in Radha, ca. 1906 (Photo Credit: Denishawn Collection/The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

Ruth St. Denis, along with her contemporary Isadora Duncan, is credited with founding the American dance movement, especially American modern dance. She was the first American dancer to appear in a full-length dance performance. Additionally, St. Denis was a pioneer in American sacred dance when she actively explored dance forms from diverse world religious and spiritual expression.

Ruth St. Denis in Black and Gold Nautch. (1916). Photo Credit: Denishawn Collection/The New York Public Library

Born Ruth Dennis on a farm in New Jersey, her father was an inventor and her mother was a physician who encouraged Ruth’s early interest in theater and dance. Her early training included formal and social dancing techniques, ballet lessons with Italian ballerina Maria Bonfante and skirt dancing.

In 1892 Ruth began her professional career in New York City. Initially she worked as a skirt dancer, a dance in which women dancers would manipulate long, layered skirts with their arms to create a motion of flowing fabric. Six years later, Ruth was noticed by David Belasco, a successful Broadway producer and director. He gave her the stage name “St. Denis” and hired her as a featured dancer in his company. With the dance company she toured around the United States and Europe and met diverse dancers and dance forms that would later inspire her solo dances.

She became very interested in the dancing techniques and emotions of Eastern cultures and created her own theory of dance based upon all of her early training, dancers she worked with and her reading on mythology and cultures. She left Belasco’s company in 1905 for a career as a solo artist.

In 1906, she shocked a New York audience with her portrayal in flowing robes and freestyle dance of Radha, an Indian goddess. “Radha” was her attempt at translating her understanding of Indian mythology and culture into dance form. At this point in her career, Ruth thought that Europe might offer her more. She spent three years traveled Europe performing her “translations” before returning to the United States where her dances were well-received.

Ruth St Denis in The Greek Veil Plastique. Used in vaudeville act. (1918). Photo Credit: Denishawn Collection/The New York Public Library

In 1915 she, along with her husband and dancing partner Ted Shawn, founded the Denishawn School of Dancing in Los Angeles. The school was known for its influence on ballet and experimental modern dance. It became the training grounds for dancers including Martha Graham, Jack Cole, Charles Weideman, Lillian Powell, and Doris Humphreys. The school also had a touring dance troupe that traveled the country popularizing dance as a performing art.

In 1931, Denishawn disbanded and Ruth turned to religious dance, a lifelong interest, and performed in churches and synagogues. She founded Adelphi University’s dance program in 1938. It was one of the first dance departments in an American university. Additionally, she continued to teach and choreograph independently as well as with other artists.

Ruth died of a heart attack in 1968 at the age of 89. She left a lasting legacy on the American modern dance movement, not just with her interpretations of cultural-inspired dances, but also in fostering dance through her Denishawn School of Dance. Many of her students would later became pivotal figures in dance.

Video shows Ruth St. Denis in the ‘East Indian Nautch Dance’ (1932)

Sources
Ruth St. Denis Biography at University of Pittsburgh website
Ruth St. Denis: Her Life & Legacy at ruthstdenis.org
Dance Heritage Coalition
Jacob’s Pillow Dance

Spanish surrealist painter Salvador Dali walking his pet anteater. (Unknown photographer)

Source

Andy Warhol, "Photo Booth Self-Portrait," ca. 1963

This pair of photo-booth strips is one of Warhol’s earliest experiments with photography, a medium that increasingly dominated his art during his peak years of innovation from 1962 to 1968. For Warhol, the photo booth represented a quintessentially modern intersection of mass entertainment and private self-contemplation. In these little curtained theaters, the sitter could adopt a succession of different roles, each captured in a single frame; the resulting strip of four poses resembled a snippet of film footage. The serial, mechanical nature of the strips provided Warhol with an ideal model for his aesthetic of passivity, detachment, and instant celebrity. Here, Warhol has adopted the surly, ultracool persona of movie stars such as Marlon Brando and James Dean, icons of the youth culture that he idolized.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art 

Back in May I posed about the origins of the Remembrance Poppy. In the post I discussed how Moina Belle Michael campaigned to get the poppy adopted as the national remembrance symbol and became known as the “Poppy Lady.” A few days later, I received an email from Barbara Walsh who was very happy I mentioned Moina Belle Michael because she had a personal connection with the “Poppy Lady.” [I posted her entire email in the post called “The Poppy Lady Follow-up”] She also mentioned she was writing a children’s book about the “Poppy Lady.” Over the past few months we’ve kept in touch. As the book’s release date drew closer, Barbara stated that she wanted to send me a copy. It came in the mail last week and is a beautiful book about an amazing woman!

I highly recommend the book even if you don’t have kids! Barbara tells the story of Moina beautifully, as well as accurately, and weaves the story in a way that appeals to all audiences. Additionally, the illustrations are gorgeous. And if you need any more of an incentive to check it out, a portion of the book’s proceeds will support the National Military Family Association’s Operation Purple, which benefits children of the U.S. Military. Considering that, perhaps Moina and Barbara are cut from the same cloth?!

You can find “The Poppy Lady: Moina Belle Michael and Her Tribute to Veterans” (by Barbara Elizabeth Walsh, Paintings by Layne Johnson) on Amazon.com.

I literally have my nose the book - Zim

Dmitri Kessel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

“Patrons view Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, the Louvre, 1953.”

Dmitri Kessel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

“Cleaning painting, which is upside down, a Louvre restorer tackles the central portion of Gericault’s gigantic canvas, The Raft of the Medusa.”

Dmitri Kessel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

“Children take notes during a discussion of ancient Greek pottery at the Louvre, 1953.”

Dmitri Kessel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

“Married couple and their young daughter view the crown of King Louis XV at the Louvre, 1953.”

Dmitri Kessel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

“Loading statue, worker places Roman carving of athlete on carriage to be taken to workshop where legs, put on by an earlier restorer, will be removed.”

Dmitri Kessel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

“Artists scrutinize their versions of a Titian portrait (left) and the Mona Lisa (right), Louvre, 1953.”

More photos here.

“At the going down of the sun and in the morning. We will remember them”

- Laurence Binyon “For the Fallen”

Carved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall’s face are the names of service members killed or missing during the Vietnam War. Photo Credit: National Park Service/American Society of Landscape Architects

Catapulted into instant fame and notoriety at the age of 21, Maya Lin not only made headlines around the country, she found herself in the middle of one of the country’s most bitter disputes. She did not commit a heinous crime nor was she an “heiress gone bad,” instead she merely won an art competition. However this was not a simple contest with a small cash prize. The winner’s idea would be created into a national memorial and would stand among the lofty and recognizable monuments in Washington D.C.’s National Mall. This idea would be a representation of the human sacrifice of over 58,000 soldiers and in honor of all who served in one of the most grueling and protested wars in American history – the Vietnam War.

Maya Lin with her design for the Vietnam Memorial, May 6, 1981. Photo Credit: Academy of Achievement

The Competition

Jan Scruggs came up the idea to honor the veterans of the Vietnam War with a memorial. Scruggs, himself a Vietnam veteran, founded the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. He began to raise funds after the United States Congress did not take action. Eventually, raising over $8 million in private donations, along with $2,800 of his own money. In 1980, the government finally acted on Scruggs’ idea and President Jimmy Carter designated the Constitution Gardens on the National Mall for the memorial.

Now the question was how to honor those who served and died during the Vietnam War. The memorial committee opened up the competition for public entries. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund’s criteria were that the memorial be “contemplative and reflective in character” and “not a political statement.” Also, the memorial had to be cohesive with the surroundings and bear the names of those who died in the conflict or who were still missing.

There were a total of 1,421 entries. The memorial officials chose the winner based on design alone, the artist would not be revealed until the winner was announced. In 1981, while a senior at Yale, Lin’s Vietnam Memorial proposal won. Along with the production of her design, Lin was also awarded a $20,000 contest prize.

The names of 57,000 Americans who died in the Vietnam War are listed on the wall of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in the order in which they fell. Photo Credit: Academy of Achievement

The Design
Her design was minimalist and nontraditional. The memorial, if you are unfamiliar with it, is a polished black, V-shaped granite slab seemingly rising from the ground. The strength of the granite contrasts with softness of the grass and brings a balance to both nature and architecture. Upon it bears the names of over 58,000 Americans who were killed or are missing. When asked what moved the officials to choose Lin’s design, one official stated, “It is uniquely horizontal, entering the earth rather than piercing the sky. That is very much a memorial of our times, one that could not have been achieved in another time or place.”

The Public Reacts

Maya Lin’s original design proposal. Photo Credit: Library of Congress

Public reactions to the initial design varied greatly. Some were upset that the memorial seemed to be polar opposite to the preconceived ideas of memorials. It was not as recognizable and towering as the Washington Memorial. Nor did it employ any statues like the Lincoln Memorial. Not only did Lin’s memorial submission receive criticism, some were even upset that Lin, an Asian American, created the national memorial to the devastating Southeast Asian war.

Tom Carhart, a Pentagon civil lawyer and Vietnam veteran, was a strong opponent to the chosen design. He believed the memorial was an insult to the veterans and that the wall was “a black gash of shame and sorrow, hacked into the national visage that is the Mall.” In addition, he was disappointed that the selection jury was comprised entirely of civilians, none of whom served in Vietnam. Carhart stated that “The jurors know nothing of the real war in Vietnam – the television portrayal was far from adequate.” He was adamant that his issue with the wall has nothing to do with artistic grounds, but rather that the “black trench” will forever signify how the country sees its Vietnam veterans. “Black walls, the universal color of sorrow and dishonor. Hidden in a hole, as if in shame. Is this really how America would memorialize our offering?”

Jan C. Scruggs, founder of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, standing at the apex of the Wall. Photo Credit: Dane A. Penland (Smithsonian Institution)

Not all Vietnam veterans held Carhart’s same viewpoint. Scruggs, the founder of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, was one of the 125 veterans who broke the ground to ready the memorial construction on March 26, 1982. “Let this memorial begin the healing process and forever stand as a symbol.” Virginia Governor Charles S. Robb, a Marine Corps officer during Vietnam and the son-in-law of President Lyndon B. Johnson, lost a lot of men in his company during the war. “Two of them literally in my arms,” he recalls. “The families of the men who died in my unit have asked me the whys and hows of their deaths. I’m not sure of the whys. But this monument does say we care and we remember. And that’s terribly important.”

Paul Goldberger, a reporter with The New York Times, added his opinion to the debate. He stated that Lin’s designs honored those who served in Vietnam because the memorial’s “extreme dignity and restraint honors these veterans with more poignancy, surely, than most conventional monuments.”

With the country divided on her memorial, Lin stood solidly behind her design. When some saw the minimalistic black granite as a somber slap in the face, Lin saw it as “a wound in the earth that is slowly healing.” Through this healing, she hoped that “these names, seemingly infinite in number, [would] convey the sense of overwhelming numbers, while unifying these individuals as a whole.”

The Three Servicemen

However, there were concessions made because of the controversy and negative reactions. A flagpole was placed atop the apex of the two walls with a plaque saying, “A gift from the veterans of Vietnam to the people of the United States of America.” More inscriptions were placed in the final memorial and the surrounding areas. In addition to plaques and inscriptions, a bronze statue was added to give the wall a more traditional component. The statue was named “The Three Servicemen” and was designed by Frederick Hart, a U.S. sculptor and artist, who also placed third in the original competition.

“The Three Servicemen” statue. (Source)

Depicting three soldiers, the middle man clothed in the typical Marine outfit is flanked by two men wearing U.S. Army clothing. Wanting to portray the variations of the ethnic groups who fought in the war, Hart purposely created the soldiers with different races in mind. The middle man is Caucasian, the man on the right is African American and the man on the left is Hispanic.

Visitors can see a unity between the statue and the wall. The soldiers seem to be looking at the wall as if searching for the names of their fallen comrades. There is a solemn feel with the statues that match that of the wall. Whereas there is cohesion between the two memorials, there is none between the artists. The placement of the statues is due to Lin, who was furious about the addition of a statue into her design. She demanded the statue be placed a distance from the wall, so not to directly interfere with the wall or its impact. And when the statue was dedicated, Lin was noticeably absent. Another point of resentment could be the fact that Hart was paid $200,000 for his “The Three Servicemen” commission, which is much higher than Lin’s $20,000 prize amount.

Outcome

Once the hoopla died down, Lin was offered numerous architectural commissions because of her instant celebrity status. She, however, decided to continue her studies and earned a master’s degree in architecture from Yale. Upon graduating, she designed the Civil Rights Memorial at the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, AL. Her second monument was dedicated in 1989. When interviewed in 2008 about her earthwork project, “Wave Field,” she looked back at her designs. “My greatest fear 15 years ago is that the different parts weren’t in dialogue with each other. But whether its art, architecture or memorials, I realize now that all my work is intrinsically tied to the natural landscape around us.”

In a sense, the Vietnam Memorial is still a work in progress. Since its dedication in 1982, around 333 names have been added to the wall. The largest number of names added per year took place on Memorial Day in 1986. Due to the decision to include the deaths of aircraft pilots and crews, who supported direct combat missions, another 110 names were etched into the wall that year. On Memorial Day in 2011, five additional names were honored on the wall.

U.S. veterans point out a familiar name at the Vietnam War memorial following a Veterans Day ceremony, Nov. 11, 2006. Photo Credit: United States Department of Defense

The idea of a slab of stone with names upon it does not sound like it would be a sight worth seeing. But, to those of us who have had the honor of standing in front of the wall and looking out at the seemingly endless etching of names, the wall invokes many emotions. The predominant emotion is simply the overwhelming sense of loss. Maya Lin achieved so much with her “simple” design. A person goes on a journey as they make their way along the wall with a hand extended – touching and feeling the inscribed losses. It creates a connection with the fallen, making the lives cut short much more profound. Gertrude Gerber, a volunteer at the wall, recalls one of her most unforgettable experiences.

We had a severe rainstorm the other day and I took shelter in the kiosk. This man and woman came up drenched to the skin and said they had a son killed in Vietnam and could I help them find his name. I invited them to step under the shelter and wait out the rain, but they refused. They went back to the wall and just stood there in the soaking rain staring at their son’s name.

Panoramic view of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall with the Three Soldiers sculpture in the foreground. (Source)

Information & Sources
Tom Carhart, “Insulting Vietnam Vets,” The New York Times, October 24, 1981.
B. Drummond Ayres Jr., “A Yale Senior, A Vietnam Memorial and a Few Ironies,” The New York Times, June 29, 1981.
Phil Gailey, “Vietnam Memorial: Touching, Tears, Roses, Rain,” The New York Times, August 30, 1983.
Paul Goldberger, “Vietnam War Memorial to Capture Anguish of a Decade of Doubt,” The New York Times, June 6, 1981.
Carol Kino, “Once Inspired by a War, Now by the Land,” The New York Times, November 8, 2008.
Bernard Weinraub, “Ground Broken in Capital For Memorial on Vietnam,” The New York Times, March 27, 1982.
“Remembering Vietnam,” The New York Times, May 18, 1981.
“Additions Since the Dedication,” Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.
“Vietnam Veterans Memorial,” Library of Congress.

Bath in a ruined wood, Western Front, during World War I. This image of a British soldier curled up in the remains of a cast-iron bath in the middle of a devastated wood is typical of a range of ‘joke’ photographs taken by the war photographers. It is not clear if these were intended as artistic perceptions by the photographer, or if they were simply a record of a lighter side of war. The juxtaposition of banal and jokey images in a scene of war has been continued by war artists in more recent conflicts. A notable example would be John Keane’s Gulf War painting, ‘ Mickey Mouse at the Front’, painted in 1991.

John Keane’s “Mickey Mouse at the Front,” 1991

“A view along the beach at Kuwait City with blocks of hotels and beach defences lining the seafront in the background. In the foreground there is a shopping trolley filled with anti-tank rockets, the Kuwaiti flag, dead and damaged palm trees, and a Mickey Mouse model from a fairground ride. The beach is also covered in excrement.”

(National Library of Scotland; Imperial War Museums)

Vincent van Gogh’s “Red Vineyard at Arles,” November 1888. (Source)

During his lifetime, Dutch post-Impressionist Vincent van Gogh created around 900 paintings and over 1,100 drawing and sketches. He reportedly only sold one painting - Red Vineyard at Arles – while alive.

The Hagia Sophia, a famous example of Byzantine Architecture. It was a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica then a mosque and is now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey. Photo Credit: Arild Vågen/Wikipedia Commons

Byzantine architecture had its roots in Constantinople (present-day Istanbul, Turkey) but spread throughout the Byzantine Empire in eastern Mediterranean and Near East area. The era started around 400 AD and lasted until 1453.

A mosaic of Jesus Christ in the Hagia Sophia. Behind his head is an example of a Greek cross. Photo Credit: Edal Anton Lefterov/Wikipedia Commons

Constantinople was founded upon the premise that it would be a Christian capital. Because of that, churches were erected with Byzantine influence of domes, rounded arches and intricate interior mosaics. It also utilized the Greek cross, which each arm of the cross is equal. The Architecture: A Spotter’s Guide described Byzantine architecture in the following way:

Typically, the Byzantine structure appears squat and solid from the outside; within, though, the impression is of weightlessness and light. Another Roman technique – that of mosaic – was used to shimmering effect to give an extraordinary sense of spiritual transcendence.

One of the most famous Byzantine structure is the Hagia Sophia (“Holy Wisdom”). Procopius, a Byzantine historian, once stated that the Hagia Sophia “seems not to rest upon solid masonry, but to cover the space with its golden dome suspended from heaven.” The emperor Justinian enlisted architects, Anthemius of Tralles and Isidore of Miletus, to build a great Constantinople church. It took almost six years (from 531-532 to 537) to build the Hagia Sophia. The design proved to be so daring that the dome collapsed twice, once because of an earthquake. In 1346, construction on the dome was finally completed. The only change from 1346 to the present was the addition of four minarets, which are tall spires common to Islamic mosque architecture. The Hagia Sophia was built as a Greek Orthodox cathedral but during the Ottoman rule it was converted into a mosque.

Information:
Cunliffe, Sarah, Sara Hunt and Jean Loussier. Architecture: A Spotter’s Guide. New York: Metro Books, 2010, 30-31.
The Hagia Sophia website.

Photograph by Arthur Strong, 1947 (Source)

“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.”

- C. S. Lewis

Hannah Höch's "Cut with the Kitchen Knife through the Last Weimar Beer-Belly Cultural Epoch in Germany," 1919-1920: Photomontage and collage with watercolor.

Before Dada was there, there was Dada.

Hans (Jean) Arp, "Untitled (Collage with Squares Arranged according to the Laws of Chance)," 1916-1917: Collage made from torn-and-pasted paper on colored paper.

The early 20^th Century brought on many changes, the advent of machine-dominated workforces, world wars and the sense of separation permeated popular literature and culture. Art movements documented these changes and new movements arose that symbolized a changing world. One particular movement that formed as a reaction to the political and war-torn environment was a movement called Dada.  

The creation of Dada is largely contributed to Hugo Ball, a poet and theorist. In February 1916, he opened Cabaret Voltaire, a cabaret bar, in Zürich. Cabaret Voltaire promoted artistic expression and Zürich soon became a hot spot for artists fleeing their war-ridden countries for neutral Switzerland. Artist Hans Arp stated that Zürich Dadaists soon equated pre-war art with high-class egoism.

Revolted by the butchery of the 1914 World War, we in Zürich devoted ourselves to the arts. While the guns rumbled in the distance, we sang, painted, made collages and wrote poems with all our might. We were seeking an art based on fundamentals, to cure the madness of the age, and a new order of things that would restore the balance between heaven and hell.

The war perpetuated the idea of the “professionalization” of art and its merits based solely on the result and not the process or idea. Dada artists began to stress the importance of artistic process and of the idea’s originality. By rejecting society and society’s ideas of art, Dadaists found new freedom in displaying their talents.

Marcel Duchamp's "L.H.O.O.Q.," 1919: Readymade: pencil markings on a "Mona Lisa" reproduction print.

Dada popped up in the United States almost simultaneously with the Zurich’s movement. It started in New York City by two artists Francis Picabia and Marcel Duchamp. Both were known within the French Cubist circles before the war. Duchamp, particularly, believed that ideas should replace the actual skill when looking and dissecting art, it was very much the idea of “art-for-art’s sake.”

By the early 1920s, the war was fading and new movements beginning to emerge, Dadaists and the movement ended. Many of the artists slowly dissolved into the Surrealist movement. The impact of Dada on art was long lasting, especially though the techniques that Dada popularized such as collages, photomontages and readymades. Some of the artists associated with the Dada movement include the following: Max Ernst, George Grosz, Marcel Janco, Hans Arp, Francis Picabia, Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp, Tristan Tzara and Hannah Höch.

What’s in a name?
Reportedly, there were many reasons for the selection of the name “Dada,” but many like it because the word seems open-ended. It also is similar to a child’s first sound therefore symbolic of a new beginning.
             – In Rumanian, it means “yes yes.”
             – Dada means a “sign of foolish naiveté” in German.
             – In French, it is the word for rocking horse.

Further Reading
Elger, Dietmar. Dadaism. Los Angeles: Taschen, 2004.
Hopkins, David. Dada and Surrealism: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. website.
DADA Companion website.

Hannah Höch’s collage found online here.
Hans Arp’s photomontage and collage found online here.
Marcel Duchamp’s readymade found online here.

Outside of Alliance, Nebraska, a structure emerges from the prairie grass. From the distance, it looks like nothing more than a cluster of oddly shaped stones but as you get closer, the details start to emerge. The details of the structure seem to be a bit confusing. Cars are placed upon each other while other cars seem to sinking or surfacing from the ground. One of the obvious questions that may come to mind when looking at this large metal structure is “Why?” Why would someone construct a monument to rusted, old cars? Then, as if a light bulb switches on, it begins to look familiar.

The monument in question is called Carhenge. It replicates the famous Stonehenge structure in England and consists of 38 American vintage cars that are spray painted gray. The diameter of the Carhenge circle is around 96 feet and proportionally similar to Stonehenge.

Artist Jim Reinders assembled and dedicated the car sculpture in the summer of 1987 as a memorial to his father, a local farmer who lived where Carhenge stands.

At one point, a couple of foreign cars were included, but the artist tore them down and buried them. He replaced them with Detroit-made cars instead. A 1962 Caddy takes the place of a traditional gravestone on the foreign cars’ “graves.” On the Caddy it reads, “Here lie three bones of foreign cars. They served our purpose while Detroit slept. Now Detroit is awake and America’s great!”

Stonehenge in England

[Carhenge information - Carhenge website and roadsideamerica.com]

[Carhenge photos - Sunset behind Carhenge and detail of Carhenge; Stonehenge photo]

Rembrandt's "Jacob de Gheyn III

Rembrandt’s 1632 oil painting, Jacob de Gheyn III,had been stolen four times and each time it has pop up anonymously. This “takeaway Rembrandt” has been found under a graveyard bench, in a bicycle basket and in a luggage rack of a train station.

[Information - New York Times, "A Rembrandt is Found in German Train Station," October 8, 1986.]

[Photo and Information - The Independent]