Modernism Art Photography and Architecture

¶ … City of Ambitions.

Alfred Stieglitz

Modernist Photography

Photogravure

By the early 20th century, photography had established itself as more than a means of documentary evidence. The medium had the potential to convey the artist's impressions as well as political content. Photographers like Alfred Stieglitz capitalized on the power of the medium to depict social and political realities without sacrificing aesthetics. "The City of Ambitions" is one example of Stieglitz's early work, a large portion of which uses urban life as its focus.

"The City of Ambitions" is New York, the American -- even global -- hub of capitalist enterprise. Stieglitz captures New York's industrial side. Not only does the photographer wait for the time of day during which factory smoke is at its most visible, but Stieglitz also includes in the composition multiple features of urban architecture including the river dock and the burgeoning high rises sprouting up around it and beyond. The photogravure technique enables a soft effect, which is an apt counterpart to the otherwise harsh and angular imagery of the edifices. As photography could still be considered a new art form, Stieglitz is clearly experimenting with composition with "The City of Ambitions." The walkway in the bottom right foreground provides the necessary diagonal line drawing the eye towards the center of the image, where a flag waves. Plumes of smoke dominate the landscape, even though solid buildings make up the substantial bulk. Both horizontal and vertical lines keep the eye moving.

Movement and progress are in fact core themes of the urban landscape and modernist aesthetic. Moreover, photographers like Stieglitz used their medium "to expose society's evils ... the degrading conditions of workers in big-city slums, the barbarism of child labor," ("Early Documentary Photography"). Unlike some of Stieglitz's contemporaries like Riis, the photographer's goal is not necessarily to overtly critique urban life but to simply show it as it is without judgment. There is beauty in industry, and yet the viewer is free to explore the darker sides of urbanization and industrialization simply by contemplating the workers in the factories, the air quality in the city, and the crowded conditions symbolized by the congested skyscrapers.

"Fountain"

Marcel Duchamp

1917

Dada

Urinal

Marcel Duchamp's "Fountain" epitomizes the Dada movement, which relied heavily on "unorthodox materials," as well as "readymade" objects ("World War One and Dada"). In this case, Duchamp uses a urinal as a readymade object but displays it in a whole new way. The Dada movement was characterized by "alternative visions of the world," due to the palpable disgust and disillusionment felt after the First World War ("World War One and Dada"). Displaying a urinal and calling it a "Fountain" is a deliberate snub to high brow culture. Moreover, Duchamp is coyly "taking the piss" by making fun of modern society. Modern society and its sacrosanct institutions like capitalism and nationalism had become corrupt, and Dada was a direct rebellion against those perceived social and political ills ("World War One and Dada"). Art was more about political statements and intellectual stimulation than it was about aesthetics for artists like Duchamp.

Duchamp produced similar "readymade" pieces throughout his career and set the stage not only for emerging Dada artists but also for conceptual art in general. Conceptual art grew from the Dada philosophy that art should provoke and not simply please the eye. With "Fountain," Duchamp simply places a male urinal upside-down, not even bothering to alter the readymade object. The cavalier attitude Duchamp shows toward the establishment of art highlights the essential feature of Dada as a rebellion against conformity and elitist or academic art.

"Fountain" redefines both "art" and "artist." With this piece, Duchamp essentially points out that art is not just about aesthetics or "something beautiful made by a technically skilled artist," ("World War One and Dada"). Instead, art is something that is challenging, thought-provoking, and political in tone or effect. Likewise, the artist is someone who is responsible for working towards social and political goals and not just a technician capable of rendering an image or a scene accurately or prettily.

"Bauhaus Building in Dessau."

Walter Gropius (architect)

1926

Bauhaus

Reinforced steel

Although the Bauhaus movement began in Weimar, the school itself shifted to Dessau in 1926. The founder and key figure of the Bauhaus, Walter Gropius, was an architect who designed the new Dessau building to house students of the Bauhaus movement. Students of Bauhaus studied not only architecture but all types of arts and crafts: representing a revolutionary approach to art instruction. "Bauhaus effectively leveled the old hierarchy of the arts, placing crafts on par with fine arts such as sculpture and painting, and paving the way for many of the ideas that have inspired artists in the late 20th century," ("Bauhaus").