Week 8 assignment: essay – interrelationships reflection apa format | Applied Sciences homework help

1. Compare Ballester’s poster with Peter Blume’s painting The Eternal City (see Figure 1-3), which was not designed to be propaganda but nevertheless presents an anti- Fascist message of a monstrous Mussolini and his Blackshirts beating people. In what ways are Blume’s artistic choices much different than Ballester’s? Are there any similarities?

FIGURE 14-7 Anselmo Ballester, To Us!, Italian Fascist propaganda poster (ca. 1930), lithograph, 55 × 78.5 inches. ©DeAgostini/Getty Images continued 363 jac16871_ch14_352-377.indd 363 12/9/17 10:32 AM mouse pads. But he was also thinking about the work of painters such as William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825–1905), whose technique and craftsmanship are impeccable but whose paintings are to some extent empty yet very appealing. Bouguereau is often cited as producing kitsch, which means paint- ings that appeal to the masses in part because they are easy to respond to and their skill in presentation implies that they must be important. They are completely without irony because they obviously expect to be taken seriously. They are designed to awaken in the viewer a sense of sweetness, pity, and sentimentality. Critics describe kitsch as pre- tentious, demanding from the viewer responses that the work itself really does not earn. Kitsch is work that says, “I am very impressive, so I must be very important.” In looking at Bouguereau’s Cupid and Psyche (Figure 14-8), what response do you feel it asks you to give to it? What is its importance? Yet, no matter what one might say about Cupid and Psyche as an ex- ample of bad taste, there is a wide audience that finds it quite delight- ful. Who can resist the cherubic pair and their childlike affection for each other? Who can say that there might not be room for such appre- ciation, even if the painting does not have the same kind of aesthetic value as, say, Manet’s A Bar at the Folies-Bergère (see Figure 4-16)? Jeff Koons’s sculpture Michael Jackson and Bubbles (Figure 14-9) portrays a garishly dressed Michael Jackson with his chimpanzee Bub- bles. This sculpture, which was produced in an edition of three in a workshop in Germany, has been described as “tacky” kitsch primarily because it seems to be in such bad taste. Yet, one of the copies sold for more than $5 million, and the other two are in museums in San Francisco and Los Angeles. FIGURE 14-8 William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Cupid and Psyche as Children. 1890. Oil on Canvas, 277⁄8 × 47 inches. Private Collection. ©Christie’s Images/Bridgeman Images FIGURE 14-9 Jeff Koons (b. 1955), Michael Jackson and Bubbles. 1988. Porcelain, 42 × 70½ × 32½ inches (106.7 × 179.1 × 82.6 cm). San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Purchased through the Marian and Bernard Messenger Fund and restricted funds. ©Jeff Koons 364 jac16871_ch14_352-377.indd 364 12/9/17 10:33 AM decorAtion The instinct to decorate objects seems to have begun very early. We know of few cultures that do not decorate their tools, their garments, their weapons, and some- times themselves. The impulse seems to derive from a desire to have something beautiful to sustain their attention. The concept of beauty is not discussed in art circles today as it was even a hundred years ago. For our discussion of the arts, beauty is implied, but as we aim for insight and revelatory values in art, we can see Koons presented sculptures of vacuum cleaners, basketballs, inflatable toys, and other everyday items with such seriousness as to attempt to convince his audience that they were high art. Late in his career he even made essentially pornographic represen- tations of himself and his wife, a former porn star. In the case of Bouguereau, there may have been no conscious intention to produce kitsch, but Koons certainly knew the traditions of kitsch and seems to have been intentionally producing it with a sense of irony and awareness. He seems to have been challenging his audience to appreciate the work not as kitsch, but because it is kitsch and that the audience knows it is kitsch. Bouguereau’s audience, by contrast, would appreciate his work without an awareness that it is considered kitsch by respected art critics. What all this demonstrates is that kitsch is a complex issue in art. Because it is es- sentially a description that relies on a theory of taste, we must keep in mind that taste is highly individual. Yet, we must also recognize that one develops a taste in the arts by studying them and expanding one’s experience of the arts. A person with a wide expe- rience of music or painting will develop a different sense of taste than a person who has only a meager experience. Kitsch has been around for centuries, especially since the 1700s, but now it seems to have invaded every aspect of our society. Bad taste greets us everywhere—taste- less advertisements, silly sitcoms and soap operas, vile music, superficial novels, por- nographic images, and on and on. Where, except in virgin nature, is kitsch completely absent? According to Milan Kundera, “The brotherhood of man on earth will be possible only on the base of kitsch.” Jacques Sternberg says, “It’s long ago taken over the world. If Martians were to take a look at the world they might rename it kitsch.” Are these overstatements? As you think about this, take a hard look at the world around you. PERCEPTION KEY Kitsch 1. Do you agree that there is something such as good taste and bad taste in the arts? What are the problems in making any judgment about someone’s taste? Are you aware of your own taste in the arts? Is it changing, or is it static?