Twentieth-Century art Essay Example for Free

Twentieth-Century art Essay In 1902 Boccioni left Rome to study the Impressionists in Paris; later, in 1904, he settled for some months in Russia with a family he had known in France. Through a trip to France in the autumn of 1911 Boccioni had become familiar with Cubist techniques. This new experience helped him to achieve a more autonomous artistic language in which the fragmentation of color was combined with a deeper perception of space. With time Boccioni was evolving an image of staggering physical power, and explored different means of expression. In his The City Rises of 1910-11 (Fig. 1), a painting of intense ambitiousness, done just at the threshold of his breakthrough into Futurism, it is quite apparent that he was indebted to Cubist inventions for the depiction of a fractured space and the breaking down of forms across the picture plane. But to this he adds something the Cubists had noticeably shied away from: color – the kind which illuminated and even decomposed forms in Impressionist painting with its resonance and brilliance. According to the art critic, Rosenblum, Boccioni still prolifically utilizes here a modified Impressionist technique whose atomizing effect on mass permits the forceful symbols of horse and manpower to slip out of their skins in a blur of moving light (Rosenblum, 1996). Figure 1 Umberto Boccioni The City Rises, 1910-11 Oil on canvas 6 ft 6 1/2 ins x 9 ft 10 1/2 ins Museum of Modern Art, New York In this work, painted in a half-naturalistic style and made up of dots and whirling strokes of vibrant color, forms, light and color melt into frenzy of simultaneous activities, each actively pursuing the other for clarity and visual authority. The result is something like visual noise, where each gesture or diminished form takes on the personality of a boisterous shout in a turbulent crowd. The artist attempts to express not merely people moving but movement itself and the collective emotion of the crowd. The relentless activity of The City Rises typified the one of the sides of Boccioni’s character where the brooding, emotional qualities of an artist were not easily suppressed. In the City Rises against the Milanese urban background of smoking chimneys, scaffolding, a streetcar, and a locomotive, enormous draft horses tug at their harnesses, while street workers attempt to direct the animals’ explosive strength. Robert Rosenblum in the book Cubism and Twentieth-Century Art describes pictorial means of â€Å"realizing this veneration of titanic energies and industrial activity† utilized in the painting as anachronistic and focuses on â€Å"the prominent role given to horse power† as on a symbol of that anachronism (Rosenblum, 1996, 180). Yet it appears that radical Boccioni’s treatment of forms within this Cubist space was actually much more conservative than that of his less political friends Picasso and Braque, and he never completely let go of the descriptive character of his work. On the other hand, Boccioni was at some pains to distinguish his movement from that of Cubism. As he saw it, the Cubists were merely projecting as simultaneous onto the plane of the canvas the sequence of aspects from which the object was viewed, whereas the planes of Futurism emanate from the dynamic interior of desolidified objects (Antliff, 2000, 722). When war was declared, he, like many of his Futurist comrades, immediately enlisted and joined the Lombard Cyclists Brigade. After short pause he returned to military service and shortly after was accidentally thrown from his horse during the cavalry training exercise and died following day, aged 33 (Osborn, 2001). It is so ironic that a Futurist should have met his death by being thrown from a horse, when his propagating of speed and dynamism would have recommended a more suitable vehicle, like an automobile or an airplane. Even more ironic seems the fact that the horse was a kind of leitmotiv of Boccioni’s art. In The City Rises immense flamboyant horses energize the foreground while some rather poky buildings rise in the background. It is with reference to the horse that Boccioni explains the principles of Futurism. â€Å"A running horse does not have four legs,† he writes in Technical Manifesto of Futurist Painting, â€Å"It has twenty, and their movements are triangular. † (Boccioni et al. ) And perhaps the greatest irony of all was the artist’s welcome embrace of the First World War as a â€Å"cleansing† of culture. However, with the horrors of the First World War, Futurism died too. Works Cited Antliff, Mark. â€Å"The Fourth Dimension and Futurism: A Politicized Space. † The Art Bulletin v. 82 no. 4 (2000): 720-33. Boccioni, Umberto, et al. Technical Manifesto of Futurist Painting. 1910 http://www. unknown. nu/futurism/techpaint. html (accessed April 12, 2007). Osborn, Bob. â€Å"The Pre-Futurist Years. † Futurism and the Futurists. http://futurism. org. uk/boccioni/boccframes. htm (accessed February 25, 2007) Rosenblum, Robert. Cubism and Twentieth-Century Art. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1966 Taylor, Joshua C. Boccioni. New York: Double Company, Inc, 1961.

Responses to Persecution :: Jews Judaism Religion Suffering Essays

Responses to Persecution Jews are no strangers to suffering. Throughout the ages, many others have also been victims to unspeakable cruelty, but the judgement of Winston Churchill is almost certainly the definitive description of the uniqueness of the Holocaust: "The Final Solution is probably the greatest, most horrible crime ever committed in the whole history of the world." Holocaust scholar Deborah Lipstadt points out two reasons why the German program of genocide remains in a class by itself as an example of evil: "It was the only time in recorded history that a state tried to destroy an entire people, regardless of an individual's age, sex, location, profession, or belief. And it is the only instance in which the perpetrators conducted this genocide for no ostensible material, territorial, or political gain." In fact, the Holocaust remains incomprehensible. But that is all the more reason why it must at the very least be remembered. Hitler played heavily on the anti-Semitism already rooted within his people. He resurrected ideas that a previous king of Germany, Frederick the Great, had introduced. There were distinct categories of human beings. Essentially, the Germans were Aryans, and everyone else was sub-human. Hitler took these ideas and embellished them. He blamed the Jews for "two great wounds upon humanity: "Circumcision of the Body and for the conscience of the soul.† As Hitler gained popularity, his hatred of Jews spread and became a rallying cry. The Nazi propaganda paper, Der Sturmer, revived the "Blood Libels." The church would warn their constituents: "Watch your children 6-7 weeks before Passover†¦ Everyone knows that just before Passover Jews need the blood of a Christian child, maybe, to mix in with their Matzah." The attitude taught to the children was, "Just as one poisonous mushroom can poison a whole family, one Jew can poison a whole town or a whole country!" Der Sturmer was running contests encouraging German children to write in. One little girl wrote, "People are so bothered by the way we’re treating the Jews. They can’t understand it, because they are God’s creatures. But cockroaches are also God’s creatures, and we destroy them." Words can create an attitude. If a person says something loud enough and often enough, he creates a climate. And under that climate, all sorts of things can happen. This was one of the was the Jews where terribly and horrifically persecuted.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The German scientific community got on the bandwagon with scientific presentations.

Gmos

Shayna Powell GMO: Helpful or Harmful? The battle about genetically modified food is intensifying more and more each day as to whether it is doing more harm than good to the health of the environment and the general population. While there is some potential for a successful GMO world, there are far too many risks and safety factors involved. The factors include the unknown consequences of eating GMOs, the effect of genetic engineering on the environment and genetic diversity, and the massive amounts of herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides required in GMOs.These products are unsafe, unnatural, and have the potential to cause irreversible damage in the future. Others who disagree might argue that GMOs increase food supply, tolerance of harsh environmental conditions on crops, and pest and disease resistance. While these arguments may have some validity, the idea that these products can be very unsafe and damaging cannot be excused because of these pros. First, genetic engineering can reduce genetic diversity. Plants with reduced genetic diversity cannot handle drought, fungus, or pests as well as natural plants can.GMOs strengthen homogeneity and increase the vulnerability of crops to environmental changes. There is also a concern for the spread of altered genes to weeds and other wild relatives creating â€Å"super-weeds† that will be resistant to herbicides found in GMOs. This in turn would defeat the purpose of genetically engineering crops. In the end, the GM process will be more costly to farmers and agriculture itself. In addition, GMOs require massive amounts of herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides.According to Mark Anslow, Ecologist Editor, â€Å"no genetically modifies crop has yet eliminated the need for chemical fertilizers in order to achieve expected yields. † (Anslow, 464) Also, these chemicals are poisonous and should never be eaten. Why then would companies such as Syngenta and Monsanto find it safe for humans to ingest such pois on? Finally, the consequences of eating GM products are widely unknown. Experts say that 60 to 70 percent of processed foods have ingredients that have been genetically modified. That means that most breakfast cereals, snack foods, some baby foods, sodas and oils are being consumed without known risks.In addition, food items that contain GMOs are not labeled in America. According to Jeffrey Smith â€Å"altered nutrients and toxins can result in developmental problems. † (Smith, 471) This has resulted in the nutritional studies on young and developing animals. However humans are very different from animals and could have far different reactions than those shown form tests done on animals. In order to prevent future disasters, long-term studies of biotech foods should be conducted to determine long-term effects. In conclusion, too many risk factors exist for GMOs to be overlooked as a harmless biological advancement.Studies should be done overtime to reveal what effects genetic ally engineered food can have on the environment and the consumers in the future. While trying to make a â€Å"quick-fix† in the shortcoming of nature, responsible actions should be taken to ensure the safety and well-being of those partaking in the GMO movement. Works Cited Anslow, Mark. â€Å"Ten Reasons Why GM Won't Feed the World. † Good Reasons with Contemporary Arguments Smith, Jeffrey. â€Å"Another Reason for Schools to Ban Genetically Modified Foods† Good Reasons with Contemporary Arguments

Relationship between Inequality and Financial Crisis Essay

Relationship between inequality and financial crisis The most recent global crisis has rejuvenated interest in the relationship between inequality, credit booms, and financial calamities. Many analysts propose that rising levels of inequality led to a credit boom and eventually to a financial crisis. Others, however, have distanced themselves from that notion arguing that while inequality can be blamed for many things, the global crisis may not be one of them. In deriving a personal stand regarding the above predicament I will have to evaluate the different ideologies that most economic scholars have applied in deriving their conclusions on whether the cases of inequalities in the world’s population mostly in the US, contributed to the†¦show more content†¦It suggests that given the rise in levels of inequality, the credit expansion in the personal sector before the recession was both necessary for supporting aggregate demand and employment, and it was unsustainable. According to this hypothesis, government policies tha t explicitly aimed at promoting lending to low income groups were the one to blame for the crisis. It also blames economists for not learning from the previous depression that occurred in 1920. A more simplified explanation is that given by economists from the International Monetary Fund and academia. The overall discovery from their research was the trend where the rich got richer while the poor struggled even more to make ends meet decades before both recessions of 1920 and 2008. The debts levels increased due to the availability of cash from the rich which they used to buy bonds and bank deposits. Cash in the banks was provided to the poor and middle class in form of debt as they tried to maintain their standards of living. One groups’ increasing wealth and the others’ increasing reliance on debt spurred growth in the financial sector due to the boom in lending, an imbalance which would rectify itself through a reversal at the end of 2007 causing the bank crisis of 2008. It is from this explanation that I draw my conclusion that the increasing levels of inequality did indeed have a role to play in each of theShow MoreRelatedRelationship Between Income Inequality And Financial Sector Development969 Words   |  4 PagesFinancial development boosts economic growth have been shown by the increasing number of scholars, however whether the financial sector development could benefits the income distribution is still controversial. Under this question, this essay try to use statistically method to explore the relationship between income inequality and financial sector development. This essay’s results present that inequality decreases as financial development. 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