Constructivism, Dada and Bauhaus

Hannah Hoch, "The beautiful Girl"

Dada -
Dada started in 1918 onwards, it was a group of all art types that came together to make anti war art work. Dada's idea was to go back to the beginning, simplify, strip art work back down to the basics, making images 2 dimensional. They had the idea that the body was like a machine. This is why in a lot of Dada influenced work there is machinery.

This is a image by Hannah Hoch, the image is made up of various picture clippings, that have all been put together as a collage. It holds a hidden message that is uncovered as the viewer looks at the picture in more depth. In the centre of the image there is a woman sitting with an umbrella, her face is then covered with a light bulb, on the right of her is a tire and on the left on side there is machine parts, such as gears, cogs and watches. In the top right there is picture of a woman's face, which has then had cat eyes layered over the top. The background is made up of lots of BMW car logos.  All these images juxtapose each other but link to the the industrial development and woman may be optimistic about the future and the upcoming relationship between technology and woman.

Constructivism -
A geometric style, which uses lots of shapes, colours and lines. It looks almost mechanical, some may say its not real art and that theres no craft in it. An artistic and architectural movement that emphasised art as a practice for social purposes. Constructivism is a celebration of the development of the city, it can also be used for political meanings and messages.

Bauhaus -
German school of design, the building had amazing architecture lots of glass and the full furnishings on the building such as doors, window frames and sign all look very sharp and precise. They were all about simplicity and functionality, even the type face is without decoration. The objects that were made at the Bauhaus school of design, were always curved and had no sharp edges, everything had a soft finish and had a modern abstracting influence.