Bauhaus Movement / Philosophy & changing philosophy

The Bauhaus:
started in Weimar, Germany in 1919 - Director: Walter Gropius
moved to Dessau, Germany in 1925 - Director: Hannes Meyer
moved to Berlin, Germany in 1932 - Director: Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
closed in 1933
(each move had a different director and each director had a different philosophy)

The Bauhaus was an Art, Design and Architecture School.

1. Philosophies of Weimar Bauhaus: The Bauhaus founder, Walter Gropius, devised the curriculum. He wanted to break down the barriers between craftsmanship, architecture and industrial production. he brought people together that wouldn't normally work together and removed all boundaries between their disciplines. All students learned together and learned from each other. They were exposed to a vast range of materials and skills and were encouraged to find new and improved ways of designing everyday items.

"The Bauhaus became the centre of new thinking. Functionality and simplicity were combined with aesthetics, to produce a purer form of design. Previously, Art Nouveau had been about creating ornate, complicated, decorative products. The Bauhaus reduced the complexity of design to simplicity, functionality and an pure form of aesthetics." http://www.technologystudent.com/prddes1/bauhaus1.html

History
- WW1 ended in 1918
- Previously it had been a dictatorship under Kaiser Wilhelm II. The Reichstag (Parliament) could not make laws and could not appoint the Government, that was the Kaiser's job.
- However, WW1 changed everything when Germany was defeated. The Government fell apart, the Navy rebelled causing food riots and Germany had to sign the Armistice in November 1918. Kaiser Wilhelm II fled to Holland.
- Soon after, during the political chaos, the members of the Reichstag met in the small town of Weimar, near Berlin. They decided to set up a new democratic government in February 1919, which was a Republic, meaning it didn't have a King. This is why we refer to it as the "Weimar Republic".
- The Weimar Republic was a good democracy because it had a Bill of Rights to protect the freedoms of the people and it gave the vote to all men and women over the age of 21 (equality). They elected MPs in line with the wishes of the people and let the people elect the Reichstag, which appointed the government and made the laws. Frederick Ebert was the President of the Republic, and he was also elected by the people.
- Lots of German people didn't like the new Democracy and they found themselves being attacked from both sides, left wing and right woing politicians.
- Communists (left-wing) hayted the new government, they didn't waqnt demcracy
- Many right wing germans (Nationalists) refused to belive that they had lost the war, it was the governemtn tbhat surrendered, not the army.
- Proportional representation turned out to be a disaster too. It led to the election of many tiny parties, all of whom squabbled amongst each other, so no government could get a majority in the Reichstag – so it could never pass the laws it wanted. http://www.johndclare.net/Basics_Germany.htm

2. Philosophies of Dessau Bauhaus: Hannes Meyer
"Hannes Meyer moved away from artistic intuition towards building theory. He separated the sciences from the arts and introduced new subjects related to technology, natural science and the humanities. He also reorganised the workshops to meet the requirements of industry and an equal social ideal. The Bauhaus now aspired to two educational objectives: to educate the production or construction engineer and the artist. Instead of Gropius’s “exploration of the principles of design”, Meyer called on the students to base their designs strictly on the given requirements and to study the “life processes” of the future users. He promoted the expansion of the workshops on a cooperative basis and set up vertical brigades that united the students of various academic years in the implementation of projects such as the ADGB school building. The curriculum now included photography (in a photography workshop which was part of the advertising department) and lessons in urban planning.
Meyer’s continued critique of the direction in which the Bauhaus had developed caused increasing tensions with Walter Gropius, who had lost nothing of his power base even after his resignation. In addition, the Bauhaus’s students became increasingly politicised and radicalised as the communist influence grew. Because Meyer did not prohibit these tendencies in his role as director, Gropius ultimately pleaded to have Meyers fired in order to protect the school from political repercussions. On 1st August 1930, Meyer was dismissed summarily by the city of Dessau due to “Communist machinations”. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, who had also been recommended by Gropius, became his successor as director." http://bauhaus-online.de/en/atlas/personen/hannes-meyer

3. Philosophies of Berlin Bauhaus: Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
"Both the school and the city of Dessau had hoped that Mies van der Rohe’s authority would have a calming influence on the school’s radicalised student body. However, because of the balance of power in Dessau, which was dominated by the National Socialists, even Mies van der Rohe was unable to maintain the school’s location. He attempted to continue the school’s teaching activities in Berlin until its enforced closure in 1932.
In 1930, Mies van der Rohe became the director of the Bauhaus Dessau and began his academic teaching activities. In his brief period at the Bauhaus, Mies van der Rohe was compelled to make more and more concessions to the political circumstances: Pressured by the risk of closure, the curriculum became more conventional, the experimental work was reduced, the workshops were combined and the preliminary course was eliminated. The duration of the studies was shortened and the tuition fees increased. The students’ studios remained closed and the Bauhaus GmbH was dissolved.
The Bauhaus Dessau was closed in 1932 by a newly elected city council with a National Socialist majority. After complex negotiations in relation to the dissolution of the city of Dessau’s financial obligations towards the Bauhaus and its personnel – including the accrued revenues for licensing contracts such as those with the Kandem lamp company and the Rasch wallpaper factory – Mies van der Rohe attempted to continue to lead the school as a private institute, based in an empty telephone factory in Berlin-Steglitz." http://bauhaus-online.de/en/atlas/personen/ludwig-mies-van-der-rohe

Plan for my video installation

We only have 3 weeks left until Christmas, so in our video installation sessions we are using the videos that we recorded at the start of the year and designing our own video installation set ups for them. Working in pairs (I'm working with Jordan), we have to plan out where we re going to set up our video installation and on what kind of screen, so maybe a projector onto a wall, a series of tv screens, that kind of thing.

We also need to decide which video we're using, so either one of ours or someone else's, or even all the videos on a loop.

I shall continue to update my blog with the details that we decide and photos of our installation plans.

Maquette work in progress / metamorphosis project

So for the metamorphosis project we are currently undertaking, I have decided to focus on Diana and her metamorphosis from her normal self to the "Goddess of the Hunt", and how she must behave in accordance with this title. How she may not have wanted to punish Actaeon, but sh ehad to in order to fulfil her role as "Goddess of the Hunt". I want to create a wearable sculpture, something that I can use for SeWhat next year! So below are photos of a clay maquette I created to use so I can cast scale versions of the sculpture I intend on creating. I have already taken a cast of Elicia's body to work from so I have something small scale and something full scale. My design is like a fishtail garment, with woodland / forest growing from the skirt into the rest of the garment. I want the garment to have a stifness to it, so that Diana has to walk in a certain way, back straight, head held high, small steps...that kind of thing, so she looks forcibly strong.

Health and Safety: Clay; Wear gloves if you have a skin condition or any cuts on your hands, so that the clay doesn't irritate your skin. Other than that, clay is fairly safe, just don't try and eat it or anything stupid like that. Also, more of a technique than a health and safety factor, it might be wise to put something under your clay piece if you will be working on the same surface for extended periods of time, otherwise your piece may stick to the table...mine did! Wrap up spare clay and your piece of work to prevent it drying out if you wish to continue working on it at a later date. Add small amounts of water to moisten the clay if it becomes to dry to work with, however this may not always work.

Sam Taylor-Wood / Video Installation

Still Life, 2001

> 3 minute time lapse

> Dark and dull video, lifeless colour theme

> Biro pen next to display of fruit which remains untouched throughout video - why is it there?

Possible meanings:

> Fruit represents the body and pen represents the mind. The body will break down but we leave an imprint on the world once we are gone

> Comparison between nature and man made objects. Nature will decay but the man made object remains untouched and strong

> Could be promoting the message of recycling, man made objects don't decompose so we should take responsibility when disposing of them

A Little Death, 2002

> Time lapse decay of a rabbit

> Dark and dull theme

> As rabbit collapses, insects crawl all over it, feeding off the remains

> In "Still Life" there is a stationary object that is unaffected by the decomposition around it, and in "A Little Death" there is a piece of fruit that is perhaps a reflection of the pen in the previous video?

Possible Meanings:

> The title could relate to the fact that the video is actually showing how the insects are living thanks to the decomposing rabbit, they thrive off it's death

> Maybe the fact that we focus on the death rather than the life that has been lived / will continue to live thanks to this death

> Maybe a comparison between us humans and insects, we continue to eat meat when there is untouched fruit that is a renewable resource

These are time lapse and really weird! Sam Taylor-Wood sets up cameras to film decomposing objects for days, maybe even weeks or months. They are filmed using time lapse photography, so photos will be taken at set times, for example every 5 minutes or every hour maybe if the decomposition is particularly slow. It's kind of a bit gruesome to watch, especially the rabbit one! But it is really cool to watch too.

Video about changing identity

I've decided I really like stop frame animation films like these two, I like the slight movements where they did not stay exactly still for each frame. I could maybe do something like this putting make up on? I could even maybe show it in reverse so it looks like I'm taking my make up off but using the products and tools I used to put it on. This could represent a need to be accepted by society, through wearing make up, but the video would be showing myself taking my make up off, therefore accepting that I don't need make up to make myself look pretty to fit in.

Decomposing dress / Video installation ideas

for my video installation I was thinking about doing something with textiles, as it's what I do and I'd like to mix the two subjects. So I was thinking of doing a decomposing dress and maybe having it as a time lapse video? I could use flowers, or food? I'm not sure what else would decompose in a short space of time...

Otherwise I could make a dress and physically decompose it? Maybe cut bits off, a bit like Yoko Ono's performance, "Cut Piece", where she sat down and let random people cut bits of her clothing off. http://imaginepeace.com/archives/2680

Or I could make a garment and film myself wearing it, but purposefully trying to ruin it, for example rolling round in mud, wearing it in water, that kind of thing, to see the state it got in. Then I could have multiple screens showing the different activities with the dress thrown on the floor near the screens?

Anyway, some pictures of "decomposing dresses"