The opinions and perspectives young people have on social issues and the human condition are valid and relevant. The above statement has been thoroughly justified through an in-depth analysis of two artworks displayed in ‘The Creative Generations Exhibition’ held at the Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane. The exhibition has exemplified multiple artworks that support and precisely communicate the powerful views young people have on social issues and the human condition. Two artworks that clearly support this statement are ‘Power Lust’ by Guy Lobwein, and ‘Cultural Congregation’ by Taylah Jardine. Both works will be contrasted and compared to construct a comprehensive justification proving that young peoples’ outlooks and attitudes on social matters …show more content…
and the human condition are both valuable and perceptive. Guy Lobwein’s ‘Power Lust’, pen on paper, is a large and complex imaginative drawing based on the concept of power and war.
This body of work features two drawings. Lobwein refers to his work’s theme, “Humanity’s history overflows with lust for control, dominance and power” (G. Lobwein, 2014). Believing, “whether it be environment, astronomical or biological, man has tried to conquer” (G. Lobwein, 2014). The message the artwork has intended to communicate is that, through an ”ever-increasing desire to control and dominate each other through blood and war” the “heatless and cruel” human condition wars are still raged (G. Lobwein, 2014). The work depicts a scene of destruction and devastation, involving what appears to be a sea of men moving through an annihilated city of skyscrapers and around tanks, whilst planes fly overhead and crash into buildings. Ultimately creating a scene of destruction and terror throughout the …show more content…
composition. The lines and shading are vastly detailed in this artwork as it portrays the movement of the chaotic and frantic atmosphere of warfare. This drawing is monochromatic, containing no colour, drawn completely in pencil. Repeated and overlapped lines create sense of movement and enhance the definition of the repeated shapes of the soldier’s helmets. The figures featured in the scene include; soldiers, flags, destroyed buildings, planes, tanks and guns. In the right foreground there is a large army tank, next to it are numerous soldiers wearing helmets and in the background are the destroyed buildings. Throughout the drawing the size of the main figures, mentioned previously vary in size to create the scene. The tone through out is varied to create space within the frame of the drawing. “Political, social, cultural and religious attributes relate to the external ideologies of power.
Power is a corrupting entity, which is a part of our human condition as we show our cruel and heartless qualities. The past, present and future reflect these pestilent characteristics.” Lobwein’s, ‘Power Lust’, more than adequately communicates his deep and profound awareness of this social issue. It is primarily an image of war and destruction, offering a visual account of the devastating and chaotic impact of war on both civilian life and communities. This artwork can be seen as reminiscent of the ‘9/11’ attacks on the USA, particularly in its representation of the buildings and aeroplanes. ‘Cultural Congregation’, by Taylah Jardine, is a totem pole like sculpture using acrylic paint on wood. This artwork luridly exhibits three vividly coloured totem poles, of which “two of the three represent the cultural diversity of modern cities and countries” (T. Jardine, 2014). The social issue of cultural congregation in various cities and countries is expressed through the use of totem
poles. Multiple radiant colours have been utilized to exhibit the culturally diverse buildings throughout the world including; aero blue, amaranth pink, amaranth purple, android green, amethyst purple, black, cyan cornflower blue, canary yellow, bubble gum pink, bright lavender, blush pink, Persian green and mantis green. Painted on the three totem poles are stylised and simplified versions of different architectural styles from a variety of countries. The majority of lines are straight however there are still curved lines. Each totem pole is made from three layers of wood, stacked on each other. Different culture’s formations are expressed though the variations of colours. Each building is rendered with colours ranging from two to five. Jardine states, “The third totem pole doesn't represent any culture in particular,” where as two of the totem poles represent the cultures of Russia and Japan (T. Jardine, 2014). The simplicity style of the work draws attention to the optimistic colours and shapes. This artwork symbolizes the “building of each civilisation, showing how they spread and develop” (T. Jardine, 2014). The idea of multicultural and urban congregation is clearly communicated to viewers. “The totem poles explore how cultures congregate in other cities and countries; the contemporary urban landscape is imagined as a cultural melting spot” (T. Jardine, 2014). In this artwork there is an ironic sense of relationships between the countries as their different cultural establishments are positioned close to each other. This configuration portrays the relationships between countries and the idea of unity. Not only has the placement of each building been carefully decided upon, the colours and shapes have been used to create patterns throughout all totem poles. Lobwein ‘s hand drawn artwork, ‘Power Lust’ “articulates our ever increasing desire to control and dominate each other through blood and war.” In comparison, Jardine’s acrylic on wood, ‘Cultural Congregation’ explores the universal social subject of cultural diversity among modern cities and countries. Lobwein and Jardine have explored completely distinctive social themes and issues throughout their works and have chosen to present their works in different mediums. These two artworks, however share similarities in the message they both communicate to an audience, that is, young people’s opinions and perspectives on social issues, as well as the human condition are valid and relevant to society. The Creative Generations exhibition has not only showcased works that are diverse and informative, it has provided the youth of Queensland with a voice. Allowing viewers an opportunity to view a broad range of social issues in relation to the human condition. Through their works, Lobwein and Jardine have precisely communicated through their the powerful views young people have on social issues. ‘Power Lust’ and ‘Cultural Congregation’ reveal differentiating themes to the public. Additionally they offer an insight into the thoughts and opinions young people have on society today.
The first image shows Dragan dragging a dead body off the streets with the corresponding quote explaining how he understands that “there’s right and wrong… the world is binary”. The idea that the world is ‘binary’ is significant because it brings up imagery of black and white, with no shading, which visually contrasts with his ideas beforehand where he stated the war made everything around him appear gray. This outlines how Dragan’s idea on the had changed overtime, while before he believed he was in the ‘shaded region of war’ and that he was not on one side or the other, he now believes that there are only two sides that he could be on, which are right or wrong with respect to the civilians of Sarajevo and the snipers on the hills. The following Image serves to strengthen Dragan’s new mindset, where he notes that if the citizens of Sarajevo are “contempt to live with death… the Sarajevo will die”. This demonstrates how he believes the world is binary, and those who do not stand for Sarajevo are ultimately supporting it’s
This art analysis will define the theme of the universality of 20th century modern warfare in the context of modern works of art by David Levinthal and Roger de la Fresnaye. David Levinthal’s “Untitled” (1972) is commentary on the mass killing of modern warfare in the 20th century, which killed many millions of men during Hitler’s invasion of Europe. Levinthal’s childhood imagery of tanks, soldiers, and homes visualize the mass killing of war as a “universal” concept in the depiction of the modern psyche. Roger de la Fresnaye’s “Artillery” (1911) is also a commentary on cubist imagery that projects a military
What is power to a human? As time has gone by, there have been many forms of control and influence in the world. Many strive to achieve total rule over a society or group of individuals. Yet the question still presents itself to the average man. Why does man desire power so greatly even though there is visible trouble that follows? Shelley’s Frankenstein, Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron”, and Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, whether through the situation or the character themselves, depict the evils and hardships due to an imbalance and poor management of power.
George Gittoes (b.1949) creates works that that communicate the issue of the graphic horror of war. A social realist painter, photographer and filmmaker, his approach to art is that ‘he layers and accumulates material until, out of apparent chaos, there is a synthesis of idea, passion and image’ (Mendelssohn, 2014). As an eyewitness to the world's war zones, Gittoes clearly uses his work as a means of communication to society.
When somebody abuses a great amount of power, that individual can lose all their power. The struggle against someone who abuses power is perfectly depicted in the novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey. When someone abuses their power, they can impose certain feelings and actions onto others. If someone tries to conceal their personality, . Finally, if someone abuses power and is constantly challenged by another individual who is trying to take the power abuser’s power away from them, the power abuser will always be frightened of his or her challenger. When someone abuses power and takes full control, they can lose all their power and respect quickly.
The art I chose to analyze is the Destroy this Mad Brute by Harry Hopps. This piece conveys a strong message of propaganda for war since the headlines is “Destroy this Mad Brute” and there’s also words like “enlist” and “U.S. army” written at the bottom. It’s very monochromatic and doesn’t have many colors other than the bold orange headlines. Furthermore, it has a dark, gloomy, depressing perspective with bright, bold headlines. There are subtle lines that run throughout the painting to guide the viewers. In the background, there’s a shadow of a city which may be a third world country. The main focus of this art is centered towards the gorilla, however, it not a completely closed composition. It portrays a message for the audience to join
Power is the source of all corruption as supported by Dickens’s novel A Tale of Two Cities. The characters Monseigneur, Marquis of Evermonde, and the revolutionaries all become corrupt in the end because of the power they possessed. If they did not possess power, they would not have been able to complete the actions they had planned to. Then, if they’re actions did not occur, the corruption they caused would cease to exist
When a person is in power, situations arouse where they can acquire anything by lying, bribing, conning, or stealing. With these in mind anybody in power could easily become a powerful foe.
The corruptive nature of power can be observed in both novels Animal Farm by George Orwell (1945) and The Wave by Todd Strasser (1981). In the wise words of Lord Acton, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." (Phrase Finder, 2012) The simple nature of mankind is to want power and when man achieves this, he gets addicted, wants more and thus becomes corrupt. This exploitation of dominance relates to when the dictator loses his moral values and abuses power purely for his own benefit and loses sight of what the initial goals were. Even the best intentions, such as those that were only just formed in Animal Farm and The Wave, can be distorted by the basic human instinct of selfishness
Power. It is defined as the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events. Throughout time, certain individuals have acquired power in their society as a way to govern and keep order among their community. Power is not a new concept; it was used in the past by many emperors, kings, and queens, and is still being used by presidents, prime ministers, and dictators. Although, it has been used to further progress societies into what the world is like today, not all power has been used for the best of mankind. But what goes awry to make power turn corrupt? In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, it is illustrated how power can turn corrupt, when authoritative figures, who possess power, abuse it for their personal gain, rather than for the common good of the society.
"Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it" [Lord Acton, British Historian]. It is human nature that the more power one desires, the more corrupt actions they have to commit to attain power. Power is the ability to have control over people and/or things. People who are powerful can, and in most cases will, create an illusion of anything they want you to see about them. This illusion can make people blind to their true intentions.
Power is the ability to control a person’s life in a way in which the person being controlled has no say. Power is earned rightfully, sometimes. Most of the times, people use wrong ways to earn power which is never theirs to begin with. "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." (Acton). This quote is a representation of the story Macbeth, and how the character Macbeth is corrupted by power. In William Shakespeare’s novel, Macbeth, a tragic story of a hero, displays this dominant theme of power. Macbeth, a loyal, respected, and strong leader becomes the prey of his wife, who forces him to obtain power. However, Macbeth’s sense of losing his power that he has just attained causes him to utilize his own mind to ensure that he does not lose that power, leading him to make the wrong decisions. This story demonstrates that excessive desire for power can corrupt a person’s life.
The title of the painting, “The Face of War” gives a very clear understanding of what this painting is supposed to represent. When looking at the deeper meaning however, one has to consider the context of the painting. Because it was made during both a civil war-capital letters?? and the Second World War, many aspects of these wars are reflected upon in this piece.
	The pounding of shells, the mines, the death traps, the massive, blind destruction, the acrid stench of rotting flesh, the communal graves, the charred bodies, and the fear. These are the images of war. War has changed over the centuries from battles of legions of ironclad soldiers enveloped in glimmering armor fighting for what they believe to senseless acts of guerrilla warfare against those too coward to be draft-dodgers. Those who were there, who experienced the terror first hand were deeply effected and changed forever. In their retinas, images of blood and gore are burned for the rest of their life.
“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men,” quoting historian Lord Acton. Before reading the quote, I never noticed the relationship between power and corruption in the real world. I thought of power as a form of recognition for hard work, that in turn is a positive outcome. After putting some thought into it, I realized my mistake