#theory work

*Ten minutes of arguing resulting in  a google search*

Backyard Balcony (Hinterhaus-Balkon) , Rudolf Dischinger, 1935, Oils on Canvas (Alex)

The first, and most obvious, of our fragmentation collection. This painting features a, nude and headless, female figure on a balcony - possibly based upon a classical statue. The image harkens back to the haunting works of artists such as Georgio de Chirico. The piece is very matter-of-fact, and the figure has a realistic presence despite being quite surreal in its entirety. This could be attributed to the fact that the figure is in a realistic place; still a familiar sight to this day.

Suicide (Selbstmörder), George Grosz, 1916, Oil Paint on Canvas (Kian)

This piece, entitled 'suicide', has a  very physical sense of fragmentation as the surrounding theme of death and mental illness implies decomposition of both body and mind. The two onlookers' bodies are distorted with vacant expressions, which could represent dissociation in the face of death or alternatively the last images fading out of the dead man's mind.

The Artist with Two Hanged Women (Der Künstler Mit Zwei Erhängten Frauhen), Rudolf Schlichter, 1924, Watercolour and Graphite on Paper (Alex)

This piece was rather unexpected to see, but this does not mean it was unwanted. It is the second of our selected pieces to contain a strong theme of death. It features two painted ladies, in stages of undress, hanging from the ceiling by nooses. To the side, there is an unpainted pencil drawing of a man. No context is given for the ongoing scene in this painting, but I think that the fact that the man is not painted as the ladies are implies that either he or they are not real.

Conversation about a Paragraph (Gespräch über enien Paragraphen), Franz Radziwill, 1929/60, Oil Paint on Canvas laid on Wood (Kian)

This scene shows an angel surrounded by 2 absinthe drinkers, creating the impression that the creature is a hallucination or an idea rather than physically present. The painting was created in 1929 during heavy debates in Germany on the legislation of abortion, which is depicted through a sorrowful expression and tired, almost lifeless bodies, a mood which the pale and greying tones and the generally washed out colour scheme furthers in a way that the left figure can be sitting up and still seem dead. This piece depicts a type of fragmentation of the mind done purposefully to distract oneself from a terrible situation. Radziwill returned to the painting later in 1960 and added the angel, possibly to represent the looming fear of committing sin in the eyes of the church, or alternatively a lost child, however the meaning is very open as the theme of abortion has many religious overtones, and the artists intentions are slightly ambiguous as it could either be depicting the mental stress put on people who are having their rights taken away, or the recklessness of people who were, in the eyes of religious government, committing a mortal sin.

In Conclusion

Misenscene Screencast | Waltz with Bashir

-he is bent over a notebook, scribling frantically. Every so often, he raises his nose out of the book to mumble to himself-  ... If I compensate for Muldorf's law... But what about the somatic component... I could apply Rumbald's theory... how do I overcome the Law of Lawrenson's Variance....