Mechanical Music

Mechanical Music by H.H. Stuckenschmidt

Machines are more faster than humans, can do things humans couldn’t do
Artists would be put out of work, mechanical music looses humanist values
Art has become a privilege to the rich
“ to produce a record, the work has to be played” (pg. 130, FACS 1900 C Art and Ideas Course Reader)

This article basically suggests that back then they thought that in the near future mechanical music will take over and there will be no more need for musicians and vocalists. In some part this is true to today. Artists now a days use recording studios to their full advantage when recording their albums. Their voices can be easily manipulated taking two different recorded versions of the song and combine them to make a perfect song. Also during concerts microphones, loud speakers, base guitars and all sorts of mechanical instruments are used to enhance their performance, as opposed to them just sitting down and singing without mechanical help. However artists want to entertain their audience and the best way to do so is to use all kinds of tools to put on an extraordinary show.

The Verfremdungseffekt

V-Effekt

Verfremdungseffekt-making something familiar seem alien.
V-effect intended to shock the audience
It fused the ideological with the formal
Stage was usually very bright and the curtain usually had something projected on it
Props would be minimal
When actors said their lines they sometimes turned to audience and interacted with them, the songs would be disjointed and aimed at the audience
The Three Penny Opera used the concept of the v-effect and it became a huge success

The v-effect was very successful because it took familiar concept of theatre and created something new and exciting for its audience. Brecht made his actors interact with the audience, poke fun at them, get them involved in the plays. In lecture when Professor Wickens talked about the v-effect the first thing that popped into my head was stand up comedy. Stand up comedians are essentially actors who produce material that will make their audience laugh and feel at ease. They use the traditional aspects of theatre for example the stage the loud and interactive voice the space provided, they use minimal props but they add their comical and interactive ideas. They add songs and dance performances to enhance their comedic side, always making sure to add something new and alien to entertain the audience. All this in my opinion is somehow influenced by Brecht and his v-effect. By taking something the audience is familiar with and adding a twist to it making it seem alien, theatre can be very successful and enjoyable.

The Flaneur

The Flaneur

• a flaneur is an observer
• usually looks at everyday life and how everyday things go about throughout the day
• does not involve its self into the action just sits back and observes
• this method can be seen in the film Berlin Symphony of a City

The flaneur method can be seen allot in the movies of today. Although most movies of our time have to have a plot to keep their audience entertained, there is always and aspect of the flaneur present. Directors usually use this method to introduce a setting where the action is going to take place afterwards.

Degenerate Art

Degenerate Art

- The Entartele Kunst Ausstellung or Degenerate Art Exhibition opened in Munich on 19 July 1937.
- All art put in the Degenerate Art Exhibition was considered shameful.
- Art was considered degenerate if
1. the art insulted National Sentiment
2. it was abstract
3. it destroyed natural forms
4. utilized unnatural colours
5. it exhibited unschooled and inadequate
6. identity of artist was left winged

The Degenerate Art movement was an important asset to history because it showed today's society that opinions against certain art did exist. One however cannot say that today’s society is any better. Most of us have opinions towards art be it positive or negative. Some might think that drawing a circle on a piece of paper can be considered art and should be appreciated while others believe that type of art is a waste. In class we discussed how the government sometimes believes that money should not be spent on buying certain pieces of art. Who then decides what “good” art is?

Epic Theatre

Epic Theatre

Central Stage: action occurs in the middle
spectators sit around actors
Greek Proscenium Stage: stage jumps out to audience
audience sits in semi circle
Deep Stage: orchestra is at bottom
audience just sits in front i.e. The Oscars

* These three types of stages were considered Total Theatre and were all taken advantage of in Epic Theatre. Total Theatre was used and perfected by Erwin Piscator a famous stage designer and Walter Gropius.
* Epic Theatre developed from Total Theatre was founded by Erwin Piscator but was revolutionized and used mostly by Brecht.
* Brecht used new costumes, props, music and new stage design for his productions.
* One famous example of Epic Theatre was the Three Penny Opera which gained Brecht huge success and helped him in his career. When the opera first opened the audience didn’t know what to except and were later on shocked of the success of the opera. Brecht later went on to write the Rise and fall of the City of Mohoganny.

The Bauhaus

The Bauhaus

*Founded in 1919 in Weimer and survived until 1933
*They wanted to challenge everything around them and expand to technology as well
*They had a very precise educational structure i.e. The Bauhaus wheel.
*Curriculum was divided into two section
1 instruction in craft
2 instruction in form
*Preliminary course lasts six months and after you stay if you prove yourself worthy
*It influenced furniture, teapots and architecture
*It was a school of mostly design
*Everything consisted of three shapes being a specific colour.
*Triangle = yellow, circle = blue, square = red
*Also experimented with fonts and prints
*It can be considered part of New Objectivity

It is interesting to note how everything that the Bauhaus students designed consisted of these three basic shapes, the triangle, the circle and the square. If we compare the art world of that time to our art world we can see how Weimer art played an influential role in art today. The basic three shapes they used we still use today. Also the three colours are considered the three primary colours in art. Art can then be said is pretty much made of these three basic colours and shapes. For example when drawing the human body or when drawing a house you use the basic shapes in some form. It is also interesting how they had to make it specifically three shapes. Why not four. It goes along with that period when New Objectivity was well know and when Dialectical Montage was becoming popular and the triatic ballet was being created.