Download - contrasting war

contrasting war

photomontages of John Heartfield and John Yates

table of content

I the art of collage

II the artists - biographies

III the subject-matter: war

IV the collages

VI references




IV the collages

VI references

in the process of creating a photomontagethe collagist assembles parts and piecescomposes and comments on themtherefore fabricating a picture

its not epic length and great detail what is aimed atbut the garishly highlighted clipping

resulting in

an exposing excerpt or an unveiling quote




IV the collages

VI references

John Heartfield

born in Germany 1891

changed his original name [ Helmut Herzfelde ] in protest due to the German animosities toward Great Britain in 1916 but is refused official registration

joined the Communist Party of Germany one day after its founding in 1918 and started creating bills, writings and printed matters for them

worked for the union paper „Arbeiter-Illustrierte Zeitung“ and various satirical and political magazines

is confronted with repeated dismissals, bans & complaints and gets expatriated by the National Socialists in 1934

fled to Great Britain and after the war returned to the German Democratic Republic where he lived until his death in 1968

John Heartfield had one mottoleading his work:

„Benütze Foto als Waffe“

[ use photograph as a weapon ]

John Yates

was born in 1965

grew up in England, shortly moved to Germany and then back to England. During his high school years he became a great admirer of Heartfields work. Got an education as a graphic designer

shortly worked as auch in an advertising agency but moved to San Fransisco in 1988 where he entered the punk scene

worked for the Alternative Tentacles Label for ten years and got a reputation for designing covers for such bands as NoMeansNo, Jawbreaker, Crass and the Dead Kennedys. Also ran his own record company [„Allied Recordings“, now defunct]

nowadays does graphic design for the AK Press and runs his own graphic design company „Stealworks“

John Yates´ main targetis the capitalistic consumer societyand its mechanisms of seduction:

"Business functions on the notion of visibility as viability; if it can be seen it can be sold. The key element to this process is

image and image recognition. Therefore the use of recognizable visual elements within my work is

essential. Everything that they say can and will be used against them.

It is an attempt at social commentary through the language of regurgitated social imagery"




IV the collages

VI references

both have witnessed acts of war during their lifetime, although its a lopsided comparison:

John Heartfield was contemporary witness of two devastating World Warsand the Nazi Regimes morbid outbursts

while

John Yates witnessed the second Gulf War but mainly takes a historical viewpoint in the presented collages following up




IV the collages

VI references

John Heartfield

Title: „Das ist das Heil, das sie

bringen !“

Date: 29th of July, 1938

Translation:„This is the salvation they

deliver“

analysis and interpretation

the collage makes reference to a contemporary article in the magazine „Archiv für Biologie und Rassenforschung“ which focused on the question if air bombing could be useful considering race selection and public hygiene

the article stated that massive air bombings hurt the massively inhabited parts of cities the most, in which the majority of people stem from the so-called „Lumpenproletariat“

the article assumed that as large bombs not only cause death but also insanity, faint-hearted people could be easily detected and identified as neurasthenics, who - in the final step - just had to be sterilized to „preserve racial purity“.

[...]

Heartfield confronts the absurdity of this claim with his montage by showing the dead bodies of presumably innocent children as well as totally devastated ruins as to show that no clear thinking mind could want whole cities to be destroyed just to find a handful of assumed neurasthenics.

the use of the word „Heil“ is of shrewd ambiguity because the common interpretation „salvation“ (regarding the bombing) is accompanied by referrering to the then popular „Heil Hitler“ salutation, indicating what should be expected of the regimes leading figures

the latter is the „unveiling quote“ of this collage as Heartfield not only wanted to expose contrasts but show how interwoven topics are (something he called „dialectic photomontage“)

Title: „Was die Engel zum Christfest bekamen“

Date: 26th of December, 1935

Translation:„What the angels got for

christmas“


the original title of this montage was „O du fröhliche, o du selige, gnadenbringende Zeit" referring to a popular Christmas hymn

how it was used or published is not known but given the date of origin a look at Heartfields biography might reveal the intention

after Nazi stormtroopers [SA] had occupied his apartement in 1933 Heartfield flew to Prag where he was a participant in the „International Caricature Exhibition“ (this got him a note of protest from German officials)

from the outside looking in Heartfield saw the stabilization of the Nazi regime in the years from 1934-1935

[...]

Heartfield also witnessed the massive remilitarization efforts accomplished by the Nazi regime, which also established compulsory military service

therefore openly confronting the limitations put on Germany by the „Versailler Vertrag“ regarding its military potential

so when even the angels in the far sky have to wear gas masks Heartfield anticipated the outcomes of the megalomaniac plans of the Nazi Regime

referring to Christian symbolism is met elsewhere in the work of Heartfield (who was a Protestant) and can be read as criticism of the behaviour of various leading Christian figures who cooperated with the Nazis

John Yates

Title:„Democracy We Deliver“

Date:1992


its simple but effective arrangement makes in depth interpretation unnecessary, the message is quite clear

understanding it requires knowledge of the younger history of the United States as well as its inherent mission statement

first and foremost it questions the „means necessary“ - not every American democratization effort was as successful as in post-war Germany and mutatis mutandis in Japan, so measures need to be adjusted individually

comparing it with Heartfields „Das Heil..“ one must notice the quality difference, but then it frees the artist from accusations of just being epigonic

Title:„Mom, We´re

Home !“

Date:1987


this collage is one of the most popular pieces of John Yates and it is also a very confronting if not provocative one:

using the popular saying kids shout to their moms after e.g. returning from school and letting unidentified persons passively speak out post mortem seems very macabre - at least at first glance

but Yates does not pick the individual soldier for blaming and making his point - in fact the dignity of the individual is preserved due to the anonymity of displaying decorated coffins

[...]

its those who cause wars and willfully accept the unnecessary deaths of many that Yates aims at:

"[...] it would appear that we can go to war over anything and everything, and at the drop of a hat. And we can always pick a target, even with the absence of any legitimate one. Whatever end of the political spectrum we might individually come from; left, right or center, it makes no difference. No borders appear to exist when it comes to choosing and finding targets. In this sense war is almost unique in its unilateral subject matter […]"




IV the collages

VI references

images and quotes used were taken from the following books:

Wieland Herzfelde: John Heartfield. Leben und Werk.

Dresden 1971

Stadt- und Universitätsbibliothek Frankfurt/Main (Hrsg.):

"Benütze Foto als Waffe !" John Heartfield - Fotomontagen.

Frankfurt am Main 1989

John Yates: Stealworks. The Graphic Details of John Yates.

Edinburgh 1994

Thanks for watching !

Download - contrasting war

Top Related