Throughout the history of art, there have been many examples of fads against depicting images. The iconoclasts in Oriental Christianity and the Moslem law against representation of human beings are just two examples. Even in prehistoric times, we observe that the living form was often abandoned, with artists stylising a serpent into a meander, the sun into a swastika, etc. Modern art is obviously going through one of these iconoclastic surges.
But why the current hatred of human forms? The trend may be changing now, but throughout the period between 1920 and 1970, there was a definite desire of artists to dehumanise art. Modern artists were motivated by an aversion to the traditional interpretation of realities, i.e. to the tradition handed down to us by the Greeks through the Renaissance, and to the classical cult of the beauty of the human body. ^^^^^ CB: One point this analyst hasn't mentioned in the development of modern abstract art, is the invention of the camera and photography, such that the skill of drawing and painting very realistic representations, including of the human body, is less than what can be done by a camera in an instant. Drawing realistically is usurped by snapping a picture. The average person can get a perfect picture of anybody and anything, in color, with a camera they can buy at the drugstore. Artists turned to other tasks rather than mastering something that will never equal the camera. _______________________________________________ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
