Art And Social Protest During The Vietnam War - Research Paper Example

Art and Social Protest During the Vietnam War During the Vietnam War with America, many artists came up with works that protested the war, which included, sculpture, installations, posters, comics, and paintings. Antiwar protestors not only used these tactics but also used strikes, petitions, strikes among other protesting methods. The key among these methods was the act of shutting down all art making institutions, which ensured that the artwork does not fuel any war or cause any fights in a nation. Among the anti-war artists, Carolee Schneemann used a snow artwork to protest the Vietnam War. In addition, she used visual fractures and broken rhythms featuring the religious chants and secular fragments, which is one of the known successful artworks on the Vietnam War. Another artist who did an artwork on the war was the well-known Pablo Picasso. Picasso’s Guernica painting is well-known antiwar artworks. This paper discusses the two artworks by Carolee and Picasso, their contribution and differences to wars and the understanding by the interpreters. Artists' work from different backgrounds use their artworks to symbolize or warn people about something in a more detailed way that is unbiased in any way. Many participants of these artworks have different ways to demonstrate and pass their message to the targeted people and empower them on different aspects. For instance, during war times, people use artwork to demonstrate the suffering by other people which they undergo and this helps in easing of the situation or more help coming to the people in need. Most paintings may reference a certain War event but it serves for any War and artist aim for generic use and information when making these artworks. First, Pablo Picasso’s artwork, named after a city in Spain that was a target of terror bomb during the Civil War in Spain. This painting demonstrated the kind of suffering it puts individuals and in most, the innocent people the fame of this art reminds of war tragedies with the symbolization of anti-war and peace. The spread of the artwork throughout the world brought the Spanish War to the attention in the whole world. Picasso never wanted the painting to reach Spain until democracy and liberty formed, this saw the painting put under a high security with bomb and bulletproof screens for security purposes. This shows the importance of the painting in the fight against war (Matthew 49). The meanings of Picasso’s painting vary according to the interpretation provided. Throughout Picasso’s career, he used the bull and a horse to symbolize different roles since the two are important characters in the Spanish culture. In the sculpture, many victims are visible with some alive and others dead which remains as a historical reminder of the times of war. Chaos by the European political unpredictability is visible in the composition of the Picasso’s painting. The color in the Guernica is black which mostly symbolizes death. Other artists during the time of Picasso who influenced the artwork of anti-war, or the like of Franisco de Goya not only did the artwork on war but also in a bullfight. The whole scene takes place within a room with one open end and a bull over a woman mourning for a dead child and some other hidden images. A light bulb to represent the sun and a broken sword to represent defeat are visible in the painting by Picasso known as Guernica (Shabi 12). Schneemann held a performance “snows” to protest the famous Vietnam War with a focus in values on flesh and this brought new fraught in politics. Schneemann participated in the New York City festival during the week of Angry Arts, which involved many performances and events from many artists in protest of the famous war. Her presentation shows the ambivalence of emotionally charged photos, which suggests uncertainty in the information overlaid and passing strategy. She also uses a film that she demonstrates the misuse of people in wars and the results of war. These artworks show that Schneemann was among the protestors of the war and in particular, Vietnam War since her work base is at the time of this war. The dumbness, blindness, and fear as symbolized by the Schneemann’s work, which depoliticizes the violence and makes it seem as nature at the same time symbolizing loss of information or interrupted signals, which generally indicates loss of vital communication. With the collaboration with other artist, her work seemed to isolate some other photographers or artists in the sense that her works were unique and hard some hidden meanings which could not be interpreted easily. This was to prevent fueling of the war due to their performance to stop it and served ease the mass killings and pains undergone by many innocent people during the war (Martin & Steuter 150). With the creativity of artist, communication of information to nations in a more friendly way, not only through words but also by use of sculptures and paintings like Picasso’s example. The artwork done by Picasso symbolizes the war torn nation; the repercussions and mostly his concern were on the pain undergone by the innocent civilians. War has no benefit whatsoever, and it should not be encouraged according to most of the artists and leaders especially during the Vietnam War and World War II. Pablo received information about the War and fights in his home city where he used to live years back and that is what led to the name of his artwork to protest the war. His use of the most valued animals in Spain shows a great concern on the nation and this would draw attention of almost every person who saw the painting. Interpretation of the painting remains unknown as many different and contrasting interpretations exist all over the world. Horses and bulls in the Spain culture are mostly valued animals and their usage in the painting symbolized its importance and use in the community with the current situation of the nation. Picasso is a well-known artist who has done many artworks on different fields not only war but also in other fields, which saw his works as important. It is evident also that Guernica had an important message in that, when it arrives in Spain, it is put under a high security screen that cannot be tempered with under any circumstances. The many hidden meanings in the paintings helped stop the Spanish war due to the messages passed to them (Matthew 24). Schneemann demonstrated her frustration in the note with her painting after the week called the Angry Arts. Artwork had become the way during this time and the Vietnam War as many people used these techniques to pass information to the whole nation. She used many techniques to arrive at the final structure of the “snows” which had actors of both genders both male and female. In her performance, she used three men and three women, projectors, light sculpture that revolved all through the play, snow machinery and the main part of the performance, which is the audience. Schneemann explains that it was not her interest to add the film as an image as she thought the films would be more of importance than doubling her role to the people involved in the work. The film spilled over the frame to the surfaces on the theatre, which centered the images to obtain stretch and be like the performers in real situations. Her focus on the film was to sensitize and inform people on some of the results and expectation visible in a war torn nation with the civilians as the victims and not the leaders as some may have thought. The importance of these artists is evident in their availability and their creativity in times of hard situations. They suggest solutions to hard situation in a creative manner that leaves people with much knowledge that if other methods were in place (Witham 178). Both artists have contributed much on protest for the war with their artwork and in a nonracial and biased manner in which their targets get clear information on how they understand and interpret the information passed through their creativity. In both artworks, people symbolize the innocent civilians who suffer without having to do anything in cases of War or revenge. For instance, Schneemann uses three women and three men to symbolize that it does not matter who the victim is but in the event of a war, whether male or female, child or adult is affected and thus such events have no benefit whatsoever in a nation’s growth. Social relationships affected by such events, which reduces the living standards of a nation. In addition, Picasso uses a woman holding a dead baby to symbolize the death which are caused by the War and that, families are left without people and children left homeless without parents even with their best loved ones were defeated in war (Matthew 59). A broken spear in the Picasso’s painting used to symbolize defeat and the possible outcomes of defeat, which includes some of the seen images, for instance, a human skull seen as a hidden image on top of the horse. This symbolizes the outcome of war, which are mainly deaths of innocent people. Black color used in the paintings by Picasso, which also adds further the capability of death occurring as they symbolize death. In an event against war, death is the most rampant and if people have a clear understanding of the repercussions then they will all be against an event that can cause death. The work of these artists to sensitize and educate people as they protest war is an act of great importance in a nation. Such artworks if kept safely are usable in the future as most apply even to today's events and are usable. Work cited Israel, Matthew. Kill for Peace: American Artists against the Vietnam War. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2013. Internet resource. Martin, Geoff & Erin, Steuter. Pop Culture Goes to War: Enlisting and Resisting Militarism in the War on Terror. Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield, 2010. Internet resource. Shabi, K. Guernica Meaning: Analysis & Interpretation of Painting by Pablo Picasso.Web. 8th November 8, 2013. Witham, Larry. Picasso and the Chess Player: Pablo Picasso, Marcel Duchamp, and the battle for the soul of Modern art. Hanover; London : University Press of New England, 2013. Internet resource. Read More