Reflection Paper

Max Ernst a prominent figure of the Dada movement was born on April 2,1981 in Bruhl. He was was raised by his mother and father along with eight other siblings. His father was a teacher of  deaf people and was an amateur painter. Ernst studied psychiatry and philosophy in university of bonn. Soon after he start to visit the asylum and became infatuated with the art of mentally ill patient. In 1914 he was drafted in to World War I and was demobilized in 1918. His experiences in the war influenced many of the art work that he develops and the Anti War notion that grew stronger within him and the movement. Ernst Art work was displayed at many  famous salon throughout out Europe, such "El salon de independante and the "Galerie of Heldman" in Cologne.

Dadaism was a cultural movement which promoted Anti War politics visualized through visual art, graphic art, theater and manifestos.Dadaism rejected the notion of normality and embraced the Anti - Art cultural world. The techniques used in the art movement are collage (originally develop by cubism artist), photo montage,assemblage and readymades.

Ernst created Elephant Celebes in 1921. Ernst use the collage technique to develop a hallucinatory affect associated within the painting. The Main focus in the work of art  is the metallic elephant which was molded  after a photograph in an anthropological journal of a clay corn bin from a southern Sudanese tribe.The painting distinctly combines found imagery and tribal elements. The Headless nude figure suggest  the abduction of Europa by Zeus while disguised as a bull. The nude body body also has a surgical hand which is very popular in surrealist art.This is how Ernst portrayed his mechanical terror towards war. I think that Ernst used the metallic elephant  as a symbolic figure of the  powerful German government that promotes war and manipulates all citizen of the country. The headless mannequin represent the people who have no choice but to follow the order of the authority as noted the hand of the mannequin has been replaced by the surgical hands, the removal of the original shows that the German hand no control for their future and were helpless and fearless.

Wilhelm Heinrich Otto Dix is another relevant painter and print maker of the dadaism movement. Otto Dix was born on December 2, 1921. Otto Dix mother was a seamstress and part time poet writer and his father was a iron foundry worker.Otto Dix was encouraged by his parent and by his teacher to become a painter , he enrolled in art school to master his skill .   He was know for his ruthless and graphic portrayal of Wiemar society and the brutality of the war.This painting is called Skull created in 1924. In that era skull was a good representation of death . He paint this decaying skull that is being consumed by worms . This is an perfect example of an  one Otto Dix explicit interpretation of the harsh reality. He paints the skull with no color. Worms are portrayed with life their  geometrical position within the skull. The human skull was one of the best ways to displays the results of the present war and all other war for that matter "Death".

John Heartfield is famous photomontage artist who changed is name because he wanted to the stir away from his german roots. He chose the last name Heartfield to point out the nationalism and the anti British feeling towards Germany in World War I. Photo montage was his way of expressing and political view and through the eye of  an artist. Photomontage is the technique of combining a number of photographs or parts of photographs to form a composite picture, used especially in art and advertising. This Photmontage is titled"Adolf, the Superman, Swallows Gold and Spouts Tin,1932. This Photomontage was created with picture of Adolph Hitler, chest X-ray and coins. Heartfield shows Hitler full of coin  contributions from the wealthy industrialist.Heartfield  show how Adolph Hitler had enough financial support to continue to expand his Nazi party and that he was contradicting his rhetoric working man.