Bombing of Hiroshima-Yasuko Yamagata

While looking this photo up, I read that Yasuko Yamagata was 17 when she witnessed the bombing and was in class at the time. After the bombing she saw the corpse of a woman and child. The sad part was that the woman looked like she was running at the time they were incinerated (as pictured). This reminded me of "There Will Come Soft Rains" by Ray Bradbury where is describes a city left in rubble. This next excerpt is from this short story and in reading it, I'm sure it will bring about almost the same image as in this painting.

"Ten o'clock.
The sun came out from behind the rain. The house stood alone in a city of rubble and ashes. This was the one house left standing. At night the ruined city gave off a radioactive glow which could be seen for miles.

Ten-fifteen.
The garden sprinklers whirled up in golden founts, filling the soft morning air with scattering of brightness. The water pelted windowpanes, running down the charred west side where the house had been burned evenly free of its white paint. The entire west face of the house was black, save for five places. Here the silhouette in paint of a man mowing a lawn. Here, as in a photograph, a woman bent to pick up flowers. Still farther over, their images burned on wood in one titanic instant, a small boy, hands flung into the air higher up, the image of a thrown ball, and opposite him, a girl, hands raised to catch a ball which never came down. The five spots of paint—the man, the woman, the children, the ball—remained. The rest was a thin charcoaled layer. The gentle sprinkler rain filled the garden with falling light." (http://www.gladdemusic.com/raybradbury-there%20will%20come%20soft%20rains.htm)

I feel that this short story by Ray Bradbury helps me to picture what Yasuko Yamagata must have felt during this experience. What you would picture at certain times are now gone. The world you saw the day before is no more and there is no beauty left to look out your window to. What once was a woman carrying her child is now a stain on the face of the earth. I could only imagine other horrifying images these marks would bring about for people like Yamagata who survived the bombing and had no where to go and nothing to look for.

Hitler's success with Agression- David Low

I found David Low's cartoon about Hitler somewhat comical in the fact that it animates that fact that it seemed almost too easy for Hitler to rise/gain power and take over Europe. I like that Low made all the leaders spineless because it pointed out to me that the other leaders of the world were in fact basically scared of Hitler and what he would do with all his power. Hitler was definitely not one to hold back and it seemed like the rest of the world knew that. I think that sometimes in history we just brush over that fact because we're to busy analyzing the Holocaust or Hitler's new gains, rather than analyzing his brutal display of power (which became very clear to me this year while doing the little game/power point of "What would Hitler do"). At the same time, however, what Hitler did was by no means comical. Maybe this cartoon is just our way of looking back and laughing at our mistakes.

Bataan Death March

The Bataan Death March is considered to be the worst treatment of Prisoners of War in World War II because of the cruel treatment the Japanese dished out. To most, their behavior is unbelievable, but it can easily be explained through a little background of the Japanese mindset (of the military). The Japanese started their soldiers at a young age, and they were taught that it was their duty to protect their country no matter what. Surrendering was not an option, as it brought shame and dishonor not only to that person, but to their whole family. The Japanese are very big on the honor of a family and maintaining a good family image. They take an incredible amount of pride in their work, thus they would not want to show weakness and dishonor, especially in war. Therefore, it was natural that POWs would be treated very poorly and cruelly. To them it was just part of the "game of war" so to say. With that, the POWs were marched from Mariveles to Bataan with little food and water, little rest, and threatened. This was a horrific experience for the POWs because they were exposed to deadly heat and were sometimes randomly beaten.
Though I do not feel it was right for the Japanese to do this, I also do not feel that they can be frowned so much upon for the simple reason that they had a feeling of necessity to do what they did. Due to the Japanese way, they had to do what they were told because their family's honor rested on it. In comparison, I would like to point out the idea of slavery. People traded slaves like they were nothing and used slaves for their own personal, selfish gains. There was no "custom" that said families had to own slaves or else be shunned by society and bring about disgrace to the family. This just goes to show how society is so quick to judge others before we examine our own faults. In either case, however, we as humans cannot condone what happens in any of the horrific situations that occur.

Picasso- Guernica 1937

Despite my previously stated dislike for Pablo Picasso's paintings, I do believe that in this painting, he is able to capture and give off the appropriate mood of what happened in Guernica. In 1937, Guernica was bombed by German and Italian warplanes, causing a mess of emotions and tragedy. If one wanted to know just what the people of this time were feeling, they could look to this painting. Without even analyzing the elements in the painting, one will see the lack of color. Even at just a glance, this lack of color tells the observer that it is a sad and somber painting. With no color, no true emotion can be evoked, leaving a feeling of emptiness and depression. One we look into the painting, our gaze would be directed to the faces of the people and creatures. There is obvious misery and despair. We also get a sense of chaos with all the different elements and shapes (of the people, creatures and inanimate objects) overlapping each other. The whole canvas is filled with some sort of object, showing that there was no "breathing room," thus, adding to the chaos. These elements, allow the reader to feel the pain and sorrow that was around after the bombing of Guernica.

The Great Depression

Whenever we talk about the Great Depression, I am always amazed as to how the ENTIRE world could basically just take a nosedive. Because of the stock market crashing, there was mass unemployment and banks failing. As with most of these disastrous situations, I could not imagine what these people would have gone through. It would be hard to adjust to having to live a completely different lifestyle than the one that you've grown accustomed to. This was a time period when people were getting used to the big city lifestyles and one day, everything they worked for and everything they had was gone. They then had to regress in that some people had to go back to the days of making their own clothes, and growing their own food. I could only imagine what would happen if a great depression were to strike today. These days, almost everyone buys their food and clothes. We have become so reliant on buying what we need and all the technologies we are given that in reality, if all of it were to be taken away, most people would not know how to survive on their own. This is also why it amazes me that people who went through the Great Depression managed to sustain a somewhat comfortable lifestyle (given their poor conditions), when they were given no warning as to what was to come for them.
I also find the recovery interesting. The stock market crashed in 1929 (Black Thursday) and recovery began in 1933. If the whole world experienced this crash, why did it take so long for the world's leaders to begin a recovery? In my mind, I would imagine that the leaders of the world would have got together ASAP after the crash itself to plan out a recovery process in a UN type of meeting. After all, wouldn't everyone be for the improvement and recovery of the world? Then again, this is a world where pride takes over and interferes with logic and where it can't always be "rainbows and butterflies" because of the complexities we all got ourselves into.

Connection Across Time- Keynesian Economics

For this chapter, it was my job to research and present economist John Maynard Keynes and through this I discovered what is known as Keynesian Economics. In a nutshell, Keynes believed that governments should run deficits and borrow money to get the economy "working" again and the profits from a healthy economy would be used to pay back any debts. I was kind of surprised that no one thought of this before because to me it seems like common sense. For example if I wanted to open up a business, I know I need to borrow money from a bank to buy a building and materials in order to start producing things that would make back that money. Maybe this only comes as commonsense to be because Keynesian economics is standard these day. His ideas began then and still are alive now in our own economy today, whether it be through the small business owner or through our own government. Because of Keynes, his ideas have allowed simple American kids like me to understand and apply to things in our own daily life. It also gives us hope for a recovery of what is now a slow economy as compared to the economy of a few years ago.

Picasso- "Three Musicians"

What I can't understand about Picasso's paintings is why they are so popular. Though I understand that he was an artist who used cubism, his paintings come off as cut out shapes done by a third grader. The art of this time was very abstract and personally I don't find it very appealing. I often wonder why a lot of the art of this time was so abstract when years before, we rarely discussed art like this and then all of a sudden this art hits your eyes like a bee sting in your eye. I guess the people of this time must have felt really anxious and crazy since this art came to light and eventually popular. All jokes aside, A lot of the art evokes the same sort of chaotic emotion and personally I don't enjoy looking at it like I do the art of Monet.

The Rape of Nanking

It is always saddening to hear of such events as the Rape of Nanking. No sane human being likes to hear of mass killing in gruesome and unusual ways. Every time we discuss situations like these I always wonder if I would be one of the people who would survive and what would happen. In an event such as the Holocaust, I know I would not survive based on my appearance, but in the Rape of Nanking, I would have a fighting chance, just as the pregnant woman in the survival story told by Ms. Herman. First I wonder whether or not I could stay hidden throughout this whole event. If I were found and about to be killed, Would I survive? Could I find the strength to keep off my killer(s)? What If I were pregnant just as many of the women in Nanking were? Is my mind that stable that I can get myself together and protect my child's life and mine? To answer all this, I like to believe that I would be a survivor in any situation. I'm sure the drive for life would be motivation enough for me to make it through two and a half weeks of hell. Sadly though, this is not the reality, as many strong men, women, and children died.
The thing that comes most shocking to me about this is the way people were killed. To be buried alive would be the worst, mentally, on a person, while being slashed multiple times and even shot, would be the worst physically. Though events like the Holocaust and the Rape of Nanking really can't and shouldn't be compared, I cant help but do so. Even in the Holocaust people were tortured just because of who they were. Personally I could not imagine one person killing another just because of appearance, nationality, or belief, because in the end, we are all human. All I can do is just shake my head in disbelief and hope that I do not find myself in the situations of these poor victims.

Salvador Dali- "Soft Construction with Boiled Beans"

It it no question whether or not Salvador Dali's work was unique. As with most of the artists of this time, his art was an abstraction of his own feeling and expressions. Dali was put into the category of Dadaism where art challenged the mind to think in an outrageous conduct. By looking at the painting in this entry, one could easily figure out why. It is barely possible for one to look at this picture and at first glance figure out the "meaning" behind this painting, as there appears to be no rhyme or reason to all the parts put into it. This painting becomes one for the scholars, as a knowledge of all the components and probably even one into Dali's psychology, becomes necessary in order to figure out its meaning. Dali expresses, very well, the aspects and components of the paintings of Dadaism.
As I looked through collections of his works, I noticed that almost all of them consist of a desert landscape with a sky background. Dali's paintings appeared very consistent in this way. All display the components necessary to make something a collage in front of a backdrop of a sky of some sort while placed upon a barren desert. To me this expresses Dali's mind- a clear place, yet barren and plain to be filled with new and interesting elements everyday. Though I cannot offer any insight to the possibilities of interpretations that the collage may represent, I can offer that it gives off a grim connotation and leads me further into confusion. If you should find yourself being able to offer any insight into the mind of Dali's paintings, by all means, do share.

Monet- "Water Lillies"

I have always had an affinity to Monet's paintings, which is why I decided to blog on one of them. In this chapter we learned that Monet emerged as the Father of Impressionism and painted what he saw, not what he knew. We also learned of people like Salvador Dali with Dadaism who painted with their imaginations to say the least. I find it interesting that of all the art of this time, someone like Monet who painted the most realistic artwork was considered the "different one. While he painted what he saw, the others were painting based on planes, abstraction, and geometric figures. This was also a period where the color of this art would either explode onto the canvas or be dull to display the dismal feeling of those feeling the depression that came during this time as well. Again Monet's paintings are found on neither end of these extremes. Monet's paintings usually depicted soft, serene scenes using cool calming colors.
If I were living in this time period, I think I would still be more attracted to Monet's paintings because his bring about a sense of calmness that would be a great distraction from the tension the typical family would find themselves in during the depression and in between two very major wars. I also think that Monet's paintings are more popular than any of the other artists (of his time) today for this same reason. These days people are painting their houses to bring about welcoming and soothing feelings and a painting by Monet would bring about the same effect. I like to believe that Monet would be very pleased with such accomplishments.

Age of Anxiety (4/7/10)

When we first began to discuss this lesson last week, I was curious as to why this time period was referred to as the "Age of Anxiety." Today, however, it became quite clear to me as to why it would be called that, thanks to Jack's presentation of Henri Matisse and Maggie's presentation on Dadaism and Salvador Dali. But first, I must reiterate what I learned about Henri Matisse and Dadaism. Henri Matisse was a French artist known for his modern art and abstraction. His paintions are known to be an "explosion on canvas."Dadaism is art that it "delighted in outrageous conduct," and gets its name because people would just say "da da" (or "yes, yes" or "yeah right" or "whatever") about the work. It consists mainly of the idea of a collage, photo montage, or assemblage or works. One of the most famous dadaists was Salvador Dali who was known for his surreal paintings. What these people painted offered me the ability to draw a conncection between their work and the phrase "age of anxiety," and once you see their paintings, I'm sure you will agree.


With the confusion and sadness that Dali's paintings and the explosive chaos that Matisse's artwork brings to me, I myself begin to feel anxious. I'm sure living in this time period and seeing this kind of artwork would make everyone feel just as anxious.

(Note: I know what I have previously stated is not 100% accurate as to why this time period was call this, I just find it humorous to think if it in this way. Also, this humor allows us to be distracted from the fact that this is the period in between two very gruesome and dramatic wars.)