below is sample work if you do not mind

I had to do some research on this topic and one of the most interesting artists I discovered was Robert Mapplethorpe. He was an American photographer known for his sensitive, yet blunt, treatment of controversial subject matter. He used primarily black and white photography and focused on an array of subjects including celebrities, male and female nudes, self-portraits and still life images of flowers. His most controversial work involved BDSM culture in 1960s and 1970s NYC. He used erotic photography to arouse the viewer but his pieces were also regarded as high art. The homoeroticism of the images fueled a national debate regarding public funding of controversial art. A close friend of the artist was quoted as saying he “worked without apology, investing the homosexual with grandeur, masculinity and enviable nobility.” In the summer of 1989, he was slated to introduce his traveling solo exhibit at The Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. He decided to showcase photos from what was known as his X Portfolio featuring several sexually explicit images. Since the show had been publicly funded through grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the museum decided to cancel the exhibit because they did not want to get involved in the politics of the issue. There was much debate over this as people argued whether or not the National Endowment for the Arts should fund projects that are deemed inappropriate. Other conservative groups and religious organizations vocalized opposition to the exhibit as well (Robert). My question here is who decides whether or not something is inappropriate? What one may view as natural beauty, another may see as sexually offensive. I also think that art is very much a form of expression and by limiting one’s ability to express themselves and disallowing others to view their work would be a definite violation of first amendment rights. Musicians, actors, educators are all allowed freedom of speech and expression, so why not him? Why not artists? I think it is simple a means to block things that make people feel uncomfortable but in 2019, we cannot simply brush things under the rug because they make a select few uncomfortable. Often times, that is a purpose in art as well. They attempt to bring a relevant issue to the forefront through image interpretation.

His piece, entitled Two Men Dancing, was produced in 1984. The image possesses a classical beauty yet challenges the viewer at the same time. The image was produced at a time when the AIDS crisis and homophobic tendencies were prevalent in American society. There was little discussion regarding homosexuality and what was discussed was hardly positive in nature. Robert created a beautiful image of two men with an evident emotional bond. Like most of his pieces, people had a lot to say about it, but I think this was his plan all along. He wanted to call attention to this way of life and to encourage societal acceptance.

Source: https://www.thelacmastore.org/products/robert-mapp…

Sources:

Robert Mapplethorpe. (2019). Retrieved from https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mapplethorpe (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.. Accessed 16 June 2019.

Sayre, H.M. (2012). Discovering the humanities (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Week 7: Lesson

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Second Season

The Second Season

First performed at the Pops and Jazz concert in West Hartford, CT, The Second Season is presented in this course with the generous permission of Garrett Sayers and Haig Shahverdian.

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The Century at a Glance

One could produce hundreds of pages on the movements and sociopolitical influences on the humanities during the 20th century. In fact, much of the Closer Look portions of the lectures in the first 5 weeks of this course discuss, at least in part, 20th century arts and its innovators. It is a good idea (and one I certainly encourage) to look back on those lectures to review important figures, such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Martha Graham, and Ansel Adams, and examine their influences in the context of the 20th century. I also would encourage you to examine some of the critical movements in the various disciplines of the humanities and place them in the context of the social climate in which they were born. When we examine the totality of artistic movements and the broad strokes of change that seemed to, at once, give birth to and decimate dozens of aesthetic movements, the task of placing the century into perspective in the short period of 2 weeks seems daunting. However, there are a few significant events that shaped the humanities of the 20th century.

After the First World War, the United States and parts of Europe felt a boom in industry. The invention of the automobile would prompt a chain of discoveries and events that would eventually change not only the face of production but also how the world moved. The 1920s effused excess, but the 1930s brought an economic downturn, the Great Depression, that Americans (and the world) would not soon forget. After the Second World War, Europe rebuilt and the United States reconstructed its economy, and after a period of mournful reminiscence, a rebirth of innocence settled in during the comparatively peaceful 1950s. Although radio, newspapers, and magazines had been around for some time, television became the new medium for entertainment, and the arts forever changed. No longer were plays, ballets, or concerts seen as entertainment. Television became entertainment for the masses, and throughout the next half of the century, the arts had to reinvent themselves in order to stay current and provoke interest. This quiet competition stirred a revolution in how we sought entertainment, but the fine arts did not exactly fade away. Another war, Vietnam, would breathe new life into our First Amendment rights. Freedom of expression had never been more challenged or important, and activists and artists alike (some one and the same) turned attention toward their messages by any means possible.

What is most important to recognize about the humanities in the 20th century is that no one voice prevailed during any significant period of time. There was no one school of thought that could be counted on to explain the prevailing attitude (assuming one existed) of the day. Even the textbooks debated whether modernism was over and postmodernism was securely in place, and the only firm conclusion that the experts could offer was that to some degree, both coexisted. So we can reasonably conclude that the 20th century embodied a series of overlapping, coinciding perspectives in the arts, all of which were strongly influenced by historical events and sociopolitical theories. For this week, you will need to consider those historical events (social, political, and artistic) to place the humanities as discussed in this lecture in context.

Artists often respond to the sociopolitical climate, either directly or indirectly, through their works. To say that the 20th century was a turbulent period would be understating the social and cultural changes that swept the world on the heels of the Industrial Revolution. The century that produced the automobile, television, atomic bomb, and the personal computer also produced a variety of movements and voices throughout the humanities.

THE AGE OF AFFLUENCE

The modern world, as we know it, began to form after World War II. Post-war Europe had been ravaged physically and economically, and although the war served to jump-start the U.S. economy after the Great Depression, the United States’ role in the war, particularly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, left its citizens not only in mourning for the thousands lost but also uncertain of the world’s political stability. A weakened and vulnerable Europe found itself in the middle of a power struggle between the United States and Soviet Union. Points of conflict centered on control of former overseas territories held by the previous imperial European powers (such as Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America). When the Soviet Union gained permission from Fidel Castro to establish missile bases, the conflict threatened to become nuclear.

Economically, however, the United States prospered as a result of the war and of the public programs that helped to stabilize the economy. A healthy U.S. economy, in turn, encouraged international trade, and Europe slowly rebuilt its war-torn industrial systems and economies. The movement from death and destruction to prosperity and relative peace established the Age of Affluence. Such peace and prosperity tend to become a proliferating force for the arts, and in the case of post-World War II Europe and America, it also encouraged scientific exploration, innovation, and free thought.

20th-Century Music

On the heels of the Industrial Revolution, technological advances in the way that music was recorded and disseminated among the public brought about rapid changes in the way that music was composed and enjoyed. In the 20th century, music was no longer just an art but also an industry. Innovations such as radio broadcast and the phonograph (introduced in the late-19th century) made music available to a wider listening audience than ever before, and the demand for variety spiraled. Big band, jazz, and rock and roll are just a few of the resulting popular musical movements of the early to mid-20th century, and all set the stage for what would become one of America’s leading industries.

Big Band and Swing

During the Great Depression, Americans were hungry for an escape from dismal economic conditions, and radio frequency waves were free entertainment for willing households with radios. Benny Goodman’s Let’s Dance broadcasts, steeped in jazz tempos, were one of the first live musical broadcasts to recur every week. Americans, especially the youth, loved the energetic rhythms of big band, and Goodman’s orchestra often played live in packed houses while on tour, even in the depressed economy of the 1930s. In the late 1930s, however, Glen Miller followed fast upon Goodman’s heels in becoming a household name. Miller actually worked for Goodman in the 1920s but did not cut his first record under his own name until 1935. Then in 1937, after leading other established bands such as the Dorsey Band and the Ray Noble Orchestra, Miller formed his own band. After just one year, Miller dissolved the orchestra and formed his second group, which finally landed on success with such recordings as In the Mood and Tuxedo Junction. In 1942, Miller reported to the U.S. Army for duty and was assigned to the Army Specialist Corps. After reconstructing the Army band, Captain Miller and his band were shipped to England one year later in order to entertain the fighting troops. The success of Miller’s Army band was unparalleled, with over 800 performances in less than one year and 500 broadcasts heard around the world.

Rock ‘n’ Roll

In the early 1950s, the term rock n’ roll was coined by disc jockey Alan Freed and captured the spirit of a new movement in music. Popular lore links the genesis of rock to Bill Haley and the Comets’ legendary Rock Around the Clock, but experts argue that the roots of rock ‘n’ roll may go as far back as the rhythm records of the 1940s. By the time that Elvis Presley emerged in 1954, however, rock ‘n’ roll took shape as we know it today. Presley’s music and performance style captured this new enticing musical form. But rock ‘n’ roll was not really new. Its origins were a combination of big band, country, and blues, among others, but the fusion of such diverse approaches had a shocking and provocative effect. It was during the rock ‘n’ roll revolution that the teenager is said to have been born. For the first time, teenage fans emerged as power consumers. The music industry had found an aggressive and profitable audience. Although parents were shocked by Elvis’ seemingly uncontrollable gyrating, their teenaged kids were obsessed with his good looks and new sound, and a new culture was born. Record labels continue to make stars out of young, good-looking singers and musicians who will entice young consumers to buy albums and concert tickets.

A staple of American culture, rock quickly splintered and became an international craze. Artists would eventually create new forms, such as country rock, folk rock, hard rock, heavy metal, pop rock, and so on. Today, there are so many hybrid rock ‘n’ roll formulas that it would be difficult to classify them accurately. Audiences are certainly no longer restricted to teenagers, but teens continue to be the largest revenue-generating market of the music industry. Why? As consumers, teenagers discriminate based on prevalence and sex appeal, and in the current market, teens have more disposable income than ever before. Music labels exploit the spending power and naivete of the teen audience with artists who have sex appeal and appear to be new and different.

Hip-Hop

Rock ‘n’ roll has become a lucrative business (to say the least), but in the last few decades, several types of popular music have emerged and established footholds in the American music industry. Perhaps the most profound innovation in musical style in the late 20th century has been hip-hop, which seriously started to gain notoriety in the early 1990s, but it was in 1986 that hip-hop actually seized the Top 40 chart with Run DMC and Aerosmith’s collaboration on Walk This Way and Fight for Your Right by the Beastie Boys. Many of the first popular rap songs were typical pop music messages, but it did not take long for rap to adopt a social conscience. Once artists realized that they had a large audience, they turned their attention to the serious sociopolitical issues in their communities. With its 1988 album, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, Public Enemy materialized as the most influential and politically conscious hip-hop band of its time, but the gangsta rap movement was fast on the heels of Public Enemy. Beginning with the group NWA and other artists such as Dr. Dre and Ice Cube, gangsta rap attempted to portray inner-city America as communities of violence and outlaw lifestyles. Albums such as NWA’s first, Straight Outta Compton (1988) stirred such controversy that social and political activists launched fervent censorship campaigns, and the FBI and other law enforcement agencies investigated the overnight stars of gangsta rap.

Since the early 1990s, however, hip-hop styles have become as diverse as rock ‘n’ roll. Artistic styles have become increasingly eclectic and include approaches to hip-hop that appeal to a variety of consumer tastes. It is safe to say that hip-hop, once on the fringes of musical culture, is a staple of the American and international music scenes.

Beyond the 20th Century

In the evolution of pop culture, certain humanistic ideals have changed. Although theatrical performances continue into the 21st century, there is a new focus on film and television performances, and the term celebrity has taken on a new meaning. Suddenly, artists find themselves in the struggle between artistic identity and the popular nemesis. No longer is all music considered art, having recycled much of its properties to feed consumer desires. No longer can all performances be considered artistically inspired. Much of television and film place a newfound emphasis on star power to draw audiences, regardless of the actual quality of performance or production. This is not to say, however, that art is not valued. It is valued extrinsically (as we witness in soaring auction bids) and intrinsically. But it would be naive to assume that art has not become entangled with an ever-voyeuristic society fascinated with celebrities and the convenience of information and images available in popular media such as television, magazines, and the Internet.

Competition for space on the public radar has become increasingly difficult for many areas of the humanities, particularly the performing arts such as dance and theater, but the humanities have adapted to stay alive. Considering the long history of the humanities, artists seem to be able to survive exceedingly well in an increasingly commercial culture.