Unification of kissing in single block, androgynous, but one could be female- breasts
No individuality, have indication of hair, arms, eyes and mouth are shared
Tool markings undiguised, direct carving, 1916 version more Cubist influence
Context
Modernity in seeking aesthetic balance beyond gender, influence of Rodin
Influence of African/Egyptian art, Romanian folk lore and the Ain Sakhari sculpture
1916 marked woman's grave at Montmarte, killed self after unhappy love affair
'In all except primitive art...no representation of the sexual act that is so undisguised and so discreet' - Geist
Materials
Limestone- simplicity and gravitas, undisguished tool markings
'Realism...innner, hidden reality', no on pedestal so rejects high power of art
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Giacometti's Woman with her Throat Cut' (1932)
Description
Part woman, animal, insect, elongated, rings on neck = cut throat, dispprortionate head
Female forms of breats, legs, swollen midriff (fertility), abstracted spoon shape, leg pinned
Horizontal, against tradition, in death of ectscy, violated by murderers- 'little death'
Materials
Orginal plaster- fragility, bronze = masculine, classical, expensive, shiny like an insect
Seperate sections welded with additive process, high tensile strength for spindly forms
Dark colour = dark subject matter, influence of African/ Oceanic sculpture
Context
Sexual drama- Surrealism, Freudian ideas of Eros and Thanton, fear of loctuses in sex
Both victim and victimer- women as passive aggressive, viewer positioned above
Cylindical weight on arm- unable to push attacker away
Kafka's Metamorphis- man becomes an insect
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Epstein 'The Rock Drill' (1913, 1915)
Description
1913- sharp edged, limbs square, long beak-like head and visage, on top of real miner's drill- phallic quality
1915- just top bit, removes drill and one of arms, cast in gun metal and bronze
Masculinity/war
'No humanity, on the terrible Frankenstein monster we have created'- Rutter talks about man and machine as one in 'Evolution of Modern Art', man's attempt to harness nature
Futurist influence in wanting to power drill, despite calling manifesto a 'silly gospel'
Removal of hands/ legs in response to loss of friend Hulme in WW1, 'mortified by war' -Cork
Self Portrait
Phallic connotations = desire for child, wife infertile, had children by mistresses
Relates to Self Portrait with a Storm Cap - wears same hat (1917)
Dieren argues it's about rebirth and hope for future
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