How Does Mass Media Influence Pop Art

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Ashley Thiel 4/22/15 ARH 321 Paul Ivey Rough Draft Analysis of Process and Materials & the Influences of Mass Media on Pop Art Throughout centuries of different movements, art has always been defined as a progressive concept. This is a necessary attribute for anything that aims to develop into higher or more conscious state. In the past, art has been viewed as a tool of prosperity and intellect, only being offered to those who posses the highest standards of the social class. The succession of art movements is a metaphorical timeline in which human society has developed. Artistic works have the ability to convey complex areas of thought, emotions, and above all personal theories of life. Each movement has specifically broadened the possibilities A relatively forced answer from Lichtenstein about his explanation of pop art is ”I don’t know- the use of commercial art as subject matter in painting. I suppose” (Lichtenstein, 102). Pop art is an unbiased analysis of the world and it is accepting of the present cultural norms. Lichtenstein’s work places heavy focus on how art is a wide-ranging process that depends on visual unification and organized consciousness. Lichtenstein’s image “Drowning Girl” manifests considerable attention to form that therefore unifies the image and dispenses a fresh overview on mass culture objects. The entire image was derived from the application of repeated dots, or stippling, in order to attain the intended perspective and visual aspect that this image offers. Lichtenstein also describes art being all about “organized perception” (Lichtenstein, 104). This statement directly implies that he used intricate methods in order to attain a certain artistic accomplishment from image. For example, in “Drowning Girl”, there are various hues of blue incorporated throughout the image. The darker hues are framing the woman’s face and bringing attention from the sides of the painting into the face, which is the main focus of the image. This tactic also adds a gloomy effect to the image, heightening the emotional despair being displayed and contributing an element of realism. Lichtenstein was a His piece “Saturday Disaster”, displayed the shocking fallback of motor vehicles by recreating a car crash. The image works as a series because it was often repeated in a large-scale recreation. Warhol believes this piece to incorporate fears of society becoming ran by machines and even machine-like in it’s own personal sense as well. Even though Warhol attempted to demonstrate this fear, he still contributed to the movement itself. Warhol states, “The process of doing commercial art was machine-like, but the attitude had feeling to it” (Warhol, 107). Warhol thinks the majority of people in the world are obsessed with repetition, and repetition is similar to the function of machines. The multiple recreations of the “Saturday Disaster” image allow the viewer to see an altered perspective on the concept of death in society. The initial fright upon first seeing it is diminished after multiple viewings of the recreated works. This triggers the viewer into an understanding that death is just an event that occurs consecutively and to all people, decreasing the traumatism of such catastrophes. This image is also in black and white, which is interesting to consider the emotionless feel that is emitted from a lack of bright pigments, which are usually used to evoke

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