Media as medium, Raoul Hausmann, 1915-1945
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- This dissertation presents an historical and critical framework for understanding Raoul Hausmann's art and writing from 1915 through 1945. While the confrontational performances, anarchic visual poetry, and boldly discordant photomontages Hausmann produced as a Berlin Dadaist (1918-1921) have long been included in the art-historical canon, his overall project remains largely unexplored. Offering detailed analysis of Hausmann's visual and textual work, I situate him in a "discourse network" that extends well beyond the historical avant-garde as it is normally understood to include theories from the natural sciences as well as both new and outmoded media technologies, which the artist repurposed to subversive effect. This study begins with Hausmann's early work in the applied arts and in German Expressionist circles, then follows his career through his one-man, post-dada "presentist" movement and his experiments as a still photographer. Tracking Hausmann's work across several media, I focus on his project of uncovering and overcoming the deeply ingrained social and perceptual conventions that constrain everyday experience. I situate Hausmann in a tradition of German thought that begins with Ernst Kapp's "philosophy of technology" (1877) and continues in the writings of Walter Benjamin and, more recently, Friedrich Kittler, arguing that the artist's work is best understood through the theory of media it articulates. In so doing, I demonstrate that the crux of Hausmann's project lies in his understanding of sensation as continually renewing human subjectivity, a theoretical gambit that allowed him to avoid the pitfalls of both technological determinism and primitivism. Closely examining the specific challenges that Hausmann posed to audiences through his most important works, this dissertation argues for his central role in the historical avant-garde's critical and creative exploration of media.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2012 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Hackbarth, Daniel David |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Art and Art History |
| Primary advisor | Lee, Pamela M |
| Thesis advisor | Lee, Pamela M |
| Thesis advisor | Gough, Maria |
| Thesis advisor | Levi, Pavle |
| Thesis advisor | Troy, Nancy J |
| Advisor | Gough, Maria |
| Advisor | Levi, Pavle |
| Advisor | Troy, Nancy J |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Daniel David Hackbarth. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Art and Art History. |
| Thesis | Thesis (Ph.D.)--Stanford University, 2012. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2012 by Daniel David Hackbarth
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
Also listed in
Loading usage metrics...