Screening Notes for "Bauhaus: The Face of the 20th Century"

I'm almost positive this is the same video I watched this past spring in Western Survey II - we will find out!

The Bauhaus was born out of war, with a soldier dreaming of a utopia, an art school that would improve everyone's lives. When the war was over his dream became a reality. The Bauhaus' bohemian atmosphere attracted many brilliant contemporary artists of all mediums and many bright young minds who also wanted to help make the world a better place by injecting art into everything.

The students' education was less focused on specific mediums and conformist ideals, instead giving the students plenty of freedom to play with texture and material. The Bauhaus invented the way that most schools teach art in the modern day.

The women of the day responded almost immediately to the open call for students. While progressive, Bauhaus was not yet completely modern and due to the number of women that applied they had to be segregated into more womenlike areas of study such as textiles and bookbinding, with only a few exceptions. Regardless, the women flourished and proved that they were just as capable at being creative designers as men were.

The Bauhaus did not reject the idea of mass production. Some pieces remained unique but some were both well-designed as well as functional and could be produced in bulk in order to be sold to the public. Furniture, kitchen tools, and children's toys are all examples of things the Bauhaus produced.

I still don't get the dancing thing with the sphere arms and weird mask. To be honest it kind of freaks me out.

Maholy-nagy was the Hungarian artist that took over the foundation art course and replaced the previous teacher's curriculum with one that embraced the power of the machine when paired with a creative human.

In 1923 the government wanted proof of what the Bauhaus was producing since it was recieving taxpayer dollars, so it arranged an exhibition. For the exhibition the Bauhaus collaberated by building a house that was completely fabricated and imagined by teachers and students. It was economical and easy to build, and filled with examples of work by the Bauhaus like art and furniture and appliances.

But the Bauhaus was not immune to the economic depression of the times, so the house was never mass produced. The Bauhaus became a place that was distrusted and frowned upon due to the unrestful political and economic climates.

The original Bauhaus closed and moved to a new city, where the politics were friendlier and the neighborhood beneficial for Bauhaus, since it was an industrial hub that had copious factories and resources. The focus of the school became very industrial and functional but also retained an intense interest in things being aesthetic, simple, and beautiful.

With a change in leadership the politics of Bauhaus once again shifted in a new direction, and after only two years Ludwig took the man's place. He became disturbed by the focus on functionality and the active politicalism, and involvement in politics was banned. Just when the Bauhaus was back on the right track towards having art as the main focus again, it was blosed by the Nazi's who saw it as a cesspool of communist ideals. What the Bauhaus could do after that was controlled tightly by the Nazi's. Most of what the Haus made was fine with them, but the reputation of the Bauhaus and the views and freedom of the teachers and students scared them. When they were forced into a depressing factory building, the members of the Bauhaus decided to close completely.

These teachers and students spread out across the world, most notably in America's Chicago, and the Bauhaus ideas lived on and sprouted all over the industrialized world.

Also yes, this is the same video I saw this past summer in another class.