Working right after the first World War ended, Hannah Höch created the collage Das schöne Mädchen [The Beautiful Girl] in 1920. She was a member of the Berlin Dada group who specialized in collage. The specific collage in question depicts key aspects of femininity—hairstyles, fashion, and lace-work—alongside working machinery from the time. The collage is made up of photographs and advertisements cut and overlapping each other, combining visuals into a cohesive statement. The materials of the collage are typical of Hannah Höch’s work from this time period as she was one of the originators of fotomontage.
Taking up most of the picture space sits a giant head of hair missing its face, only showing the hairstyle. Where the face would be is a …show more content…
Where the humanity stops, machine becomes prevalent and even more focused through the different colors present. In an almost dream-like way, the red blush of a cheek that usually defines emotions and humanity on one’s face is instead replaced by the red hue of a machine that has only one singular purpose. Every aspect of reality seems to melt away within the collage. The scale of bodies in proportion to their mechanical attributes is warped and not believably realistic. Höch exchanges reality in favor of a more dream-like melding between human and the …show more content…
The importance of the clock within Dadaist art must not be forgotten within the context of the rest of the collage. As an uplifting symbol of positive industrial relations, timepieces—both manufactured by humanity while also symbolizing mankind’s ability to create something that can analyze the natural world better than its creator—also come with a negative connotation of the horrors of modernity: labor hours and how they tie in with the oppression of the working class. Das schöne Mädchen’s pocket watch hints at both the venerated and the horrific aspects of industrialized time, slipping in with the similarly sized and shaped BMW logos, existing as both a symbol of luxury and mankind’s dominion over distance and the natural world, while also reinforcing the remembrance of those who work in factories to produce such a
Taking up most of the picture space sits a giant head of hair missing its face, only showing the hairstyle. Where the face would be is a …show more content…
Where the humanity stops, machine becomes prevalent and even more focused through the different colors present. In an almost dream-like way, the red blush of a cheek that usually defines emotions and humanity on one’s face is instead replaced by the red hue of a machine that has only one singular purpose. Every aspect of reality seems to melt away within the collage. The scale of bodies in proportion to their mechanical attributes is warped and not believably realistic. Höch exchanges reality in favor of a more dream-like melding between human and the …show more content…
The importance of the clock within Dadaist art must not be forgotten within the context of the rest of the collage. As an uplifting symbol of positive industrial relations, timepieces—both manufactured by humanity while also symbolizing mankind’s ability to create something that can analyze the natural world better than its creator—also come with a negative connotation of the horrors of modernity: labor hours and how they tie in with the oppression of the working class. Das schöne Mädchen’s pocket watch hints at both the venerated and the horrific aspects of industrialized time, slipping in with the similarly sized and shaped BMW logos, existing as both a symbol of luxury and mankind’s dominion over distance and the natural world, while also reinforcing the remembrance of those who work in factories to produce such a