BLAST, World War I, and Tonal Shifts
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==Introduction== | ==Introduction== | ||
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blast_(magazine) ''BLAST''] was a British magazine with two issues, published in 1914 and 1915. The first issue was known for having a bright pink cover and for being very long. A month after the first issue was released, World War I (WW1) began, and the tone of ''BLAST'' changed drastically. In the second issue, the bright pink cover was changed to a light brown and black photo of soldiers in trenches, and the length was halved. Most of the magazine's creators fought in the war and were either killed or lost their interest in modernism. Despite the primary author, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyndham_Lewis Wyndham Lewis's], attempts to keep publishing ''BLAST'', he eventually gave up, starting a new magazine called [http://modjourn.org/render.php?view=mjp_object&id=116014593613208 ''the Tyro''.] | [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blast_(magazine) ''BLAST''] was a British magazine with two issues, published in 1914 and 1915. The first issue was known for having a bright pink cover and for being very long. A month after the first issue was released, World War I (WW1) began, and the tone of ''BLAST'' changed drastically. In the second issue, the bright pink cover was changed to a light brown and black photo of soldiers in trenches, and the length was halved. Most of the magazine's creators fought in the war and were either killed or lost their interest in modernism. Despite the primary author, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyndham_Lewis Wyndham Lewis's], attempts to keep publishing ''BLAST'', he eventually gave up, starting a new magazine called [http://modjourn.org/render.php?view=mjp_object&id=116014593613208 ''the Tyro''.] | ||
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| − | + | The word war increases in use by a massive amount between the two issues, going from very infrequent in the first issue to the most common word in the second. The frequency of the other top words stayed fairly consistent between the two issues. If you look at raw frequencies instead of relative, war is used over thirteen times as much in the second issue as it in the first, while all of the other words are used less often in the second, usually around two thirds of the amount that they are used in the first. This is because the second issue of ''BLAST'' significantly shorter than the first. | |
===Frequency of the word War=== | ===Frequency of the word War=== | ||
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| − | The raw frequency of the word war increases by 1340% from the first to second | + | The raw frequency of the word war increases by 1340% from the first to second issue of ''BLAST''. Also, in the second issue the most the word war was used most commonly in the beginning, and very infrequently in the middle of the magazine. This may be because the authors knew that the average reader would be worried about the war, so they wanted to draw people by putting the section about the war at the beginning before getting into more artsy, Vorticism focused material in the middle. For the most part, every time the circle size changes dramatically, it represents a new article that was more or less concerned with that one word in particular, and thus used the word a very different amount. |
===Frequency of the word Art=== | ===Frequency of the word Art=== | ||
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| − | The usage of the word art in the second | + | The usage of the word art in the second issue is less concentrated than it was in the first issue. Compared to the concentration of the usage of the word war in the second issue it appears as if the magazine shifted from being a purely artistic statement to a political statement accompanied by an art movement. Also, in the second issue, many of the uses of the art overlapped with the usage of the word war. This is because there are many articles that refer to to WW1 as war on art or which talk about the war's implications on art. It is also interesting to note that in the first issue of ''BLAST'', the word art is used very frequently in the first and last bits of the magazine, and is very rarely used in the middle. |
==Timeline== | ==Timeline== | ||
<html><iframe src='https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/timeline3/latest/embed/index.html?source=1G0z1RDdpuyHf0CoVjb5WuzNPDhx8I4ZJiynvhep1oFg&font=Default&lang=en&initial_zoom=2&height=650' width='100%' height='650' webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen frameborder='0'></iframe></html> | <html><iframe src='https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/timeline3/latest/embed/index.html?source=1G0z1RDdpuyHf0CoVjb5WuzNPDhx8I4ZJiynvhep1oFg&font=Default&lang=en&initial_zoom=2&height=650' width='100%' height='650' webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen frameborder='0'></iframe></html> | ||
| − | The magazine, ''BLAST'', had two | + | The magazine, ''BLAST'', had two issues published on June 20, 1914, and July 15, 1915. Occurring between the release of these issues was the beginning of WWI. This essay will illustrate the events unfolding between the release of the two issues and analyze how it affected the subject matter in ''BLAST''. BY the time of the release of the second issue of ''BLAST'' Germany, Russia, France and Great Britain were all at war, and many other countries were significantly impacted by the war such as Belgium. With the superpowers of Europe warring with each other, it imposed a split of ideologies. The shift in the subject matter of ''BLAST'' from an art movement to a political movement is evidenced by the influence the beginning of WWI had on the second issue of the Magazine. Most notably are the titles listed on the "Contents." page of the magazine. Of the first five titles, three can be easily tied to the war, "War Notes", "Artists and War", and "The Exploitation of Blood". Of the three titles, two use the word "war" in the title. As we saw in the text mining section the word war increased drastically whereas the other words most commonly found in the two issues remained constant. |
==Close Reading== | ==Close Reading== | ||
| − | === | + | ===Long Live The Vortex / Editorial=== |
| − | The first article in | + | The first article in the first issue is titled ''Long Live the Vortex!'' This article discusses the ideas and beliefs of the vorticists and the goal of ''BLAST.'' They say that they "need the unconsciousness of humanity - their stupidity, animalism, and dreams" for art to flourish. The article also describes ''BLAST'' as an "avenue for vivid and violent ideas that could reach the Public in no other way." The article then calls out education for destroying creativity and rebukes people for their snobbery over money and wealth, making the point "art is nothing to do with the coat you wear." ''Long Live the Vortex!'' ends with a mix of different ideas and a sort of blast against all people. An example of the strangeness of the ending ramble is the line "Elephants are VERY BIG. Motor cars go quickly." |
| − | + | The first article in the second issue is titled ''Editorial.'' This article discusses the current events of artwork in England, the outbreak of WWI in Europe, and the stance of ''BLAST'' on WWI. The article begins by explaining the need for art to return to Europe after WWI and how England can help through its abundance of art and culture. The editorial mentions the sales of works by Nietzsche, Flaubert, Boccacio, and Paul de Koch. From these four authors, Nietzsche is the only German writer, and he is known more for his philosophical works and cultural critiques than his poetry. The rest of the editorial is spent describing the war as a war between art. The article explains that "Germany has stood for the old Poetry, for Romance" while the rest of Europe has moved to newer art. This is portrayed as a threat to the progression of art. The editorial then specifies that it is only "official Germany" that is the threat to art, whereas "unofficial Germany" has greatly helped the vorticist movement. | |
| − | The first article in | + | |
| − | + | For the first article, the second issue's ''Editorial'' sounds much more serious and straightforward than ''Long Live the Vortex.'' Both articles focus on art and the vorticist movement, but the surrounding tones and issues change. ''Long Live the Vortex'' focuses on the purpose of ''BLAST'' and the ideas of the vorticist movement. ''Editorial'', however, focuses on the war and the threat that official Germany poses to art in Europe. Unlike ''Long Live the Vortex'', ''Editorial'' remains serious and focused on the war rather than ending in a ramble of unrelated topics. | |
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===Blast/Bless=== | ===Blast/Bless=== | ||
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==='Life is the Important Thing!'/'Artists and the War'=== | ==='Life is the Important Thing!'/'Artists and the War'=== | ||
| − | These articles were selected because they were both written by Wyndham Lewis who was the editor of both | + | These articles were selected because they were both written by Wyndham Lewis who was the editor of both issues of the magazine ''BLAST''. Wyndham Lewis was also a co-founder of the Vorticist movement which makes him a very important writer in the magazines as he directed the message the magazines would convey for each issue of ''BLAST''. Lewis' article in the first issue of ''BLAST'', ''Life is the Important Thing!'', falls under a chapter in the magazine called "Vortices and Notes" in which Lewis reviews and critiques artists, art forms, movements and more. This section is omitted from the second issue, which is further evidence of its shift from an arts magazine to a politicized forum focused on WWI. In ''Life is the Important Thing'' Lewis critiques artists' desire to capture life and their request for more of it. Lewis argues that artist should not encourage this behavior as intellectuals to other people, but rather encourage them to actually go experience life. Lewis begins his article with powerful language such as "revolt", "revolutionaries", "coup", and "Tyrant". It is clear that incite passion and show his frustration with these artists, and, in this case, the impressionist movement. In this article, Lewis illustrates his motivations for starting the magazine and beginning the Vorticists movement by "blasting" artist idea of trying to capture life in their work. ''Artists and the War'' paints a very bleak picture of the current financial status of artists and how art may change after the war. It is very different in its language. In ''Life is the Important Thing'' Lewis is trying inspire people and artists, but in this article, he is merely reporting on the possibility of a grim future for artists after WWI. The article paints a bleak picture of artists and art movements during WWI further showing how significant the impact of this war was on all art including the second issue of ''BLAST''. |
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| + | ===Vortex by Henri Gaudier-Brzeska=== | ||
| + | Henri Gaudier-Brzeska wrote a short article in both issues of ''BLAST'' entitled Vortex. Gaudier-Brzeska was a sculptor primarily, and the article in the first issue was about the history of sculpture. It feels very hopeful, optimistic about humanity in many aspects. He goes over the sculptures of many different civilizations, including Egypt, Greece, and Ming China. In his description of the sculpture of each of these place, he mentions a vortex which inspired their accomplishments. It sounds as if he is saying that, while sculptures have taken many different forms in many different places throughout human history, all of it was inspired by a vortex that has been maturing and becoming more complete over time. Though he talks about sculpture primarily, he is also implying that this vortex has influenced many other forms of art in history. He ends the article with "will and consciousness are our VORTEX." The article seems to be celebrating human accomplishment in sculpture, saying that it has been great but that there are even greater things ahead. | ||
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| + | His article in the second edition of ''BLAST'' was very different. Gaudier-Brzeska was in the French army when he wrote the article, and in fact titled it "Vortex (Written from the Trenches)". Instead of a history of sculpture and descriptions of a mysterious thing called a vortex, he starts off by simply describing his time in the war as a soldier. He says that two months of war have taught him the value of life. He says, essentially that through all the destruction in the world nothing ever changes. He then says that artistic emotions are pointless and that the war is actually a good thing, since it "takes away from the masses number upon numbers of unimportant units." He then briefly mentions that he still agrees with his view in the previous ''BLAST'' about sculpture, and goes on to talk about an experiment he performed by stealing an enemy's rifle. | ||
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| + | There is a massive difference between the two articles. It is very easy to tell that Gaudier-Brzeska's time in the war very much changed his views of the world. He became much more cynical and sounds almost as if he just does not care about anything anymore. This is likely because he experienced so much fighting in the war; he was stationed in a very dangerous part of the war zone and in fact, he actually died in battle around a month before ''BLAST'' 2 was published. One of the most defining differences between the two articles are the intros. The first one starts with "Sculptural energy is the mountain. Sculptural feeling is the appreciation of masses in retaliation. Sculptural ability is the defining of these masses by planes." He starts off with his theory of what powers sculpture. In the second article, he starts off with "The sculptor writes from the French trenches, having been in the firing line since the early in the war. In September he was one of a patrolling party of twelve, seven of his companions fell in the fight over a roadway. In November he was nominated for sergeancy and has been since slightly wounded, but expects to return to the trenches." There is a very obvious difference between the starts of the two articles, and it highlights the difference in the rest of the content as well. | ||
==Stylistic Changes== | ==Stylistic Changes== | ||
===Covers=== | ===Covers=== | ||
| − | The cover of ''Blast'' changes drastically after the outbreak of WWI. The first | + | The cover of ''Blast'' changes drastically after the outbreak of WWI. The first issue of ''Blast'' featured a bright magenta cover with word "BLAST" in large bold letters positioned horizontally across the cover. This first cover not only caught people's attention easily, but also displayed the novelty of the magazine. However, after WWI began, the cover of ''Blast'' changed to become much more serious and relevant. The cover of the second issue of ''Blast'' was colored dark beige, and the title's importance had been significantly reduced. Instead of using the title to fill the cover, the second cover featured artwork depicting soldiers in trenches. Although the tone of the cover had changed drastically, the artwork maintained the vorticist style. |
===Artwork=== | ===Artwork=== | ||
| + | The artwork in both issues of BLAST look largely similar with regards to geometry and emphasis on the vorticism. Some noticeable differences between the drawings in BLAST 1 and BLAST 2 is the use of shading. A lot of the drawings in BLAST 1 use shading to contrast lighting. The themes of the drawings are also different in both issues. The subject and themes of the drawings in the first issue are quite diverse and rather peaceful. The drawings in the second issue of BLAST depict similar things but they also depict war machinery, combat and soldiery while trying to lay emphasis on the vorticist movement but also showing awareness of the war. | ||
| + | One interesting find in the magazines is that the first issue includes two pieces of art titled ''Plan of War'' and ''Slow Attack''. Both were created by Wyndham Lewis, suggesting he may have thought war would break out. | ||
===Text and Page Layout=== | ===Text and Page Layout=== | ||
| + | In the first BLAST magazine, the the size of the writing is fairly big and thick during the first fifty pages. There isn't really much of a standard page layout until the 80th page of the magazine. In the 1915 BLAST magazine, the writing is distributed in two parts similar to a newspaper. This indicates how the magazine has become more serious during the war with regards to the content they are publishing and how it should be presented. | ||
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| + | ===Images=== | ||
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==Conclusion== | ==Conclusion== | ||
| − | Our exploration of the tone of the two | + | Our exploration of the tone of the two issues of ''BLAST'' made us realize the strong impact the war had on the magazine. Our text mining on voyant tools indicates a change in 'war' being very infrequent in the 1914 issue of ''BLAST'' to being the most frequent in the 1915 issue. We sensed that the tone in the earlier version of the magazine was more humanist and individualistic, echoing the merits of the Vorticism art movement. Comparatively, the second issue's tone gained a more political stance. No doubt the on set of WWI is the cause of such a shift in the tone. The second issue is also much more defensive in that it often times references the WWI as a war on art. The second issue also lost some of the satire found in the beginning of the first issue with its comical blasts of different countries followed by praise. Overall, the onset of WWI drastically changed the tone between the two issues, going from somewhat comical and focused on art to being darker and more political. |
== Sources == | == Sources == | ||
| − | + | [http://modjourn.org/index.html Modernist Journal Project] | |
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| − | [http:// | + | |
| − | + | [http://timeline.knightlab.com Timeline JS] | |
| − | [http:// | + | [http://voyant-tools.org/ Voyant Tools] |
