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| Signs - Robert Rauschenberg (1970) |
Signs was created by Robert Rauschenberg in 1970 using screen-print. He was born on 22nd October 1925. He was 45 years old when he made the artwork. The artwork was influenced by key events that happened in the Artist’s life.
Signs uses images that reflect the politics and events during the 60’s and early 70’s;
*The Black Civil Rights Movement happened from 1954 to 1968.
*The Vietnam War (USA vs Vietnam) started in 1st November 1955 and ended in 30th April 1975.
*The 35th US President, John .F. Kennedy was assassinated on 22nd November 1963.
*Martin Luther King was assassinated on 4th April 1968.
*Robert Kennedy was assassinated on 6th June 1968.
*Neil Armstrong (USA) landed on the Moon in 1969.
*Woodstock (USA) was a music festival that occurred from August 15 to 18 in 1969.
The Signs work shows what the artist had interest in during the 60’s-70’s, all the events he refers to in his work shows what he thinks defines the era, what the 60’s-70’s will be remembered for by the future generation.
2) What are you looking at?
The artwork shows a collection of photos cut out from magazines and other forms of articles. At the top left, there is a picture of military force, men bearing arms in a military vehicle like they are being sent off to fight on the front lines of the Vietnam War.
Behind the military vehicle there is a black and white photo of a group of people holding candles.
Near the centre, there is an image of Robert Kennedy whose hand overlaps with a group of injured soldiers at the centre of the piece.
Next to the group there is a picture of an African- American man laying down, covered in blood.
His hand is laid across the coffin of the deceased Martin Luther King Jr.
On the right side of MLK is a picture of John F Kennedy facing the right.
And on the left of MLK, there is a large image of Neil Armstrong in his spacesuit.
On the top right side of the artwork, there is another black and white picture with a group of people showing the peace sign with their hand and below them is an image of Janis Jopin in red holding a microphone.
3) How have the formal elements been used?
The artwork has a 2D form with its Composition size: 35 3/16 x 26 3/4" (89.4 x 67.9 cm) and sheet size at: 43 x 34" (109.2 x 86.4 cm)
The image of JFK is surrounded by black, there is also strong contrast between the shadow and the lighting, and this gives the image a stern, serious atmosphere almost dramatic feeling to it.
One of the colours that stand out the most is red on Janis Jopin, the use of this primary colour gives this raw feeling on the piece of work. Raw as in the blatant violence that surrounds Signs and also this compassion in Janis Jopin in Woodstock to go against Vietnam War. The colour red also represents blood, showing the blood that has been spilled by many Americans and other nationalities due to political strife. The two pieces of images at the top corners are both black and white, this could mean that there can’t be one but two like there can’t be peace if there was no war or there can’t be any gain with loss.
Artist’s use of photos could be to represent a magazine article. He chose current events in that decade that would be or wouldn’t be covered by the press, in the 60’s and 70’s when the press had limited control so some subjects weren’t allowed to be public, to recreate his own but with events that he feels are significant to remember.
4) How is the artwork is composed?
In the middle section of the piece, there is a pattern of death. At the Bottom, there is a picture of Martin Luther King Jr’s funeral and above him is a young African-American man who is bleeding excessively, he is close to dying. Above that picture, there is a group of injured soldiers who may succumb to their wounds. Near the top is Robert Kennedy’s picture, a few months or years before his assassination and finally there is Janis Jopin at the top, who is still alive today. This is like a chain of life/death, a Congo line that creates a movement, those closer to the bottom are closer to death in the middle part of the collage.
5) Why has this piece been created?
The meaning behind Signs could be that the positive event like the first man on the Moon, in the piece made the people overlook the negative events like assassination, wars and riots. It could also represent the messy and clustered era since the images are not placed by the year of the event, its shows that many things happen in life and the events that stay in the mind (the piece) are the ones that hold significant value to a person, they become a sign of what kind of person they are.
However this could also be a piece of work that point out the flaws in the era, the Space Race was the result of the Cold War between USA and USSR, technologies were inspired by the German rocket technology that was seized after World War 2. The successful use of the technology was seen as ideological superiority by the two rivals. The Moon landing wasn’t for human curiosity but for the feel of superiority. The assassination of freethinkers that halted or limited freedom and justice. War and violence; 58,000 Americans died, causalities of the Vietnamese was far greater and the United States had also spent over 150 billion dollars in the Vietnam War. JFK wanted to limit US’s involvement to avoid further losses but his assassination resulted in Lyndon Johnson increasing the increasing the amount of troops. Mourning of those who lost their lives along and also rebellion against the government’s idea in form of Peace Movement.
6) Interpret how this work could relate to work you are making or want to make
This works represents the era of 60’s and also early 70’s, showing the past but however only some events of the decades are strongly highlighted showing that the memories of other events have long faded away and only those which have left a strong impression on the artist and people still remain. All these events are what were important to the artist at that time; I could do a piece of collage that are/were significant to me in a certain time to go with a theme of faded memories. I like how the artist was able to put together a collection of different photos in a messy manner but his use of iconic figure allows the audience to be able to clearly understand the meaning behind his work.
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