Robert Rauschenberg was born in 1925 in Port Arthur, Texas and was initially known as Milton Rauschenberg. His father was a strict man who worked at the Gulf States Utilities power company while his mother was a staunch Christian. As history states, Rauschenberg’s mother made the family’s clothes from scraps, a practice that allegedly embarrassed her son 1 . Although Rauschenberg was embarrassed in his early life, his mother’s technique most likely influenced his art style later in life. Rauschenberg also drew frequently as well as copied images from comic prints in his early life. Besides, he wanted to be a church minister, a position that was coveted in his largely conservative community. However, he abandoned his aspiration after he discovered that the church called dancing a sin. Rauschenberg was a skilled dancer himself, and therefore, becoming a church minister would be an obstacle towards achieving his goals.
In regard to early training, Rauschenberg attended the University of Texas in Austin to pursue pharmacology. However, he was expelled when he was only in his freshman year after he refused to dissect a frog. In 1943, he was drafted into the United States Navy but again refused to kill on the battlefield. He was immediately assigned a medical technician post where he served in the Navy Hospital Corps caring for survivors in San Diego. Rauschenberg’s interest in art again began while he was on leave. He saw oil paintings up-close for the very first time at the Huntington Art Gallery in California. When the war ended, he started to pay for art classes in 1947 at the Kansas State University 2 . It was also the year he changed his name to Bob. In 1948, he relocated to Paris to study at the Academie Julian. Rauschenberg also attended the Black Mountain College in North Carolina in 1948 and 1949 before moving to New York City.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Rauschenberg’s ambition opened an opportunity for him to exhibit at the Betty Parsons Gallery in New York. He showcased a series of white paintings that had scratched numbers and allegorical symbols. While still at the Black Mountain College he practiced applying white house paint onto canvas using a roller. Besides, he tried black paint after being encouraged by the painter Jack Tworkov. His black paintings in stark contrast with the white series had thick paint texture and newspaper scraps 3 . The later works of Rauschenberg were highly influenced by the minimalist composer, John Cage, as well as the choreographer Merce Cunningham, both tutors at the Mountain Black College. The two tutors advocated for the use of found objects, chance objects, and every day, common experiences in art.
After leaving the Black Mountain College in 1952, Rauschenberg seemingly adhered to Cunningham and Cage’s ideas to explore Europe and North Africa with a fellow student, Cy Twombly. While in his travels, Rauschenberg created his first assemblages from the junk he gathered from the Italian countryside. After returning to the United States, he experimented with the red paint to create the popular Red series in which he incorporated various surface textures just like in the Black series. He even created his own unique style where he included various objects in his paintings such as parasols and even parts of a man’s undershirt. He called these arrangements ‘combines’ because they incorporated paint and objects on the canvas.
Rauschenberg was not only interested in art but also in dancing. Consequently, in 1954, he partnered with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company in a ten-year partnership 4 . He used the opportunity to make costumes and sets for the company. Additionally, he choreographed and arranged his own theater pieces with other artists throughout the 1960s. The years that followed the Second World War witnessed rapid technological advances. Rauschenberg realized the potential of technology, which led him to found Experiments in Art and Technology in 1966 with Billy Kluver of Bell Laboratories. The partnership between the two encouraged engineers and artists to collaborate. Rauschenberg’s interest in technology sparked a wave of other developments. For instance, he began to make lithographs in 1962 with Tatyana Grosman who was a printmaker and owner of the Universal Limited Art Editions. Rauschenberg later established his own printmaking studio known as Unlimited Press, which was available to both emerging and established artists.
Most prominently, Rauschenberg believed that art could be used to change the society. He even established the Rauschenberg Overseas Culture Interchange. In tandem with his beliefs, he traveled mainly to communist and developing nations, defying the then American Cold War policies. In every country he visited, he learnt the crafts of the host countries from the artists and artisans. He would later create art works inspired by the host countries. His travels culminated in an exhibition which was held at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. During his later years, Rauschenberg received several rewards and accolades. Firstly, in 1990, the Whitney Museum of American Art issued Rauschenberg with a retrospective, followed with a smaller exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery of his earlier artwork from the 1950s. The shows reinforced his status as one of the most prominent artists in the world at the same time stressing on the importance of his early work in its contribution to modern art. He also received the coveted Commandant de I’Ordre des Lettres from France in 1992, accompanied with the National Medal of the Arts in 1993 5 . Although Rauschenberg in his later life battled with alcoholism but recovered, he made an immense contribution to modern art.
Examples of Rauschenberg’s Rebellious Art
Image 3: Most Distant Visible Part of the Sea.
Source: https://www.artsy.net/artist/robert-rauschenberg
Image 2: Cliché Verre
Source: https://www.artsy.net/artist/robert-rauschenberg
Image 1: Democratic Party Human Rights Dinner
Source: https://www.artsy.net/artist/robert-rauschenberg
Research Proposal
Art for Social Change As Opposed To Convention
The biography of Rauschenberg triggers deep thought in regard to the role of art in society. Rauschenberg reacted against abstract expressionism, which had gained tremendous prominence during his time. To many people, art to them meant aesthetics. Different artists showcased their work at various exhibitions, people admired them, perhaps got the satisfaction but later took their artwork back to their studios. Evidently, there is no value in such cases because the artist creates artwork for self-satisfaction and not for any contribution in the society. For a long time, people have always marveled at impressive pieces of art. Consequently, art has been appreciated for its aesthetics as opposed to social contribution. Prominent past artists such as Leonardo Da Vinci have been celebrated because of how they created impressive and realistic artwork. There is little or no information concerning any significant contribution made by such artists to the society. In this proposal, I opine that art, just like works of literature need to elicit positive changes in the society. Specifically, I intend to provide an outline of how I will conduct my research in regard to using art to trigger positive social change.
The study will mainly be qualitative, implying that books and articles will be used. The first book I intend to use is titled Art and Politics: A History of Art for Social Change Since 1945 by Claudia Mesch. Mesch investigates how artists have involved themselves in political and grassroots movements visually particularly after 1945. This was a period after the Second World War, which is also variously described as the post-colonial era. It was also a time when many countries embarked on the process of reconstruction after the events of the war. One question that is triggered by the book is, should artists operate in isolation? Evidently, Mesch is of the perception that artists need to participate actively in the events happening in their environment 6 . Mesch posits that the major world events that characterized the start of the post-colonial era has increasingly characterized a new direction in art production.
Secondly, Levine & Levine’s Art in Action: Expressive Arts Therapy and Social Change. One of the questions Levine & Levine ask is, what role can the arts play in bringing about the possibility of social change? In this book, it is argued that although art is imaginative, the imagination takes place in an environment. The artwork is often influenced by the events of the real world. As a result, the imagination need not to die with the artist. Rather, it needs to solve a specific purpose. One of the functions of art given by the authors is that it can be used for therapeutic purposes 7 . Art is perceived to be something that can ‘touch’ people, trigger their feelings and even foster the wellbeing of individuals. In this way, it can appeal to people’s literal reality and create a positive impact on them. If art can be used to appeal to people’s emotions and senses, then there is a high likelihood that it can be used to trigger social change. Art should, therefore, not just be used as an outward or abstract commodity. On the contrary, the calming effect it can cause can be used to foster the wellbeing of people with psychological disorders. Besides, after a long day of work or after doing strenuous activities, people can refresh and seek peace in art. In this way, art will be an effective tool of contributing to social change.
Social change does not only imply politics or being involved in mass movements. On the contrary, artists can also use their skills and work to agitate for other aspects such as caring for the environment. Dixon and Scarborough’s book dubbed Art and Social Change mentions some of the artists that used their work to call for environmental conservation. Most of the artists were mainly landscape artists. They believed that by drawing landscapes, they would trigger people to appreciate their environment and consequently preserve it 8 . The landscape drawings in the book also inspire orderliness and consciousness while planning to construct residential spaces. Morgaine and Capous-Desyllas in their book titled Creating Social Change through Creativity: Anti-Oppressive Arts-Based Research Methodologies also see art as a tool that can be used to create solutions to problems that face the society. By labelling artists as creative people, the authors have a conviction that artists have a higher potential of solving problems 9 . Based on the insights provided by the authors, it is high time artists took their rightful place of not only agitating for social change but also being part of the solutions. Artists have conventionally retracted back to their own cocoons when they have crucial skills, which can help the society.
In conclusion, the research will focus on how art can be used to trigger social change. Prominent artists such as Robert Rauschenberg began the rebellion against abstract expressionism and positioned art as an important tool that can be used to solve social problems. The study will be mainly qualitative. Firstly, a literature review of how art was used in the past will be conducted. Secondly, a study of prominent artists such as Rauschenberg who rebelled against conventional ways of doing things will be conducted. Lastly, to support the argument that art needs to be used for social change, the aforementioned books will be used. The overall aim is to explain that art can be used for much more other than just aesthetics.
Bibliography
Capous-Desyllas, Moshoula, and Karen Morgaine, eds. Creating Social Change through Creativity: Anti-Oppressive Arts-Based Research Methodologies . Springer, 2017.
Lanchner, Carolyn. 2010. Robert Rauschenberg (moma artist series) .
Levine, Ellen, and Levine, Stephen. Art in action: Expressive arts therapy and social change . Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2011.
Mesch, Claudia. Art and politics: a small history of art for social change since 1945 . IB Tauris, 2013.
Scarborough, Klare, and Susan Dixon. Art and Social Change . Lulu. Com, 2015.
Steinberg, Leo, and Robert Rauschenberg. 2000. Encounters with Rauschenberg: (a lavishly illustrated lecture) . Houston: Menil Collection
1 Steinberg, Leo, and Robert Rauschenberg. 2000. Encounters with Rauschenberg: (a lavishly illustrated lecture) . Houston: Menil Collection
2 Lanchner, Carolyn. 2010. Robert Rauschenberg (moma artist series) .
3 Steinberg, Leo, and Robert Rauschenberg. 2000. Encounters with Rauschenberg: (a lavishly illustrated lecture) . Houston: Menil Collection
4 Lanchner, Carolyn. 2010. Robert Rauschenberg (moma artist series
5 Lanchner, Carolyn. 2010. Robert Rauschenberg (moma artist series
6 Mesch, Claudia. Art and politics: a small history of art for social change since 1945 . IB Tauris, 2013.
7 Levine, Ellen, and Levine, Stephen. Art in action: Expressive arts therapy and social change . Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2011.
8 Scarborough, Klare, and Susan Dixon. Art and Social Change . Lulu. Com, 2015
9 Capous-Desyllas, Moshoula, and Karen Morgaine, eds. Creating Social Change through Creativity: Anti-Oppressive Arts-Based Research Methodologies . Springer, 2017.
