Hannah Hoch - Queen of Collage

Hannah Hoch, Berlin Dadaist

Hannah Hoch, born Anna Therese Johanne Höch, born in 1889, was a Berlin Dadaist, and the Queen of Photomontage (Collage).

Hannah Hoch, Russian Dancer

Hoch went to the School of Applied Arts in Berlin (1912) and then to National Institute of Museum of Arts and Crafts (1915).

She was bisexual, in known relationships with Dutch writer, Mathilda Brugman, and Raoul Hausmann, another member of the Dada movement (not concurrently)  Her works from 1926 to 1935 often depicted same sex couples. Many of her characters have both masculine and feminine features.

 Hannah Hoch was one of the first pioneers of photomontage. 

To me, the strange pieces of flat worlds, pieced together like quilt squares create a surreal world that only Hannah knew. 

Zen And The Art of Taking a Drawing Class.

I thought I knew something about art. But with every passing class, I am finding that every teacher asks  his or her students to bring something different to the table. My drawing instructor challenges my patience. He's awesome. But the projects challenge my brain. He requires that I slow my mind down to really observe what I am drawing, turn off the part of my mind that judges what I am doing, the part that assumes something about what I am seeing. I must stay innocent, so I do not interfere with what my eyes are telling me is there. The first few weeks, we did nothing but exercises. It wasn't about how the end result came out. (Not at first.) It was about our process. He was painstakingly persistent about how we absorb and purge what we see. Our eyes crawled like a snail around every contour of plastic fruit, teapots, boxes, spheres and leaves. Our minds wanted to speed around every corner but he reprimanded us and issued speeding tickets. Gentle yet firm.

I feel like I am finally understanding. My mind has to slow down. I have to stop judging. It's a skill. And I'm learning very slowly.

Five Hundred Pixels

500px

I don't like photos posted online. They scare me. I never know what's going to come up on a Google Image search. And someone once said to me,

"Once your picture is on the internet, it will always be on the internet."

I take that to mean that you lose the privacy of your images to whomever is able to see them at the speed of their internet connection. Where they end up, who knows? Your images can be stored in someone else's hard drive, manipulated and unscrupulously republished.  There are dangers to storing and sharing your images online.  I just don't buy it when someone says, "You control your privacy settings." Sorry. Technology has its loopholes and weak spots. But for those who make their bread and butter off of the visual arts, publishing your images is a necessity.

One photo sharing site that I like browsing is 500px.com. I was introduced to it via Google Newstand and News Republic. A picture can speak volumes, and it turns out that they tell pretty good stories. The company describes itself as a "premier photography community." You can follow your favorite photographers and comment on their work - a good way to get feedback. You can also share, sell and buy each others photographs. They also have an app available in case you want to peruse gorgeous landscapes or cute furry animals when boredom attacks for 30 seconds.

Enjoy .