Deck 35: The Quest for Meaning

Question 1

Describe the unique stylistic features of painting,architecture,music,and dance at mid-century.

Answer 1

America saw an artistic boom in the mid-twentieth century and,for the first time,led the world into new styles of painting.The radical new style called abstract expressionism had its roots in the European modernism,but also embrace the role of chance with existential fervor.Abstract Expressionist paintings are usually nonrepresentational,executed on large canvases,and feature paint strokes applied in a loose,free,and instinctive manner that emphasized the physical gesture- the very act of painting.This last characteristic is fundamental to Jackson Pollock's work,whose style became known as action painting.Pollock's canvases are baffling studies in sensation,density,and rhythm,but they are apt metaphors for an age that defined physical reality in terms of process,uncertainty,and chance.The works of Mark Rothko consist of translucent,soft-edged blocks of color that float mysteriously on the surfaces of yet other fields of color.More than just splotches of color,Rothko's canvases attempt to inspire religious or mystical experiences in the viewer,as the painter sought to express the basic human emotions:"tragedy,ecstasy,and doom."
Music at mid-century also heavily featured the element of chance.The American composer John Cage,a devotee of Zen Buddhism,once defined music as a combination of sounds (specific pitches),noise (nonpitched sounds),and silence,with rhythm as the common denominator."Everything we do is music," he insisted.Many of Cage's works were radically experimental,especially in their use of aleatoric processes (based on chance or random procedures).Similarly,dance choreographer Merce Cunningham (Cage's partner in life)rejected the narrative,storytelling dance style of his teacher Martha Graham and he concentrated exclusively on movement and form.In his use of clean,expansive body gestures,actions such as running,jumping,and falling,Cunningham's work shares the raw energy and spontaneity that typify the canvases of the abstract expressionists.
By the middle of the twentieth century,public architecture assumed a distinctly international character.The principles of International style architecture,based on the use of structural steel,ferroconcrete,and glass,had gained popularity through the influence of Bauhaus-trained architects and Le Corbusier.The Dutch architect (and the last director of the Bauhaus)Ludwig Mies van der Rohe designed sleek,unadorned buildings that followed his "less is more" motto.Later architects,such as Eero Saarinen and Frank Lloyd Wright,incorporated romance and the natural world into their designs.

Question 2

Explain how existential literature reflects the quest for meaning at mid-century.

Answer 2

Building on the philosophy of Sartre,mid-century writers explored meaning in an anxious and alienated society.The utopian and dystopian genres provided a dialectic approach:utopian literatureis optimistic and exalted science as a positive force in shaping the future;dystopian literature is pessimistic,fearing that modern technology might produce catastrophes and societies will become dreadful and bleak.
The postwar era also witnessed the birth of a new kind of literary hero:one who,deprived of traditional values and religious beliefs,bears the burden of freedom and the total responsibility for his actions.This antihero takes up the quest for meaning:alienated by nature and circumstance,he makes choices in a world lacking moral absolutes,a world in which no act might be called "good" unless it is chosen in conscious preference to its alternatives.Unlike the heroes of old,the modern antihero is neither noble nor sure of purpose.This hero perfectly reflected the modern person and appeared in all types of literature in every part of the world.

Question 3

Which of the following was the architectural champion of the geodesic dome?

A)Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
B)Richard Buckminster Fuller
C)Frank Lloyd Wright
D)Philip Johnson

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Which of the following authors is considered pessimistic and tended to lean towards a "dystopian" viewpoint?

A)Orwell
B)Bradbury
C)Huxley
D)All these answers are correct.

Question 5

Describe the postwar cultural boom in America.

Question 6

________,in his often-painted Pope Innocent X,created a logo for despiritualized modernism,looking back to Munch,Eisenstein,and Picasso.

A)Eliot
B)De Kooning
C)Frost
D)Bacon

Question 7

Faulkner,Percy,Cheever,Bellow,and Kerouac were all writers who wrote from which of the following perspectives?

A)Imperialism
B)Zen
C)Existentialism
D)Modernism

Question 8

In the medium of ________,characters undergo little or no change,dialogue contradicts actions,and events follow no logical order.

A)theater of the absurd
B)Bauhaus
C)cubist theater
D)absurd opera

Question 9

Define theater of the absurd and its goals as a performance medium.

Question 10

The American behavioral psychologist ________ anticipated a society in which the behavior of human beings might be scientifically engineered for the benefit of both the individual and the community.

A)Orwell
B)Bradbury
C)Huxley
D)Skinner

Question 11

Among the most daring of the International style proponents and last director of the Bauhaus was the Dutch architect

A)Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.
B)Richard Buckminster Fuller.
C)Frank Lloyd Wright.
D)Philip Johnson.

Question 12

Jackson Pollock's daring new method,which came to be called ________,allowed him "to walk around [the canvas],work from the four sides and literally be in the painting."

A)pointillism
B)splatter painting
C)action painting
D)nihilism

Question 13

Which of the following was one of the few famous American representative painters from the period covered in the chapter?

A)Segal
B)Giacometti
C)Hopper
D)Bergman

Question 14

The first "hot war" of the cold war era was fought in which of the following countries?

A)Korea
B)Germany
C)Spain
D)Vietnam

Question 15

________,the leading philosopher of the twentieth century,made significant contributions as a playwright,novelist,journalist,and literary critic.

A)Hobbs
B)Sartre
C)Kant
D)Handel

Question 16

________'s landmark work,The Seventh Seal,is an allegorical tale of despair in the face of impending death.

A)Segal
B)Giacometti
C)Hopper
D)Bergman

Question 17

Explain the basic arguments of Sartrean existentialism.

Question 18

Which of the following is famous for his sculptures of very elongated human figures?

A)Segal
B)Giacometti
C)Hopper
D)Bergman

Question 19

Which of the following was the first important style of painting originating in the United States rather than Europe?

A)mannerism
B)cubism
C)existentialism
D)abstract Expressionism