Johannes Gutenberg, who was born sometime around 1400 in Mainz, Germany, was the inventor of the Gutenberg printing press. He worked as a goldsmith, traded cloth, and was a printer. Gutenberg’s original last name was Gänsfleisch. His mother was the daughter of a shopkeeper, and his father was a high-end merchant who taught Johannes the job of goldsmith. His father dealt with church money and made it. The printing press was created in 1439 in the town of Strasbourg and was released in 1950. The printing press basically used removable plates formed and molded by previous written pages, which were pressed into ink and then, either by hand or later mechanically, pressed onto other blank pages. It was an extraordinary invention, and it gave the world the ability to mass-produce literature. Having this ability, created completely new opportunities for the world of writings and even art. Soon after the invention of the printing press, Gutenberg created the Gutenberg Bible, also known as the 42-lin Bible. This project of his started in 1452, and Gutenberg borrowed 800 guilders from Johann Fust, his business partner. Gutenberg went bankrupt, and he could not pay Fust back his money. A court case ensued between Gutenberg and Fust, which Fust won. This entitled Fust to the Bible printing store and half of the money made from the already sold Gutenberg Bibles. Today, out of one hundred and eighty Gutenberg Bibles printed, a mere twenty-one survived and are intact. Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press has since allowed many other versions to come to completion.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Comics
Comics have sometimes been considered more a type of entertainment than true art. However, the history of comics and the process for creating comics is admirably intricate. There are several phases to go through when creating a comic, such as illustration, writing, lettering, storyline, and others. In the later years of the 19th century, comics came around as a type of artistry. Around the start of the 20th century, Comics were introduced to the United States through newspapers. Soon after, they were made into small pamphlets and paperbacks. Available in various forms and accessible to most any person, comics have become exceedingly popular. One of the most famous comic artists of the past is Will Eisner, who produced “The Spirit”. It is said he invented the graphic novel by writing “A Contract with God, and Other Tenement Stories”, and he also coined the term sequential art, which means art in a timeline and ordered. As comics are chronological and of both pictures and words, it can be a complex art form. There are numerous styles of comics, including stylized, cartooned, and realistic. One of the newest kinds of comics is manga, which is Japanese styled and English-written. Manga has had some controversy over its adult issues, as they can be both violent and sexual. Comics, in general, have preciously had problems with controversy over their contents. One problem was the adult scenes in some of the horror strips released in the 1950s, as they were sometimes extremely scary and graphic. Still, they have somehow continued on through out these difficulties and still remain an art.
Graffiti
Graffiti, the “street art”, is one of the more nonconventional, rebellious forms of art in history, as many have called it vandalism. It has recently evolved into a pop culture. The beginning of graffiti began with an image for solicitation of a prostitute in Ephesus, a city in Greece. The word graffiti is from a Greek word meaning “to write”. Many of the earliest civilizations, such as the Greeks, Mayans, and Romans, practiced different types of graffiti. Graffiti is now more associated with hip-hop culture and was cultivated in New York. Originating in the 1920s and became more established in the 1970s, numerous graffiti designs appeared on trains and building walls. However illegal it may be, graffiti’s impact on art and design has been imperative. Graffiti has always been, as in any art form, a means of self-expression. It has also been used for memorials, political references, and advertising. Leaving behind a signature lets graffiti artists leave memorials. Politics have often been portrayed through graffitist murals. The Berlin Wall was a clear example of this, and became a perfect location for a much needed outlet to expand. Advertising through graffiti, a more modern aspect of this art, allows the ad to be seen by many and still have a creative and authentic feel. Hummer had a mural done of one of its vehicles with a headline that said “street art”; it was a clever play on words. Throughout history, graffiti has survived, thrived, progressed into a reputable art, and has had a direct impact on many artists.
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