ROCK DRILL (final) Flashcards
(21 cards)
title
Torso in metal from rock drill
artist
epstein
DATE
1915
HOW DID EPSTEIN TRUNCATE FIRST VERSION
-LOPS OFF RIGHT ARM
-Foetus seems vulnerable
-NO SENSE OF DEFENCE (like soldiers)
why was the first version created and when was it destroyed
Was created before the Great War (At the time Epstein was excited by the rapidly advancing machine culture in Europe and America)
destroyed in 1915 and transformed it into Torso in Metal from Rock Drill
composition of rock drill (1)
-PLASTER figure perched on an actual rockdrill
(use of readymade inspired by marcel du champ)
how does the transformed torso constrast the origional figure in its mood
-first one showed power of machine age
-truncated bersion deems defenceless and melancholic (evoked wounded soldiers who were returning home from trenches in startling numbers)
how was the truncation of the origional version a turning point in his career
-Signified the end of his engagement with the machine age
-showed the start of his dissolusionment with machinery (due to mutilated soldiers of war and death of friend)
materials of first version
-Figure cast in white plaster (could not afford to have it cast in steel)distinguishes it more from black shining drill
emphasises machinery’s dominance
treatment of figure in first rock drill
-cast in plaster, distingishe it from black drill (shows machinery dominance)
-Visor like head
-Drill appears extension of the body, a mechanised penis
-engine like body, armour on limbs
-Only naturalistically-treated element is the foetal shape protected within the vice-like ribs
-segented body
-legs form Gothic arch
influence of visor like head in first version
visor like head evokes primitive Baule and Bambara animal heads (Wears visored helmet )
what is the only naturalistic part of the first version
-Only naturalistically-treated element is the foetal shape protected within the vice-like ribs
depiction of the drill in first version
EXTENSION OF PLASTER BODY, MECHANISED PENIS
dehumanised
how is the parent and child theme explored in both versions
form of an embryo and the parent is a man
Seems to ask whether the organic foetus will be transformed into a robot as de-humanised as the driller himself
materials and techniques for first version
-body cast in plaster (white plaster contrasts dramatically with the dark colour of the drill )
-use of readymade with drill (Duchamp)
-LATER CONFESSED HE THOUGHT OF ATTACHING A MOTOR (MECHANISED FURTHER)
effect of adding bronze to the trucated version
-once truncated, bronze material was added
-Dark sheen adds to mechanistic character
-There is no handling visible on the surface - further mechanises the subject
-Detail of angular abstracted musculature possible in bronze
influence of primitivism
The sexual content of the work (enlarged penis represented by the drill) also relies on primitive sculpture (epstein owned Standing Male Figure
by Fang)
Possible primitive influence in the visor-like face: perhaps related to certain (African) Baule and Bambara animal heads
hat sexually primitive work did epstein own
Standing Male Figure
Fang
In Jacob Epstein’s collection of primitive art
influence of Vorticism
-british avante garde group formed in 1914, aimed to create art that expressed the dynamism of the modern world
Rock Drill has been hailed as a pinnacle of Vorticist art (even though Epstein was not officially a member of the Vorticists - he never signed the Vorticist Manifesto)
influence seen in…
*Illustrates the dynamism of the modern world/ machine age
*Stripped down, angular style
*Geometrical fragmentation/ strong structure of Cubism
how was epstein influenced by the machine age in his first version
*Epstein had encountered a drilling machine while visiting a quarry in search of stone
*The most up-to-date drill developed for rock-cutting was a revolutionary implement in the mining industry
*Epstein impressed by the drill’s deafening force, speed and effectiveness
why did epsteins attitude to machinery change after the completion of the first vesion
mechanised conflict of ww1- wounded soldiers
death of vorticist friend ON BATTLEFEILD, shocked vorticists
