The Disturbing Desires of Hans Bellmer
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- Опубликовано: 15 окт 2024
- German artist, sculptor and photographer Hans Bellmer has offered the public something that in many ways could be seen as one of the most challenging and divisive explorations of the human body that has emerged into the art world thus far.
Active during the tumultuous mid-20th century, Hans Bellmer remains a captivating and controversial figure whose art continues to spark debate and intrigue. While primarily celebrated for his iconic life-size dolls and the evocative photographs he took of them, Bellmer's artistic output extended beyond this singular focus, encompassing drawings, prints, and writings that collectively offer a profound and often unsettling analysis of the flesh, or more specifically, the female anatomy.
Driven by a complex web of personal and historical influences, Bellmer's work delves into the darkest recesses of the subconscious, often touching upon themes of eroticism, fetishism, and the uncanny. Each piece of art he would create would serve as his own personal therapy, often boldly objectifying abusive relationships, exploring his own darkest fantasies, and projecting the essence of his deepest desire for women. In addition, his art, both gruesome and alluring, is often interpreted as a defiant response to the oppressive Nazi regime under which he lived, as well as a personal rebellion against his own traumatic childhood experiences.
Bellmer's fascination with the fragmented and disjointed female form, as exemplified in his meticulously constructed dolls and later a real female body of his lover towards the end of his life, challenges conventional notions of beauty and gender representation. Through his unique artistic lens, the body becomes a site of both desire and anxiety, simultaneously alluring and grotesque. This complex and multifaceted approach to the human figure has solidified Bellmer's place as a stand-out figure within the Surrealist art movement and a pioneer in the exploration of the subconscious through art.
But this video is going to be very slightly different from my usual style. Today we’re going to be taking another approach to exploring the life and artwork of this particular artist, by analysing some examples of work that may have even crossed the line between artistic expression and simply using it as a means to fulfil the artist’s most, let’s just say for now, unhinged fantasies. It’s not often that I walk away from dark themed art asking myself these sorts of questions, but I thought it would be an interesting subject of debate to cover this time round.
But I should also quickly mention that a great deal of the subjects and imagery discussed in this video are extremely sensitive and shocking, so I want to leave a friendly warning to those watching that this may be too disturbing for certain viewers. Of course if you’re all for it feel free to get comfortable and watch on, just don’t say I didn’t warn you...
Artist Corner:
Today’s featured bonus artist is Anji Marth, a multimedia artist from the Pacific Northwest of the USA. Please check out her website! 👉 resonanteye.net/
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thank you, it's not often that I see people able to actually handle extremely dark art with a nuanced, level-headed viewpoint.
And certainly not in a sea of populist moralism that we can find on RUclips!
@@hyperballadbradx6486He was moralizing a ton the whole video. It was annoying.
@@danielbetancourt1483 literally, I can't finish the video because he's being such a puritan. I think he completely missed the point which is shameful considering how he briefly brought up what the nazis did to artists like bellmer.
@@danielbetancourt1483so being a good person is a bad thing now?
@@kunpunko What a thoughtless oversimplification
Back in 1970 while attending art school I had a drawing instructor who had a bizarre fixation with toy baby dolls. He would set up the dolls in various positions for still lifes, usually removing their limbs and replacing them with lengths of vacuum cleaner hoses with the various attachments used as hands and feet. Needless to say, my sketch books raised a few eyebrows when viewed by others.
wow that’s fascinating! what was art school like in the 70s? What were the main focuses as in art movement or style? No need to answer if you don’t wish to.
@@thom-mark6443 Thank you it’s so cool to hear your experience! For a long time I wanted to go to art school but it seems like they are more of a scam nowadays and far too expensive unfortunately. I’m still lucky though, I had an absolutely amazing high school art teacher and the community college i’m going to be attending has many art classes. Painting was full but i’m going to take printmaking which I am thrilled about and have been obsessed with ever since I delved into expressionist art! Sorry if I rambled I have been having to work on not doing that haha
Haha. I love this!
That was a bit eccentric.
@@oldones59 sometimes one must bow to the absurd.
I find it fascinating how easily the idea of an "unstable / fragile woman" could go from compassion to stripping a person of their voice and choice and how that idea then intersects with the question of whether these pieces are a commentary or exploitation
They may have started off as 'victims' but like puppets cutting their own string and attacking their master, Bellmer himself was haunted by his own works. Many contemporary doll artists, especially the best ones in Japan and Russia are women, who build female dolls.
"it's just 1930s art, how traumatizing can it be?"
the art:
@@clockworkcookie it's not...people are weak in mind . War is trauma
What is "just 1930s art" lol? Seems like you had trouble with coming up with the initial impession part of this joke, because that's a nothing assertion. A nothing.
@@RockerfellerRothchild1776then maybe we should stop going to war 🙃
@@deanpope2055Then how can we get to Valhalla and prepare for Ragnarök?
@@SonOfTheDawn515 Touché
Any time we have a strong reaction to a work of art, it is worthwhile to figure out what button it's pushing, especially when it's a negative reaction.
The only "art" I ever had a negative reaction to was made by a Japanese couple. I can't remember the names of who made abstract paintings and incorporated real aborted foetuses into the contours
Ffs@@SamuelBlack84
One of the genuine side benefits of exploring art is that it can be psychologically revealing/illuminating, as long as the viewer is willing to stand back from his/her visceral first reaction long enough to rationally locate & objectively parse the source of his/her discomfiture. I optimistically refer to this approach as "Better Mental Hygiene Through Art".
especially when it's a negative reaction? ... I wonder what kind of person he must be when he creates such pictures, sculptures.... I wouldn't have wanted to have him in my closest circle of friends
Sometimes, just sometimes, I can understand those German men who looked at stuff like this, and thought: this is sick, let's burn this sh;t...
I do agree it is relevant to question her consent.
And I empathize with those with mental illness feeling, once again, infantilized because of "she was mentally ill and can't therefore consent".
Mental illness like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, isn't a switch on switch off situation. They sneak up on you, dwelling in the dark, and finally explode if you don't get help.
These illnesses takes over your mind, your thoughts, your feelings and it can be hard to determine what is Me and what is Me-under-the-influence.
Combined with trauma and meeting someone twisted can make you do things you didn't want to do if you were in Me-state.
This is why I despise comments like "best sex is with the craziest".
It depends on what is meant by crazy. I think it often in this context means kinky and adventurous opposed to truly mentally ill. But what do I know, people love the Manic pixie dream girl irl. But mania is passionate. I can see how someone on a manic high could give a level of passion unparalleled unless you count someone on mdma and meth.
@@ferrisbueller9991I don’t know, the only context I’ve seen it used in is meaning “this woman is suffering from a mental health disorder which causes her to have far fewer inhibitions, thus she is more passionate and willing to try more hardcore things”.
Best sex is with crazies
thank you for this. While questioning someone's agency bc of mental illness/disorder is very often infantilizing, it's also crucial to acknowledge that those conditions can also put someone in a constant vulnerable position. It's unideal but it's reality. There's a reason why a lot of people (especially women) with mental illnesses/neurodevelopmental disorders often become victims of SA :/
It’s absolutely insane how similar Bellmer’s dolls look like Ito’s Mannequins from Silent Hill. Also the more fleshed out female form from the Ito short Fukuro reminds me a bit of Cephalopod, a twisted and deformed feminine form that’s trapped in a sexualized bondage style suspended position. It’s just WILD how such a similar concept could be dreamed up by two totally different people separated by 50 years. Ito said he wasn’t aware of Bellmar’s work, and when he was shown the image of Hans’ doll, he said if he has seen it before he designed the Mannequin, he “wouldn’t have made it look like that”. I think even he was floored by how similar they look. Perhaps he meant he didn’t want to unknowingly/accidentally copy another artist’s work.
That's because Bellmer, much like Giger, were hugely influential on contemporary Japanese art. Japanese artists have imitated Bellmer's ball-jointed dolls for years now, to the point where the current artists may not know the original source.
I was JUST about to say the same thing about the silent hill 2 mannequins
Japanese artists get a lot of inspiration from BJDs and Hans doll art
So what? . .. a movie can't be artistic AND exploitative? THOSE things are supposed to be mutually exclusive or something?
@@Dunlop-hg2ql I'm pretty sure you just replied to the wrong comment
I think it's interesting to note that a fundamental aspect of childhood abuse and trauma - not necessarily sexual trauma - is inherent shame.
I'm not a psychologist but typically people with traumatic upbringings do tend to develop fetishes as a way of processing things, and redirecting power balances that they couldn't otherwise control.
I also think the metaphors and themes surrounding sex to be these luscious spheres - eggs, eyes etc.. it symbolises a fullness and completeness.
This was very much echoed in his comments about merging as one etc
So off of that, the fact that his work plays around with the body's incompleteness and even OVER-completeness it's really interesting to me
As a female, I sincerely appreciate your video and the way you presented it. I'm also able to accept that people like Hans exist, and that I can appreciate his art (not all of them) and still be happy that I never will meet the guy. Cephalopod being one of my new favourite art pieces.
There’s a lot of focus on what he did to his “lover”, but I’m more worried about the little girl that he had in his home. He made very much pedophilic coded artwork and illustrated for a book that called a teenage girl a minx. I appreciate his technical skill but he is not respectable. This was not intended as feminist art
@sedna3228 Yeah I've read the book "Surreal Lives" and in it he does write a very detailed account of which he had a disturbing fantasy that involved his younger cousin. That is the cousin who is molded and inspiration to the doll.
Whatever his intent was or wanting was for the artwork, it is always going to be conveyed to the audience in a certain way. Whether it be disturbing, interesting, or amusing.
To me, he is not even close to top 10. Maybe not even top 30 in terms of pure artistry. But his imagination and his fantasies did lead to several of his later art being extremely dark and extremely inspirational to a whole host of future artists.
Plus the second version having white socks and black shoes like a schoolgirl 🤢
@@nosferatu6644 Are you asking me what’s wrong with pedophilia?
@@nosferatu6644 Are you asking what’s wrong with being a pedo and having incestuous thoughts?
!!!!!
I respect Bellmers later art a lot more than his original doll. There is no doubt to me that it was based on his cousin. I saw a replica of it at Desire Unbound exhibition years ago and was so repulsed by it. It looked like a naked 12 year old. Not pleasant to see. That is just my gut reaction to those works as a parent I guess.
I read the book Surreal Lives and he did write very Disturbing accounts of fantasies he had about r*ping his cousin. Very uncomfortable to read, even though I otherwise love Surrealism.
The Doll is such a strange piece of art. In one light, I could see the eroticism, a sort of flirtation in her eye as she gazes back at you. Yet there’s a hint of trauma and a sense of fragility. It’s fascinating
I thought so too
Yes, its like she is interested but scared
I see potential power in the gaze, and certain ferocity.
There's another obscure film that feels somewhat related called "Malice@Doll". Made by the same guy who wrote Serial Experiments Lain. Definitely worth checking out for enjoyers of odd/dark art.
I love the atmosphere of that film
I'm not sure I'd call this outright misogynistic, but I definitely stop short of claiming it to be empowering in any way. Dude was obviously a little weird in the head.
I think it would be empowering if a woman was doing it. To me he wasnt making any new statement about the objectification of women, he was just objectifying them in his own way.
art enthusiasts always want to try and find meaning, but i find it easy to just say this guy's a freak and move on
it’s obviously misogynistic.. are yall dumb?
@@motorbreath1991 that is, in fact, u finding meaning
I commend you for your handling of such dark subject matter. This channel is a rare case where I feel I dont need to worry about careless handling of triggering topics. Thank you for making this a safe and respectful space :)
I have so many mixed feelings about this artist. I suppose the only one worth mentioning is that him being brought up in the Bauhaus school of artistry actually explains a lot. Someone obsessed with the female form to an unhealthy degree being told by his professors that one needs to deconstruct the elements they like about something and reconstruct it in a new way, what you would get would be something like Hans Bellmer. It's just a shame that it took someone that messed up to break open a new direction of art. It sends a depressing message.
"obsessed with female form" you mean someone who are 99 percent of male population?
@1TakoyakiStore I mean, most artists are tormented and find inspiration in the disturbing things they did or had done to them. IN some ways, every artist has a darker side to them they can tap into, but then they don't because they don't like to. Some are insane enough to not care what some might think.
His art reminds me of the stuff tech moguls like Musk love- dismembered little girls with robot parts and big implants on the chest
@@zaynes5094 really not a fan of this narrative. it's unhealthy for aspiring artists to internalize & VERY often untrue. maybe most of ur favorite artists are like that, & there's something to b said in the empathy and/or voyeurism there, but many artists are just creatively-minded 'normal' people who find a medium they're exceptionally comfortable in exploring
Rather tragic and profound that on RUclips art can’t be shown as is.
In this regard I agree---as a great many others as well---entirely that RUclips's so-called online community standards tend to be capricious, inconsistent, and, well, just plain ridiculous.
Not every piece of “art” deserves to be displayed.
@@emptywaterbottle6973Especially degenerate art. 🤬
The government would never allow free speech.
@@fburton8Nazis are especially offended by degenerate art.
German here, we learned about this guy in art class at school though not nearly as in depth. Thank you for this video, this was a very interesting watch!
For my take now how Bellmer relates to the taboo themes of gender dysphoria and/or fetishization. I would remind the audience that art is a way to channel intense emotion. Bellmer's art about women could be lustful or it could be envious. It could be something in the middle. Without an official statement from the artist, there's no definitive truth. It's all open to interpretation
For anyone interested in her, there's a graphic novel/biography on Unica Zürn coming out later this month (July 2024), called "Betrayal Of The Mind: The Surreal Life Of Unica Zürn" by Céline Wagner. I'm eagerly looking forward to reading it, even more so since seeing this video.
This era was a major shift to scientific and social materialism. The human body was, for the first time in history, disected both physically, mentallyand financially. Reduced to its most basic rudimentary functions. I feel like his work is a deep and true depiction of those beliefs, which continue to this day.
I find Bellmer's art very interesting on a personal level. Looking back on past art that I have made as a AFAB teenager honestly resembles a lot of Bellmer's work. The theme of my portfolio my senior year was literally the subversion of female anatomy. I found myself expressing many of the insecurities, pressures, and imbalances I experienced throughout my life onto the female body in my art. regardless of Bellmer's motivations I just find it so fascinating that a teenage girl in the 2020's expressed so many similar themes to a grown adult man in the 1930's. makes me think lol
Aside from snuff media and other illicit materials, i consider most art to be relatively beautiful as a piece of fragmented psychology. Regardless of who the artist was, there is always invaluable information to gain from people and their lives, good or bad. Seeing an art piece that cannot be traced back to any creator is beautiful as well in it's obscurity.
This isn't a direct comment on just Bellmar, but it's a frustrating fact that using women bodies for art and the artists fantasies in those pieces is considered a just sacrifice.
Sarifrices made to sexism as a whole, for the encouragment of pain and humilation to real living women (and young girls), the embarassment of muses long dead, all because it can be 'artistic' to men who have the luxury of never having to fully bear the trauma of the subjects he creates.
I love art history, but the sheer mass of the whole naked form of a woman surrounded by clothed men, the depicitions of rapes, kidnappings, tortures and death we are invited to 'ponder' and celebrate the thoughts of dirty men congratualated for their talents... its frustrating.
Yep: now we have digital media where images of women and girls being tortured for men’s pleasure makes trillions of dollars for moguls
Exactly
"had an aneurym at seeing his son wearing makeup" as a trans woman it doesnt sound that impossible for how bad a parental reaction we often get
i’ve been thinking about your comment & the possible analysis that could come from the transgender perspective of these pieces. in the ways his fascination of that female form & social queues regarding them whether some of the quote “objectification” of the dolls representing the fear of trying to become that perfect woman that is unobtainable for Hans in his mind & corrupts this. I’m left asking myself for a more transfeminist analysis of art both old & new, if it was considered within the art world openly.
@@aniceavem I was thinking similarly, yes I think they had trans desires which where halted and distorted by childhood abuse from a father, the testosterone libido may have sexualised it, but the desiring of the feminine and youthful was a craving for a female childhood, a desire a lot of trans women have to mourn for and find coping strategies, and obviously the artist may have grown frustrated and envious of those bodies and militated and objectified them in an "if I can't have it, no these don't get to fully have it either, merely dolls, unable to grow up, to move past trauma, unable to become full women, my similar frustration"
@@roseopheliashepherd8379 that’s so fucked and sad but it makes a lot of sense
Was thinking the exact same thing wrt the reading of Melmer’s art. Certainly a different perspective
His father was a Nazi so I can def see it!
As a woman with a mental illness, I find it disturbing that people immediately assume that a person can't give consent simply because they have schizophrenia or another mental illness.
Exactly, I find it really patronising. Don’t get me wrong, some mental illnesses can render a person unable to consent but that’s not always the case. From what I can find Zürn was a well established artist in her own right with a history of mental illness and abuse that predates her relationship with Bellmer. I couldn’t find anything suggesting the relationship was abusive.
Just to clarify, it was not an immediate assumption. It was after researching their relationship in great depth, there are many reliable sources out there that point to the question of consent between the two artists on many occasions. I suffer from mental illness too, and I know that I can certainly give consent to things with a level-headed mind. But we have to remember context is important in this case. Unica wasn't just mentally ill, she was in and out of hospital constantly for a great period of time due to mental breakdowns, during the very same period in which Hans worked with her. She took her own life because of the extent of her mental health. That's nothing to just ignore and not at least address. You're absolutely not wrong that one shouldn't just assume and maybe I did get a little too passionate on this point, but mental illness is not a one size fits all and if medical professionals who know way more how to treat mental illness than I do call into question the idea of consent when it comes to what Unica endured with her mental health, it needs to be highlighted to some extent.
@@BlindDweller I understand your reasoning. I was trying to find sources on whether their relationship was abusive and I couldn’t really find anything. All that I could find is that her relationship with Bellman predates her hospitalisation and that she was also in involved with another man at the time. This was also a time when women were terribly mistreated by the psychiatric establishment and there were a lot of misogynistic assumptions about mental illness. I guess it’s fair to bring into question her ability to consent regarding her mental health but we still can’t really conclude anything.
@marianatheschizoid5912 In hindsight I sort of wish I went into more detail about them both, including the other man she was with, but I chose time management instead and didn't want to risk going too off topic! In terms of whether or not it was abusive between them is not something we should dwell on too much though, as you said, there are very few sources that confirm or debunk this. The main concern I raised was Unica's mental health issues and how much (or how little) it affected her consent negatively.
@@BlindDweller Yeah, that makes sense. Ultimately we’ll never know exactly whether or not her mental illness affected her ability to consent since there doesn’t seem to be any primary sources on the matter. So ultimately, as with many things in history, we’re only left with speculation.
i shudder to imagine how he'd end up had he not become an artist.
You are brave and thorough in your coverage of controversial artists as well as the more mainstream, and I admire the unflinching commitment to this channel and your subscribers. I have learned more appreciation from you than the two years of college art courses that I paid for. I would contribute, were it not for the stifling oppression of student loans still looming in my financial life. For now, a heart-felt Thank You is the best that I can do.
I'm thankful we have this channel & can discuss art at this level & reach many people here on YT ... as always Thank You *Blind Dweller*
5:41 my great grandfather would have seizures when he got too angry but it was because he got blown up in WW2 and still had fragments of shrapnel in his head. Maybe Hans’ father also had a head injury maybe from WW1? Idk but it’s possible
It's typical of all seizures, actually. Great stress or anger can bring them on regardless of the reason one has seizures.
Not really
I love that you show me artists I've never heard of! You do wonderful work, and I continue to be a fan.
I could really use a Blind Dwell- HE POSTED?!
No but seriously, perfect timing.
I just got home with a pizza, perfect timing!2
I'm really not sure exactly how I feel about this artist's body of work. As someone who has dealt with quite a lot of childhood trauma, and as a man who wrestled with his own sexuality for a very long time, I can mostly understand where the artist is coming from and what they are hoping to elicit within viewers. However, I'm not sure exactly where to draw the line. I have a very strong belief that everyone has the right to express themselves in the way they find most fitting, but some of this is artistic expression that I just don't think I'd choose to view for very long. It brings up memories and emotions that I've worked very, very hard on dealing with under the care of mental health professionals, and although I can see the beauty and value in the work, it's just not for me.
You can really see how Bellmer must have influenced H.R. Giger
Yes and so many others I'm realizing.
The problem of art historians studying the thinking of artists and their art is similar to the problem of cognitive philosophy described by the philosopher Thomas Nagel in the article «What is it like to be a bat?»
what the artist wanted to say, or what the artist felt or thought, can only be understood by the artist..
Perhaps truly.
However, the illusion of relatability allows a bridge from the piece to audience reflection despite artist intention.
That is,maybe, the most powerful aspect of art.
@@hamsandwich6685 this bridge was much more successfully thrown by numerous religious practices, especially primitive ones, where the fetish plays a dominant role. it seems that artistic practice has never stopped creating fetishes - this is its immanent role, which they tried to eliminate in the Age of Enlightenment, separating art from craft and religion and thus opening the way to all sorts of cargo cults from modern art))
I'm thankful of how respectfully you handled the possibility of the artist being trans, nowdays people jump at anything they can to either be dismissive or demonize it, always presenting a perfectly squeaky clean perception of it that simply is too limiting. In fact, as a trans person with mental health problems these depictions of the body so twisted and violent full of passion and yearning to be else are extremely appealing, inspiring even.
I don't know enough about this artist and Unica, but i will be looking into them. However. I just wanted to say that I've befriended several schizophrenic people who were the kinkiest women I've ever known lol and knew them well enough that I think they wouldn't have appreciated being described as fragile women... One of them was an artist too and made a lot of work trying to dispell stereotypes about schizophrenia. Just thinking out loud here.
Unica Zurn was an amazing artist in their own right. The tragic thing is that her own mental illness got the best o her and her own writing was destroyed by her. If you look at what remains though it's still very valuable very dark art.
@@remedy00 something to keep in mind is that schizophrenia today wouldn't be the same as back then due to differences in society
I feel context is very important here. Unica was in and out of hospital due to constant mental breakdowns during the exact same period in which Hans started working with her. She also sadly took her own life due to the extent of her mental illness. An act that even I, as someone who too suffers from mental health, regards as an act that's far from sound. Even under the Mental Health Act the issue of consent is raised when someone is suffering from mental illness of this kind of severity. I assure you it was not just an assumption. It took many biographical sources, interviews and statements from other experts who personally knew them both to reach this topic of debate.
As a csa survivor I kinda see myself in the doll. I see it as broken body made sexual by an outside gaze, a tragic existence whose humanity persists despite of everything, transcending the artist
Pick a different coping skill. All the artist did was make exploitive art and be an abuser/p3d0. -also a csa survivor
@@Cyyruzz The person is not relating to the artist but the art subject. They're sharing their own interpretation of the art and how it relates to them. They never expressed that they condone the artist himself or that they're using his art for as a coping mechanism, their comment is just reflective. Your comment is odd.
That's a beautiful interpretation. Personally I don't see the dolls to be reflective of that, at least not all of them. Also I hope that you are in a good place, physically and mentally, I'm sorry about your past experiences.
He died as an old man with bladder cancer. So he got to finally experience his own body horror. Thanks for your sensible storytelling, Blind Dweller.
You sound bitter.
@@Kainlarsen You must have misunderstood me.
@@imaspoon4522I think you misunderstood the purpose of the video and meaning of his art
@@ldoocruz Honestly, I feel rather neutral about his work. I just hate what happened to that poor model. Of course I understand the purpose of the video. That's why I called it sensible storytelling.
Some will die Sooner than him ,With a body Horror
I believe it does raise the question "Should art be harmless?" Or perhaps "Does it have to be harmless?" either in it's effect on the viewer, or in the creation of it. We must also recognize that even for the most careful of practitioners, mistakes can and will be made. So do we reject the artist for either becoming blinded by their own art, or being slightly careless, or do we put a moratorium on even exploring certain themes? As to a participant's ability to give consent, who really makes that judgment and by what criteria? And where does the line in all this get drawn? "You're doing violence to my preconceived notions of "X," you must stop!"
Carl Jung would've had a field day with this guy. They both lived around the same time, so that encounter was possible.
Art is the expression of the unconscious desires and rejections we often suppress on our daily walks in life. It can be a guide to self discovery but some like Belmer can get trapped and never find a way out.
Many of Jung's theories are juvenile and simplistic and have been discredited by most psychologists and scientists. Calling art as an expression of unconscious desire is as ignorant and simpleminded as saying violent video games cause violence.
What a satisfying deep dive into the life and art of Bellmer, thanks for that!
I have no issue with exploitation in art. I think its a safe outlet to explore these themes. That being said we will never know to what extent Unica was capable of consenting to her modeling and that will always add a level of ick to those works and his art in general.
Exploiting people is bad
Yea you seem to contradict yourself. Self exploitation can be a safe outlet. Exploitation of others by definition throws consent into question.
Always looking forward to these videos!
I really appreciate your willingness to explore truly disturbing artwork on this channel. I often consider dark content to be 'comfort food,' but some of these videos are genuinely challenging. I've been watching this one in pieces, for example.
I find these works beautiful and compelling but in a way that probably differs from most. I am FTM transgender and a victim of SA. These artworks reflect how I feel about my own body. As you can probably imagine, being transgender is its own kind of body horror. There’s a loss of autonomy in these works. The distorted female figures have no control over their grotesque forms nor the sexualized view they receive
I create art, and I enjoy the idea of dehumanizing humans and humanizing things that aren't human. I enjoy drawing strange people in seductive poses. I enjoy taking human forms and twisting them until they are unrecognizable. I can't speak for Hans Bellmer obviously and but when I create these things, it's from a love of life. How vulnerable living things are and how easily it can be manipulated or ended. Not in a malicious way, though. The idea of finding something non-human or nearly human thay could be seen as erotic when it isn't meant to be is a wonderful thing. I love finding things that make a human mind react. It's so cool that as humans, we can look at a thing that is its own, not at all related to us, and feeling pur human ways about it. This is hard to explain. It's a difficult emotion and feeling to express. Especially since people I show my art to don't see my art through the lens that I do. I can feel like something expresses the complex feeling I was attempting to express, and the other people it just isn't special. Or people finding it humorous
Exactly 💯
Do you post your art anywhere on social media ?
Thanks for this excellent documentary. I had not heard of Bellmer before. To me his photographs have the same atmosphere as photos taken at a crime scene left behind by a serial killer with an artistic streak. Extremely disturbing.
He certainly had a vivid imagination
this is the first time i see you unsure and broken by dark people
Masahiro Ito was highly influenced by this artist to create the uncanny monsters in silent hill, which are trademark in the game, being the manequin the closest resemblance. Japanese were obsessed with the likes of belmer, giger and bacon, among others, and the game turned many of his works into living creatures. As a die hard fan of the game and artists mentioned, I love this type of art that , and the idea of the subconscious distorting reality. On a personal level, I find myself many times divided between accepting the artist,knowing the man behind it. I separate both but it's always conflicting to know one can't exist without the other. Great work, as always.
I didn't know of this artist, and now I do. Thanks. I wondered if you'd done a video on Throbbing Gristle, and visual artist, Genesis P-Orridge.
Genesis P-Orridge is an icon- their work on TG and Psychic TV is timeless. Love their music. Also another Silent Hill connection!
Genesis P-Orridge was a real one. Literally transformed her/himself into a living art piece. I met a guy at a Skinny Puppy concerned who met him/her her s/he transitioned
@@edgarallanpoeisthiccaf6615 I know of but not familiar with the details of their Pandrogyny project. I felt it was all a bit too personal, I appreciate their music though. I am so glad Nardwuar got to interview them before they passed.
Songs like Thee Decaying Matter Ov Family L-Ov-e and White Nights. Just genius.
Great video, thank you I really enjoyed it. Your narration is excellent and I love how you explored Bellmer's relationship with Zern and highlighted his flaws and disturbing qualities, I feel like that can be often overlooked. You earned a subscriber.
Thanks for giving it to us full on, powerful work
I must say my first shock images were *Hustler* mag & later *Mapplethorpe* (not his fashion images but the other ones) I was not ready for either of those. Way too young to be exposed to the former but, I was exposed to it at a cousins home & that's all I'll say about it here. The *Mapplethorpe* book was just not expecting that type of work. Anyway, I still have the book though it is packed away b/c I removed it from my bookcase as I did not want just anyone visiting my house to get their hands on something they would not understand. Not sure of what will become of that book as it is so explicit to certain people they would be outraged. Lifestyle I guess, though I read *Mapplethorpe* was seeking fame at any cost & he achieved that & left a hefty estate. I may end up donating the book/s & some of my own photography to this school: *The New York Institute of Photography* ... perhaps I will
I can well appreciate your situation given that I own photography books by the similarly controversial Sally Mann, Lukas Rohls, and Jock Sturges. I likewise keep them neatly tucked away out of obvious sight, because people these days are so inclined to be...well, you undoubtedly know what I mean. There used to be a time---it seems so long ago now---when hardly anyone got all apoplectic about this sort of hing. But there you are.
So what? . .. something can't be artistic AND exploitative? THOSE things are supposed to be mutually exclusive or something?
I personally feel like Bellmer's art is more than just objectification. I'm sure it's possible that it's my own bias, but I feel so much pain coming from his work, it feels genuine to me.
You have done a wonderful job on Bellmer I have found his work disturbing ever since I came across it in a Surrealist book when I was committing myself to be one an Artist I was 13 at the time and felt uncomfortable around this overtly sexual imagery it still has this power over me over 50 years later. The other painter who inspires the same uncomfortable feelings is Balthus another painter who inspires both high regard at his technique but concern at his subject matter and use of prepubescent female models. Thanks again for excellent video. Vince
I do hate to defend this but I think it needs to be said.
We all objectify - men, women whatever.
Does art have to be safe. I don't think so. I think using a true Scotsman fallacy doesn't change what you or I might consider harmful practices, less art.
There is art in offence and cruelty, just as much as there is art in empathy and kindness.
Appreciate the video as always though.
I've never seen objectification in Bellmers dolls personally
I see them more as imperfect beings intentionally created with flaws awkwardly struggling to find their souls in a world that rejects them
A dead leaf echo of melancholy innocence looking for a voice
You don't need to just make art that safe and without offense or cruelty in order to avoid it being exploitative. Like the video even mentioned several artists who've managed to do that at the end.
I don't even know what you mean about objectification, if you're defining it as noticing bodies exist then I suppose everyone does that but that is not comparable to consistently depicting women in a way that both sexualizes them removed their humanity
Just cuz we objectify men and women donst mean thier exsistance is to plasure us or thier bodies as a means to fullfill sick fantasy
I have no problem with bellmur and his exploration for desire of the female body his art to be considered to be the proper representation or pioneer of female sexuality and the female form in art is straight up bad and harmful
This is truly fascinating! Art is such a beautiful thing. It's beautiful and uncomfortable, you want to look away but are too curious to do so. It's body horror in its most interesting way. This was well done.
Thank you for all of your work. I enjoy being exposed to artists whom I usually haven't heard of. I find it very interesting and greatly appreciate the expansion of my mind.
I don't believe he went too far,but was aware that he could have,I have always felt The Doll is infused with a sense of tragedy.I think Hans and Unica were two broken people that were drawn to eacother for solace,they brought out the worst and best in each other.His work aleays makes me think of the film Eyes without A Face,an obsession with beauty that has a tragedy within in it. The Doll is an iconic surrealist work,that I feel will always be decisive,but don't feel she was created with malicious intent (Matt) I think you spoke about Bellmer's art in a nuanced and empathic way,bit also left a conclusion to be drawn up to us.
My first video from you- the amount of effort you put into a video I’m watching for free is insane… instant sub bruh
Imagine how different people would act about this if the guy didnt show anyone else the pictures and he was just doing it all in private and was found out.
'pushing the boundary' is good if its what you want until it becomes unethical. trauma doesnt give anyone the excuse to exploit and manipulate other people, even if its a means for coping. if she consented whilst of sound of mind i wouldnt consider it too far otherwise.
personally i think the works of art youve shown of his in this video to be amazing, and i too have a fascination on the subject of fetishizing the human body in ways that may not seem normal, body horror especially.
Not a professional here, and this is just my own interpretation, but damn if this art doesn't express personal CSA. (I'm sure this is a Completely Original™ take that NO ONE has ever said before)
One thing that you can’t take away from his art is the fact that it requires and almost encourages further scrutinization. I find some of it fascinating, and some of it definitely crossed the line
Finally a decently large channel covers the work of Hans Bellmer. I love this artist and his work, a lot of criticism toward him is bullshit. Leftists hate him because of the 'objectification' of human forms and right-wing people hate him due to his abstraction of the human form and manipulation of gender identity. It pisses off both camps and this makes me very happy- because authoritarian systems like these hate freedom of expression and uncomfortable things that art can expose about humanity. He doesn't sit right any way you interpret his work and it makes people uncomfortable- because they can't pidgeonhole him into any art movement- although he was associated with Surrealism for a time, but even then he was a bit too weird. His technical skill is amazing due to his training as a draftsperson, so he is not like outsider artists whose skills are shit. Although not very popular in the West, Bellmer's work inspired modern Ball-Joint Doll artists/communities in Japan and Russia. Check out Ghost in Shell 2: Innocence for one of the only movies inspired heavily by Bellmer. The 1934 doll photo also appears as a still shot in Guevara's hallucination in the movie: Funeral Parade of Roses.
Modern BJD artists *check them out if you like Bellmer's work
Ryo Yoshida, Katan Amano (RIP), Koitsukihime, Hizuki, Nakagawa Tari
An artist with the moniker Gravity from Above once wrote a hitpiece on BJDs- DESPITE the fact his whole shtick is research into puppets and marionettes- people often have very superficial views of the ball joint doll as a purely fetishistic object. His research into European puppetry was invaluable, but I don't know what he has against BJD artists. The level of technical skill needed to sculpt using porcelain, sew miniature clothes and accessories, paint the skin, details and expressions demonstrate BJDs as an art form that draws from so many different avenues- if you mess up one aspect the doll is ruined. Yet people never acknowledge this as a true art form- Sad!
Another great video of an artist I've never heard of.
I love bizarre art. I can't get enough! Thanks for this one, I hadn't heard of him before.
I'd like to pass along one of my favorite weird anecdotes from the wild & wacky world of modern art that may help cast a different light on Bellmer's "poupee" fixation. The account concerns one of Bellmer's contemporaries, the great Austrian expressionist Oskar Kokoschka (1886--1980); I don't know if the two ever crossed paths.
In 1911 Kokoschka met & fell in love with Alma Mahler, the recent widow of the composer Gustav Mahler. Their's was an intense affair marked by all the usual emotional fireworks, bipolar highs & lows, and personal chemical eruptions. Naturally the smitten artist painted his muse's portrait several times, as well as utilizing her as a model for inclusion in various of his larger projects. But as such things tend to go---love being such a fleeting & fickle kind of bitch & all that sort of thing---the flame of romance inevitably paled. So by 1915 the couple called it splits-ville, and in that same year Alma Mahler went & married the architect & later founder of the "Balhaus", Wilhelm Gropius. Kokoschka was left bereft by the breakup; indeed, it's reported that he never fully recovered from the sense of loss.
The dissolution of the relationship figures into a very strange episode from 1918, when the still bereaved artist approached a Viennese tailor & dressmaker with a most unusual request. The tailor, named Hermine Moos, had previously custom made some dresses for Alma Mahler; Kokoschka now specially commissioned her to make a life-sized & life-like doll for him. He took a very active interest in its production, giving precise instructions in an exchange of numerous letters wherein he described the specifications in fairly minute detail: "You must also make sure that the hands and feet are still lively and attractive even when the doll is naked, that they don't seem heavy but wiry. The size should be such that some elegant lady's shoes can be fitted onto them, because I've kept plenty of beautiful clothes and garments in Vienna for precisely this purpose. So far as the face is concerned it should be very expressive and, if anything, the expression should be enhanced even further, though all traces of artificiality and craftsmanship should be eliminated, if at all possible. Can the mouth be opened? Are there teeth and a tongue in it? I'd be so very happy if there were".
It shouldn't come as overly surprising that the eventual result fell short of Kokoschka's exaggerated & exuberant imaginings. He vented his disappointment in a testily worded letter to the doll's maker: "What shall we do now? Because quite frankly I am horrified at your doll. Although I have long been willing to make certain allowances for the discrepancy between my own imagination and reality, your doll seems in many ways to contradict everything I expected from it and hoped you would achieve. The outer skin is like the hide of a polar bear, which would be good enough for an imitation of a shaggy bearskin rug in a bedroom, but never for the smooth softness of a woman's skin. And that even though we have always emphasized the deception of our sense of touch".
This clear statement of displeasure notwithstanding, Kokoschka not only kept the doll but carried it with him everywhere. He even painted a couple of self-portraits of himself posing with his Alma surrogate. So I guess one could well say that the two became inseparable.
It isn't uncommon for dolls in the porcelain Era to have teeth and a tongue
I skimmed through this at first and assumed that the doll was based off a woman who died. It is somehow much weirder that this was his reaction to a bad breakup. Can you imagine being Alma and seeing your ex with a terrifying doll mini-me?
Hans Bellmer is up there as one of my favorite artists. He defiantly pushed the envelope but I don't think he went to far.
amazing artist with radical and essential work. thank you for the presentation.
PS: there should be no room for political correctness in art or any form of policing thought and expression. all is contextual and situational like human morality.
The implication that his wife didn't have the ability to actually consent or had to have automatically not consented to being a subject in his photos, in the way that she did, is something I don't agree with.
I don't think she should automatically have that ability stripped away from her. She was also an artist, an artist who also participated in surrealism. Why is it impossible that she could have just been genuinely interested in modelling for him, acting as his muse? Because she was deeply mentally ill?
I'm severely schizophrenic, along with a few other severe mental health disorders, and I've been in the ward multiple times. I am also an artist that works with dark / surreal themes, and isn't afraid to make erotic art. I'm an adult that's fully capable of doing these things and consenting to someone else using my form as a subject. "But what if she wasn't medicated?" I am not medicated currently.
I think that people take autonomy and personhood away from deeply mentally ill people all the time and I don't agree with that idea. Being deeply mentally ill, it doesn't automatically mean that you can't consent to things, that you can't run your own life in a meaningful way. It's actually much more uncommon for that state to take someone to a place where they're genuinely not capable of running their own life. What's much MORE common are the people like me, who have a lot of terrible problems but are also capable of remaining at least mostly independent. You just don't see as many of us, because you don't realize how troubled we are; because, to your eyes, we don't 'act like it'
The people in my close circle see how troubled I am but I take heavy measures to hide it from the rest of the world. I don't want people to start thinking that I can't take care of myself or that I can't consent to sex, that's for fucking sure. LMAO
THANK GOD I WAS NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO THOUGHT THAT!!!
@@yuuichionodera9230 THANK YOU!! RIGHT?? This single agreement gives me a little more faith in the people around me lol, thank you for this
Now you have to cover Toyen and Styrsky! Amazing video as always. Thank you.
I'm a man, but 'Die Puppe' fills me with such anxiety in a way I struggle to articulate. I feel pity for her, while at the same time wanting to get as far away from her as possible.
I was thinking, it might be cool to do a video about Unica Zürn as well, because her art is really good.
I want certain art to disturb me and force me confront uncomfortable truths.
Whoa, you weren't kidding, I hope art is a way for artists like this to sublimate their more harmful desires.
17:14 Reminds me of Cities of the Red Night by William Burroughs.
I think the binding and reshaping of plump flesh is fascinating, but if the subject was harmed it only makes me sad. I wouldn't spend money on it.
I think I'm on the same page with you about this. I'm female if that matters.
Giger is my first favorite artist, found him in the late 70s when I was 10 or 11 and he's still one of my very favorites.
Thank you so much for showing us this stuff.
Are you familiar with Robert Mapplethorpe? He's a photographer that bothered a lot of people in the 80s and 90s. I don't know what happened to him but he got super famous back then.
Uh oh, looks like I've discovered my new favorite visual artist.
I get personally why people might find his work to be disturbing, but I don't much see it in an exploitive light, especially because the majority of his work was not of real people.... In my opinion, something that doesn't deal with real people/animals can't be exploitive. Nor do I feel like those who make a decision and know all the aspects of something before agreeing can be exploited either. Also from looking at what was done with the dolls, I feel it told snap shots of reality more than anything... But also because the dolls/drawings/figures were put themselves into a horror aspect I don't feel like it's posed in an innocent way at that point, it becomes a horror creature no longer human, no head, too many limbs, monsterous, and yes as some have said like a silent hill creature.
It's a difficult ideal though yes, because of the idea of the psychology behind it, but I think the idea of making something innocent into the macabre, is somewhat like giving an innocent creature claws and sharp teeth. It gives a sense of fighting back, taking the innocent, sometimes overly sexualized, and turning it into a monster that will terrify.
Edit: I do also want to say though from a different stand point on the idea of nudity automatically equalling sexuality... And maybe he was an artist that in some ways that was true, but it doesn't have to be true in interpretation. Anatomical parts of bodies do not need to equal anything sexual in different interpretations.
As a trans man, that's fascinated by body mods, oddities, and the strange/unusual myself I sort of support the exploration of sexuality and of changing the body in different ways to be comfortable with ones self so maybe that's part of why I see this work with a different eye than most.
The human psyche is complex, complicated, throw in the imagination of the artist & we get images we will never understand & one might say in poetry also. I think I don't really understand a lot of what I see in art or poetry
What it really means to be human is infinitely complex and unique to each individual
We're all free-forming paint moving across the blank canvas of existence struggling to create our own concept of a masterpiece
Welcome to the club, I guess.
You scared me when sensor noise suddenly came! I’m listening with my headphones. 😅
Surely Bellmer has his darkness and kinks he wanted to get in, fetishize and enjoy. But I never seen his Art as exploitative towards others. He was like... exploring himself - in a hystorical moment where crossdressing, sexuality and all those things were more than a taboo.
And he was going for it as hard as he could.
Pierre Molinier did the same in an even more fetishized way and ending on a really bad note, ending himself. They used dolls or body parts as sex dolls are used nowadays to give pleasure... but their intent surely was more primal, because unknown at the time
I love Bellmer's Art. And thank you for this video!!!
You miss the point (or trivialise by not including) Blind Dwellers most potent critique. Bellmers dynamic with his schizoid and mentally frail partner Unica when co-opting her body/flesh as malleable sculpture and materiel for his 'Art' was absolutely ethically questionable.
He very much exploited her ... such a 21st Century gripe easy to fling indiscriminately in retrospect ... but there was a toxic element in their relationship that the conceptualisation and realisation of his work required, the actualisation of his photos demanded pushing psychosexual and physical boundaries that had to have had a deleterious impact over the years they were together on Unicas far less resilient mental health.
You cannot argue he was not exploitative surely ? Great work for sure but still controversial for this very reason.
We're all broken dolls struggling to fit together in a world that demands perfection
@@lizsteeds6697I agree. I like some of these pieces but that's what I can't really cope with about his art.
@@lizsteeds6697 he definitely exploited her along the way, and I love Unica's works and writings, she was surely a person who would've needed a better and more quiet man near her, and not a tormented soul like Bellmer was - because in the very end, they were both problematic and very "on the edge", I think he was as hard as he was on her also on himself...
No excuses to exploit people. Of course!!!
Still, I very much understand where all this comes from, and alas it wasn't a time where therapy was treating kindly traumas and fetishes, and this led to disaster.
Really moved by your sensitivity in this video about one of my favorite artists. Subscribed 💜
From a Jungian perspective Belmer''s work displays the complex dance with his contra-sexual inner self or Anima hoping to integrate it despite earlier damage to it. From a psychological perspective the damage was necessary in order to raise it to consciousness and thus it's conscious integration.
Looking at the cephalopod painting, you really start to notice more and more connected ideas. The head, when looking closer, looks not like "flesh" and "sinew" as you initially described. It's a tangle of female bodies which certainly adds more context, I would say. The bodies even have feet with heels.
I think it’s a similar feeling to how I feel about Francis Bacon, I really love his aesthetics and style, in their own way, they’re incredibly unique and visceral, but that’s how I feel about the art on its own, as he himself was not a great guy, was awful to his partners/friends/other artists etc. , honestly feels like a similar story with Bellmer, the art is fascinating, but he himself is unacceptable, there’s a book about art (visual, music etc.) made by terrible people, and how we should look and learn from it, I feel like you can separate the work from the person, although I do understand that some people will disregard everything full stop
What's the book
Wow, I can't believe I have never Heard of Hans Bellmer thank you very much, his stuff looks amazing, really love these kinds of themes =:D
Brilliantly outlined! Cheers!
I think personally it's just as valid for a man to make art about his darkest desires as it is for a woman to make art about her darkest desires. I don't think it's fair to say hey because a man is attracted to women he isn't allowed to make art that potentially objectifies the human body. I don't think art should ever be censored. BUT there is a fine line between art and corn. I think it's fine to make corn too. But there's a reason corn isn't hanging in museums. Because inspiring l4st for its own sake and for the purpose of personal gratification is different than making art that makes you think about desire and l4st in general. And that is what separates him from sonic fanfic corn. He did a lot for the surrealist art movement. Does it matter if he was attracted to the weird things he drew? I personally don't think that matters. The art is not the artist. Any art that makes you feel and think about anything including disgust and horror, is by definition, good art. The only bad "art" is art that makes you feel nothing. Like those corporate drawings you find in company handbooks and stuff. That is not and should not be considered art imo. But his work definitely makes you think and makes you feel something, even if that something is horror and revulsion. I am definitely on the side that art is not the artist and it's possible for terrible people to make fantastic emotionally impactful art. I can see a debate about supporting the art of someone who's a bad person because they don't deserve to profit. But in this case the artist is dead so there's no point in having that discussion.
there's no way silent hill wasn't inspired by this
Masahiro Ito actually wasn’t. Surprisingly. It’s fascinating how two totally different people from different parts of the world produced such similar art, though.
@@gorgnaxxangrog3183 It might've been subconscious. The creative process is often intuitive.
this was absolutely fascinating
Absolutely fascinating and horrifying at the same time. Damn those Germans are something else.
I had never heard of this. Awesome channel.
When I saw the doll photos I thought "porn for serial killers" and they carried that same morbid fascination that you get when reading about those events
Thank you for such an in depth video. I have never studied this artist and his drawing are fascinating in how the different bodies and parts fuse together.
So what do you guys think? Did he go too far?
Otto Dix
Life went to far
He was a damaged man first horny dog second 😂 but art is art so I don't think he went far.
Not really. I lean to the side of his work not being commentary and more just being about exploring his fantasies. He is basically (to me) doing what bacon did to his subjects.I get a lot of the same feeling of fetishising the body and the violence it can endure.
I think being scared of creating is a bad thing. We should not be afraid to explore any subjects.
I think he was absolutely a disturbed individual, however instead of using these elements to cause harm, he channeled it through art. So I view it as somewhat respectable how he restrained his own dark desires and used them for creativity instead of wrongdoing.
I been thinking of ur work lad, and you're here.
Thanks for covering.
1930’s Germany was an extraordinarily f’ed up place. The ‘traditionalist’ dislike of the freedoms of the Weimar Republic are disturbingly familiar to our current times. I pray to all that is good in the Universe that we do not fail as they did.
For us to be surprised by, first the tortured souls and bodies shown here is not considering the extreme slavery women were under in the centuries leading up to this twisted and fractured time and place that birthed the Nasti’s. This man claimed to hate them, but pictured what they did in reality. He may also have taken pharmaceutical meth-it was cheap and sold as a cure all in Germany at this time. When we watch the tweaking Reich on film, we can see it.
And this pattern of über sadistic male artists pulling in female artists and destroying them is much too common. This is repression, suppression, enslavement, and violence drawn out clearly for us to see. ♥️✌️