Analysis Of Richard Hamilton's 'Mask, Murder, And Mercy: The New Millennium'

Randall Lofton
Professor Mooring
HUM2250
19 April 2016
Mask, Murder, and Mercy: The New Millennium Richard Hamilton was a major contributor to a new style of art. This new style was
Pop art. One of Hamilton’s most memorable works is called “Just What Is It That Makes
Today A Home” (1956). In this piece, Hamilton dealt with vulgarity and everyday life. His insight into the core of what was happening in his era made me realize that art is a language. This language gives those who are afraid or inhibited by life an opportunity to vocalize their inner thoughts and emotions. I was excited, because I felt that I now had a Conrad in arms. Hamilton style and technique lead me to create my own collage titled “Mask, Murder, and Mercy: The New Millennium”.
This paper will explore how Hamilton’s manifesto influenced me to use art as a language and gave me a voice to create my own collage and manifesto. Hamilton appeared at a time when schools were teaching technique and not ideas. Hamilton was an artist whose considerable ambition was to "get all of living" into his work. In the collage, he voiced the misgivings of many in lamenting the pervasive influence of American mass culture, "full of corrupt brightness, of improper appeals and moral evasions" (McCarthy, 2016). Hamilton was excited by American domestic appliances. I was excited about the violence and mistreatment of Americas black youth. He was fascinated with washing machines, dishwashers, and refrigerators. I was fascinated with student debt, murder of innocent people by the police, and religion. Both disenfranchisements were egged on by the lack of government intervention and the lack luster responsibility of Americans. These American exports were taking a toll on the British household (Parson 2014). The violence was taking a toll on the lifestyle of the youth of this era. In retrospect, it may seem absolutely obvious that Hamilton's art contained the shock of the eclectic, exploring the complexities of visual perception that extend the boundaries of art. His all-embracing attitudes caused widespread confusion. He challenged the traditional hierarchy of values, the purist view held by the British art establishment of what was proper subject matter for a work of art (McCarthy, 2016). I believe that challenging authority causes confusion and strife. But sometimes you have to step out of the box and fight for what you believe. Fighting does not have to be violent. Fighting can mean creating artwork and including icons that represent your constituents in a negative light.
For example, Hamilton’s collage criticizes Oldenburg’s lollipop, Wesselman-naked woman, and Warhol-can of ham for their artwork that shows American materialist ways in a positive light. He takes subject matter from each artwork and uses it in his collage. In my collage, I take pictures of items, words, or events that represent the last 8 years of a presidential term and its impact on the youth of this decade. I use lines to create a symbol of imprisonment. This symbol represents the idea of how the youth tend to emerge as prisoners to a culture that is not ready for their consuming obsession with modern living. Hamilton was a knowledgeable, deeply serious artist who loved and respected the great artists of the past. But he was also determinedly responsive to the modern living, modern technology, modern equipment, modern communications, modern materials, modern processes, and modern attitudes. Hamilton’s core principles involved a fascination with using art as a language. A converge of pop art, and poetry was
used.
I used the tools of Hamilton. I created a list of what I thought were the political issues of the youth of today. On the list were included items such as political, economic, cultural terms that depict the struggle of young men and women in the millennium. I used images and words cut from magazines, color photography, photographs and technology to design my collage.
As a young man in my early 20”s, I am fascinated with Hamilton’s ability to portray social consciousness with such interesting and perceptive understanding of life, time, and style. I too believe that art is a means of communication just like the human language. Art should always be classified as a representation of some idea, thought or feeling related to an experience. Art is a showcase of our thoughts, words deeds, and events. Art is a voice to cry out against mistreatment of the huddled masses. I am motivated by the way art evokes a passion. It maybe time, to let art become respectable again and reclaim its place in the culture of youth.
Art is all about communication of ideas and emotions along with social values and education. My artwork is acting with a purpose of indoctrination. My artwork shows how a generation becomes dissatisfied with the police, government, and the establishment. Through my artwork I hope to show how young men and women are blinded by the evils of society. As a young mans in today’s generation, we tend to become imprisoned when it comes to our beliefs, and actions. We tend to follow what is in at the time instead of our morals. We hate going to school and become poor readers. I am told that readers who cannot pass the comprehensive test in 3rd grade determine the number of jail cells to build. There is a cross in the midst of all the chaos that takes place into society. Many young people have lost their way and want to say the environment or super heroes guide their lives. Poverty, drugs, rape, abuse, and death are all things that we as a people are becoming accustom to, only to realize we are only creating a jail cell or a cage for ourselves. Young people are seeking pleasure, wealth, lust as the valuable dream instead of GOD, family, and education. Walking in life blindly leads to drugs and murder. Only the establishment has a cure-jail. The jail is for those who mask their lifestyle, murder innocent victims, and show no mercy to those in need in the new millennium. This paper will explore how Hamilton’s manifesto influenced me to use art as a language and give me a voice to create my own collage and manifesto.
As a Pacap (pop art, collage, poetry), I have a manifesto of 4 core principles gleaned from my life experiences. I believe Art reaches beyond the boundaries of something pretty to look at. A work of art is a language. It should always engage the cognitive process with its thoughts and ideas displayed. Even though, art is good no matter the quality the piece should remind the viewer of a message or principle in life. Pop Art can be changed to mimic life. Therefore, artwork should be natural, authentic, passionate, possessive, and communicative. Hamilton stated” In art, it’s the mind not the eye that should be
active”.
Work Cited
Pepe Karmel. “The Golden age of abstraction: right now”. ARTNEW (2013): pages 1-8. April 16, 2016 http://www.artnews.com/2013/04/24/contemporary-abstraction.
David Parsons. “My teacher, Richard Hamilton”. TATE (2014) pages 1-4. April 16, 2016 http://www.tate.org.uk/context-comment/articles/my-teacher-richard-hamilton.
John-Paul Stonard.” Pop in the Age of Boom: Richard Hamilton’s ‘Just what is it that makes today’s homes so different, so appealing?”. Pages 1-5. April16, 2016 https://johnpaulstonard.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/stonard_hamilton.pdf