War affects art as it affects everything else. After the second world war there was a lull - "There [was] nothing else left to say" after Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Our perceptions changed from glory to death, and now from death to life - those caught in the conflict as soldiers or civilians. The art has taken a more vernacular form as the only sufficient way to represent a reality. Trauma changes the sensibilities of a nation entirely, and is displayed in their art, literature and film. Russian constructivists, Surrealists and their 'crazy' time. Civil war, Futurists. Dada anti-war - If society thinks it can handle high concepts and go out to shoot each other in the head then really we're still base. Dinos and Jake Chapman's 'Goya's before and after Iraq and stuff. The first world war had a profound effect on the art world - as it did on all of society. It fostered a negative view humanity that was new in it's scale and breath - Such massacre was a new sight to those away from the front line who heard an account of war not tailored by the victors. People were drafted (?) so there was more artisits (?!)
Otto Dix, Paul Nash
