Our last Kick-About was inspired by the Irish modernist Mainie Jellett. This week’s prompt, Raoul Hausmann’s Mechanical Head, finds thematic resonance with Jellett’s abstract paintings by exploring the disintegration of traditional forms and the reimagining of human identity in the modern age. Enjoy this latest showcase of ‘new works made in a short time’. To browse all previous editions of The Kick-About click here.
Gary Thorne
“With mindfullness for our impermanence, as a response to Haussmann, I got to thinking of a motivational force compelling us to our potential. Taking a familiar line from a Mark Twain poem and borrowing a friend’s kitchen from afar, KA was crafted. Thanks to Adamo for realising KA #102.“
James Randall
“It feels like the world is one big algorithmic taunt. Lots of hokus locus in between day to day living. I don’t think most people ask the big questions what makes you feel fulfilled, what do you want to try to do before you leave for good. Hence my flippant photo. I went back and made a photo montage of skull pics but it could change…“
Phil Cooper
“Hausmann‘s Mechanical Head has turned into a rather charred looking skull for my contribution this week. Some of the art movements of the 1910s and 20s were so optimistic about new technology and the mechanical age, but with all the advances made since then we still can‘t stop going to war and killing each other. Watching the suffering in Gaza and the failure of the world to stop it is heartbreaking and enraging in equal measure.”
Phil Gomm
“Introducing Mr Voltaic… a Raoul Hausmann-inspired take on those Mr Potato-Head toys. I don’t think there’s a huge amount to say about this, except I could feel my past-life as a lecturer in animation returning to me as I assembled this ready-made and likewise this poster for the sci-fi classic Forbidden Planet, which I’ve always adored. I know it’s possible to generate electricity with a humble potato and if I’d paid more attention in science class, as opposed to staring out of the window dreaming about daleks, maybe Mr Voltaic’s light-bulbs would actually be glowing!”
Kerfe Roig
“I’m a low tech person so I made a low tech head. Despite all our technology, we generate a lot of junk—single use items that become garbage. I save many of them with the intention of recycling them somehow into art. Most of what I used for the head come from packing materials to which I added a little bit of collage.”
kblog.blog / methodtwomadness.wordpress.com
Marion Raper
“So Great Aunt Alice’s milliners block came in handy yet again! (She would be turning in her grave I suspect!). This was a lot of fun to do, and if as Hausmann said a person’s capabilities are those which chance has glued on the outside of their skull, but the brain is empty, then I’m quite happy with being a numbskull covered in crochet daisies, wearing kookie heart-shaped specs, which are maybe slightly rose-tinted. As is my dear hubby – still watching his beloved drag racing videos with happy memories, even if he is no more animated than a milliners block!”
Graeme Daly
“I did a project like this ages ago in the middle of lockdown and I loved fucking about with Autodesk Maya to do things that you really shouldn’t. The process went by filming myself in front of a shoddy wrinkled green screen making these perplexing facial expressions, then removing the green screen in Premiere and bringing the clip of myself into Maya and animating the little bits and bobs such as the cogs and various images. I then exported everything once it was all animated and brought it back into Premiere to edit it further with some moody colour palettes and free-to-use sound effects from the BBC, so that the end goal is something along the lines of the odd art of Terry Gilliam or Tony Oursler. It definitely warrants more experimenting.“
@graemedalyart / vimeo.com/graemedaly / linkedin.com/in/graeme-daly / twitter.com/Graeme_Daly / gentlegiant.blog
Jordan Buckner
“I didn’t have a lot of time so this ended up as a late Sunday evening kitbash of CG objects exploring heads and old digital assets from bygone projects. I can’t imagine Huasmann would be too excited about an entirely digitally made thing constructed last minute by a person slowly being replaced by software updates and AI, but it seems somehow fitting in an odd kind of way. A helpful reminder that I need to return to making nicer things by hand again!”
Itta Howie
“As a German, I was quite excited by this prompt and immediately got my Dada books out to find out more about Raoul Hausmann and Berlin Dada. I found out that he had a lover, Hannah Höch, who was the only female artist in the group. I also found out that the Berlin Dadaists were a bunch of two-faced chauvinists, raging ferociously against social norms in their performances while comfortably going along with these norms in their own lives. Hannah Höch was hailed for her sandwiches but not for her art. She was one of the pioneers of photomontage and eventually made a name for herself, long after the break up of Berlin Dada. My contribution to this Kick About is inspired by and in honour of Höch’s work.”
Next up, another visual motif of the modern age…
Red's Kingdom 
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