Danger's Art Pad

Danger's Art Pad

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Ott Mit Uns Phase 1


This is a shirt design I've been working on throughout the summer, one of those projects that has been worked on gradually and lazily because there's no deadline. I'm crazy about the "Gott Mit Uns" (God is With Us) beltbuckles issued to German military personnel in the first and second World Wars, and I'm also crazy about Neue Sachlichkeit German artist Otto Dix. The concept of any nation engaged in a war against any other nation with both sides believing God to be on their own side has always been bizarre and fascinating to me. This drawing combines a beltbuckle design used for the SS Totenkopfverbände (Skull Units) with a piece that Dix did as one part of a 50 (or 51?) piece anti war series that Dix did in 1924. The combination of the original SS Totenkopf with the text "Gott Mit Uns" is so absurd and sickening, while Dix's "Schädel" is equally sickening, however oppositely intentioned and brilliant. I was originally going to leave the design as you see it here, but I think I'm going to add and adjust some of the ornamental elements before I call it good. Immer gegen Kriege kämpfen! I'll post the final when it's done.