Artist Rоbert Rаuschenberg (1925–2008) Instructiоns: Reаd the essаy abоut Robert Rauschenberg, and then respond to the questions that follow. Born in Port Arthur, Texas, Robert Rauschenberg—whose full-body x-ray appears in the "self-portrait" seen here—had no exposure to art as such until he was seventeen. His original intention to become a pharmacist faded when he was expelled from the University of Texas, for failure (he claims) to dissect a frog. After three years in the Navy during World War II, Rauschenberg spent a year at the Kansas City Art Institute; then he traveled to Paris for further study. At the Académie Julian in Paris he met the artist Susan Weil, whom he later married. Upon his return to the United States in 1948, Rauschenberg enrolled in the now-famous art program headed by the painter Josef Albers at Black Mountain College in North Carolina. Many of his long-term attachments and interests developed during this period, including his friendship with composer John Cage. In 1950 Rauschenberg moved to New York, where he supported himself partly by doing window displays for fashionable Fifth Avenue stores. Fellow artist Jasper Johns soon moved into the apartment below Rauschenberg's, bringing two of the era's greatest creative minds together in one dynamic place. Rauschenberg’s work in the 1950s radically departed from the abstract and nonrepresentational paintings that were popular at the time. He and artist and spouse Susan Weil made prints by sitting a nude model on large pieces of blueprint paper exposed to a sun lamp. With Cage at the wheel, Rauschenberg rolled a truck’s tire in black ink, then drove it along 20 sheets of paper glued end to end. At about the same time, Rauschenberg asked artist Willem de Kooning for one of his drawings, then proceeded to erase it, resulting in Erased de Kooning Drawing. The art world was soon enthralled by his experimentation and willingness to challenge the rules about style, materials, and even authorship in art. This range of work makes Rauschenberg difficult to categorize. In addition to paintings and prints, he produced extensive set and costume designs, as well as graphic design for magazines and books. “Happenings” and performance art also played a role in his work from the very beginning. Rauschenberg used objects that he found around him in his paintings. One has an actual stuffed bird attached to the front of the canvas. Another consists of a bed, with a quilt on it, hung upright on the wall and splashed with paint. Works that might be called sculptures are primarily assemblages of ordinary items; for example, Sor Aqua (1973) is composed of a bathtub (with water) above which a large chunk of metal seems to be flying. Rauschenberg called these works combines and they delight viewers with their familiar objects set in intriguing combinations. Rauschenberg explained his interest in images from daily life in an interview in 1965. He described the art he made in New York City as “unbiased documentation of my observations, and by observations I mean that literally, of my excitement about the way in the city you have on one lot a forty-story building and right next to it you have a little wooden shack. One is a parking lot and one is this maze of offices and closets and windows where everything is so crowded. . . . It was this constant, irrational juxtaposition of things that I think one only finds in the city.” Later in the same interview, discussing the connection of his art to the here and now, Rauschenberg explained, “The one thing that has been consistent about my work is that there has been an attempt to use the very last minutes in my life and the particular location as the source of energy and inspiration, rather than retiring to some kind of other time, or dream, or idealism.” We get from Rauschenberg a sense of boundaries being dissolved—boundaries between media, between art and nonart, between art and life. As he said: “The strongest thing about my work . . . is the fact that I chose to ennoble the ordinary.” Instructions: Write a minimum of 100 words for your answer and be specific with your writing. Answer the following questions in YOUR OWN WORDS, using online resources are only permitted to help guide your answers, all content must be in your own words. Paraphrase and rewrite when needed. How should we categorize the works of Robert Rauschenberg? How does Rauschenberg's style capture the culture and the events of his time? What are some of Rauschenberg's dominant themes?