larvalhex: Otto Dix, ‘Attack by a stealth patrol crawling through the trenches’ Dix represents what
larvalhex: Otto Dix, ‘Attack by a stealth patrol crawling through the trenches’ Dix represents what no war photos could show – the act of a German soldier stabbing with force a knife into the heart of his enemy. The tension of the arm, the direction of the body, the blade piercing the body – force us to look at the killer’s grinning action. “We are unfeeling dead who, through some dangerous trick of magic, are still able to run and kill. A young Frenchman falls behind; they catch up with him and he puts his hands up; in one of them he is still holding his revolver; we cannot tell whether he wants to shoot or to surrender. A stroke with a shovel splits his face in two. Another seeing this tries to escape, but a bayonet whistles into his back. He jumps in the air and, arms outstretched, stumbles screaming as the bayonet moves up and down in his spine.” – Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front -- source link