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Response Paper 1

Orozco Murals at Dartmouth College

The Epic of American Civilization (The Machine)

Panel 12: The Machine (Figure 1) depicts the coming of the age of technology. The focus of the panel is a cluster of dark, vertical, thick pipes, which are surrounded by this chaos of hundreds of smaller, thinner pipes crisscrossing throughout the rest of the panel. In the background of the photo, a dark, rust-colored curved tube is drawn, which contrasts the other objects made with straight edges. In the foreground, a same colored triangular mass, like a metal rock, is pictured. Other details in the foreground include gray screws and chains. The impersonal feeling the viewer encounters when viewing The Machine represents technology’s replacement of human connection. The physical location of the panel further conveys its purpose as a bridge between the path from human life to destruction.

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Figure 1
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Figure 2

When looking at The Machine few emotions are evoked, but this outcome strengthens the lifeless and emotionless qualities of machines and how these factors thus destroy the essential qualities of human life, liveliness and emotion, as machines replace humans. The idea that machines will replace humans is shown through the similar manner Orozco painted both. The human figures, such as in Migration (Figure 2) and Modern Migration of the Spirit, are detailed with streaks running through the arms and legs, as if showing every muscle and vein. Likewise, in the various mechanical objects in The Machine, detailed lines outline hundreds of pipes inside the metal objects, much like the veins and sinews of the humans. Also, the positioning of the machines mirrors that of the humans in Migration. The cluster of pipes in the middle of The Machine, strong and dark, are in the same position as the main human figure featured in Migration, and both give off the same dominant feeling in their panel. The rust red triangular metal rock in the bottom right corner of The Machine is similar to the human in Migration that is kneeling on the ground behind the main figure, also in the bottom right corner. The numerous pipes and machinery in the background reflect the large mass of indigenous people in the background of Migration. In these ways, the machines replace the humans as the main subjects on the east side of the mural room. This is one of the only panels with no life, no human, animal, nor spiritual beings, further showing how the machine has replaced life.

Because there is no life in this panel, it does not elicit a strong reaction from the viewer; there is nothing for the viewer to identify with. Not only are there no signs of life in the panel, the machines are unidentifiable, making it even harder for the viewer to connect with this panel. The dull, dark colors only add to the uninteresting, depressing impression of the panel. However, the unappealing nature of the panel serves a strong purpose; it conveys the consequences of machines replacing humans. While the pre-Columbian side west side portrays the past, the post-Cortez east side predicts the future. His prediction comes in light of the rise of demand and exploitation of oil, such as by Rockefeller, in the late 19th century. This was a rapid time of change that brought on new technology and modern weaponry, such as machine guns and the practice of aerial bombardment. With the rise of technology and modernity, Orozco predicts the ultimate downfall of in person interaction. From today’s perspective, his prediction has come true. Technology has only grown since the 1930s, and today, it consumes every one of all ages and backgrounds. It is commonplace to see people buried in their phones instead of having a face-to-face conversation. People are even losing jobs as machines become more capable of handling these tasks than humans. The representation of machines as human-like paired with random machine-like features, but never an identifiable object, and dreary colors all serve to prove Orozco’s prediction that technology will come to replace humans causing us to lose the very things that make us human in the process.

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Figure 3
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Figure 4
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Figure 5

Not only does the subject and emotions, or lack of, of the drawing convey a purpose, the very position of the panel in the entire mural room serves to show that the panel is a bridge, physically between the west and east sides of the mural room and metaphorically between human life and destruction. The west pre-Columbian side primarily shows indigenous humans interacting with each other, whether it is looking to the future, making a sacrifice, praying to the gods, or cultivating maize. On the other hand, the human interaction decreases on the post-Cortez side. In the panels Cortez and the Cross (Figure 3), Anglo-America (Figure 4), Hispano-America (Figure 5), and Modern Migration of the Spirit, all panels on the east side, the main figure of the fresco is disconnected from the background. These figures stare pensively off into the distance or at the viewer but never at the other subjects in the panel.

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Figure 6  
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Figure 7                                                

As one progresses along the east side, near the end of the mural, the humans even cease to exist and the main subjects of the panels become skeletons, like in Gods of the Modern World (Figure 6) and Modern Human Sacrifice (Figure 7). The Machine is placed in the middle of these two sides, bridging thriving human life and eventual human demise. This further shows Orozco’s prediction that machines will ultimately lead to human destruction in the future.

The Machine is also conveniently placed next to Cortez and the Cross, and even crosses over into this panel on its left (Figure 8). Orozco was known for not hiding breaks in continuity in the mural and obvious sections that were made while working with fresco. So he could have easily made a clean split between these two panels, as in The Machine and the panel on its left, Anglo-America. Instead, the arm of a machine crosses over into the destruction of Cortez and the Cross, making this seem intentional. The part of the machine links the destruction, dead bodies, and debris in the background to the rest of the machines, explicitly showing technology’s direct connection to destruction.

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Figure 8                  

The Machine is the link that foreshadows what is to come: technology’s eventual overshadowing of humans. Orozco’s very literal and realistic depiction of machinery and explicit placement of the panel in the room all convey the consequences technology will bring. From Mexican Muralists: Orozco, Rivera, and Siqueiros by Desmond Rochfort, we find that Orozco hoped to capture the continuous conflict of greed, power, and corruption in his work. The Machine captures them all. The rise of technology will increase consumption, already seen by the exploitation of oil and the emergence of powerful billionaires, such as Rockefeller. The fact that the mural is also continuous and the west and east side mirror each other show the idea that history repeats itself. This is Orozco’s final message. History will continue to repeat itself and as humans have conquered each other in the past, in the future, it will be the machines that conquer us.