Ibram Lassaw “On Inventing Our Own Art” 1938, reprinted in reprinted in Art in Theory: 1900-2000. ed. Harrison and Wood pp. 397-398
Author Archives: Duncan
Plastic Art and Pure Plastic Art
Piet Mondrian “Plastic Art and Pure Plastic Art” 1937 reprinted in Art in Theory: 1900-2000. ed. Harrison and Wood pp. 387-393
Constructivism
Naum Gabo “The Constructive Ideal in Art” 1937 reprinted in Art in Theory: 1900-2000. ed. Harrison and Wood pp. 385-387
Hans Hofmann – On the Aims of Art
Included for its distinctly apolitical take on art. Hofmann is a pure abstract modernist who values the expression of the genius’ inner self rather than political content.
Hans Hofmann “On the Aims of Art” Art in Theory: 1900-2000. ed. Harrison and Wood pp. 371-374
Gropius on the Bauhaus
Walter Gropius “The Theory and Organization of the Bauhaus” 1923. Trans. H. Bayer. reprinted in Art in Theory: 1900-2000. ed. Harrison and Wood pp. 309-314
“The dominant spirit of our epoch is already recognizable although its form is not yet clearly defined. The old dualistic world-concept which envisaged the ego in opposition to the universe is rapidly losing ground. In its place is rising the idea of a universal unity in which all opposing forces exist in a state of absolute balance. This dawning recognition of the essential oneness of all things and their appearances endows creative effort with a fundamental inner meaning. No longer can anything exist in isolation. We perceive every form as the embodiment of an idea, every piece of work as a manifestation of our inner-most selves. only work which is the product of inner compulsion can have spiritual meaning. Mechanized work is lifeless, proper only to the lifeless machine. So long, however, as machine-economy remains an end in itself rather than a means of freeing the intellect from the burden of mechanical labor, the individual will remain enslaved and society will remain disordered” p. 309
“The objective of all creative effort in the visual arts is to give form to space … but what is space, and how can it be understood and given a form
.. although we may achieve an awareness of the infinite we can give form to space only with finite means. We become aware of space through hour undivided Ego, through the simultaneous activity of soul, mind and body. A like concentration of all our forces is necessary to give it form. Through his intuition, through his metaphysical powers, man discovers the immaterial space of inward vision and inspiration. this conception of space demands realization in the material world, a realization which is accomplished by the brain and hands” p. 311
“The guiding principle of the Bauhaus was therefore the idea of creating a new unity through the welding together of many ‘arts’ and movements: a unity having its basis in Man himself and significant only as a living organism
Human achievement depends on the proper coordination of all the creative faculties. it is not enough to school one or another of them separately: they must all be thoroughly trained at the same time. The character of the Bauhaus teachings derive from the realization of this” p. 311
“The Bauhaus is consciously formulating a new coordination of the means of construction and expression. Without this, its ultimate aim would be impossible. For collaboration in a group is not to be obtained solely by correlating the abilities and talents of various individuals. Only an apparent unity can be achieved if many helpers carry out the designs of a single person. In fact, the individual’s labor within the group should exist as his own independent accomplishment. Real unity can be achieved only by coherent restatement of the formal theme, by repetition of its integral proportions in all parts of the work. Thus everyone engaged in the work must understand the origin and meaning of the principle theme” p. 313
“Modern painting, breaking through old conventions, has released countless suggestions which are still waiting to be used by the practical world. But when, in the future, artists who sense new creative values have had practical training in the industrial world, they will themselves possess the means for realizing those values immediately. They will compel industry to serve their idea and industry will seek out and utilize their comprehensive training” p. 314
I wanted to post these notes on Bauhaus because it goes another step further in advancing some of the strands of Marxist theory running through some previous posts, and I think puts a useful spin on those ideas by focusing artistic production on physical objects and the built environment. Starting with the assumption that industrial production implicates all members of a society in production either as laborers or consumers, the Bauhaus sought to create a rational, popular design that was connected to a broad-based education program that empowered everyone to think about design.
The Bauhaus provides a few ways to think about efficacy
1. Effective art is realized in our physical environment and is part of our lives generally, rather than as just ‘art’ or an abstract idea.
2. Effective art must contribute to a general social uplift because of the mutual implication of all people together in collective labor – particularly in industrial production.
More Dada
from Hugo Ball “Dada Fragments” originally published in 1927. trans. Jolas reprinted in Art in Theory: 1900-2000. ed. Harrison and Wood pp. 250-251
“June 12, 1916 – What we call Dada is an harlequinade made of nothingness in which all higher questions are involved, a gladiator’s gesture, a play with shabby debris, an execution of postured morality and plenitude…
The Dadaist loves the extraordinary, the absurd, even. He knows that life asserts itself in contradictions, and that his age, more than any preceding it, aims to the destruction of all generous impulses. Every kind of mask is therefore welcome to him, every plat at hide and seek in which there is an inherent power of deception. the direct and the primative appear to him in the midst of this huge anti-nature, as being the supernatural itself…” [ellipsis in original] p. 250
From the eve of World War One
I wanted to post this because the historical context struck me. The author is Franz Marc, writing a proposed preface to a second edition to the expressionist text Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider), which chronicled the art of the Der Blaue Reiter group from 1912-14. This preface was written at the very beginning of World War One, a conflict in which Marc himself was killed, in 1916.
This is quoted in its entirety – emphasis mine to highlight key sections.
‘Foreword’ to the planned second volume of Der Blaue Reiter, trans. K. Lankheit, reprinted in Art in Theory: 1900-2000. ed. Harrison and Wood pp. 158-159
“Once more and many times more we are trying to divert the attention of ardent men from the nice and pretty illusion inherited from the olden days toward existence, horrible and resounding.
Whenever the leaders of the crowds turn right, we turn left; when they point to a goal, we turn our backs; whenever they warn us against we hurry toward.
The world is crammed to suffocation. On every stone man has put the brand of his cleverness. Every word is leased or invested. When can man do for salvation buy give up everything and flee? What but draw a line between yesterday and today?
Plekhanov
Excerpt from Art and Social Life, trans. A. Fineberg. reprinted in Art in Theory: 1900-2000. ed. Harrison and Wood pp. 154-158
“Complete indifference to the idea content of their works was already displayed by the impressionists. One of them very aptly expressed the conviction of them all when he said” ‘The chief dramatis persona in a picture is light.’ But the sensation of light is only a sensation – that is, it is not yet emotion, and not yet thought. An artist who confines his attention to the realm of sensations is indifferent to emotion and thought.” p. 155
“Idea is not somethign that exists independently of the real world. A man’s stock of ideas is determined and enriched by his relations with that world. And he whose relations with that world are such that he considers his ego the ‘only reality,’ inevitably becomes an out-and-out pauper in the matter of ideas. Not only is he bereft of ideas, but – and this is the chief point – he is not in a position to conceive any. An just as people, when they have no break, eat dockweed, so when they have no clear ideas they content themselves with vague hints at ideas, with surrogates borrowed from mysticism, symbolism and the similar ‘isms’ characteristic of the period of decadence. in brief, we find in painting a repetition of what we have seen in literature: realism decays because of its inherent vacuity and idealistic reaction triumphs.” p. 156
More Breton, Surrealism
Andre Breton, 1929 “The Second Manifesto of Surrealism” trans. Seaver and Lane. reprinted in Art in Theory 1900-2000 ed. Harrison and Wood. pp. 463-467
“I do not believe in the present possibility of an art of literature which expresses the aspirations of the working class. If I refuse to believe in such a possibility, it is because, in any prerevolutionary period the writer or artist, who of necessity is a product of the bourgeoisie, is by definition incapable of translating these aspirations and that, in rather exceptional moral circumstances, he may be capable of conceiving of the relativity of any cause in terms of the proletarian cause. I consider it to be a matter of sensitivity and integrity for him. This does not mean, however, that he will elude the remarkable doubt, inherent in the means of expression which are his, which forces him to consider from a very special angle, within himself and himself alone, the work he intends to do. In order to be viable, this work demands to be situated in relationship to certain other already existing works and must, in its turn, open new paths” p. 465
“We can recognize [inspiration] by that total possession of our mind which, at rare intervals, prevents our being, for every problem posed, the plaything of one rational solution, by that sort of short circuit it creates between a given idea and a respondent idea (written for example). Just as in the physical world, a short circuit occurs when two ‘poles’ of a machine are joined by a conductor of little or no resistance. In poetry and painting, Surrealism has done everything it can and more to increase these short circuits. It believes, and ti will never believe in anything more wholeheartedly, in reproducing artificially this ideal moment when man, in the grip of a particular emotion, is suddenly seized by this something ‘stronger than himself’ which projects him, in self-defense, into immortality. If he were lucid, awake, he would be terrified as he wriggled out of that tight situation. The whole point for him is not to be free of it, for him to go on talking the entire time this mysterious ringing lasts: it is, in fact, the point at which he ceases to belong to himself that he belongs to us” p. 466
Surrealism
from The First Manifesto of Surrealism, trans. Richard Seaver and Helen R. Lane. reprinted at http://wikilivres.info/wiki/Surrealist_Manifesto
“Among the many misfortunes to which we are heir, it is only fair to admit that we are allowed the greatest degree of freedom of thought. It is up to us not to misuse it. To reduce imagination to a state of slavery – even though it would mean the elimination of what is commonly called happiness – is to betray all sense of absolute justice within oneself. Imagination alone offers me some intimation of what can be, and this is enough to remove to some sleight degree the terrible injunction; enough, too, to allow me to devote myself to it without fear of making a mistake (as though it were possible to make a bigger mistake).”