designer of the everyday / rudolf steiner hilma af klint / clairvoyant
Transcription
designer of the everyday / rudolf steiner hilma af klint / clairvoyant
MAGAZINE OF THE ESPOO MUSEUM OF MODERN ART Spring 2014 DESIGNER OF THE EVERYDAY / RUDOLF STEINER HILMA AF KLINT / CLAIRVOYANT – ART FROM THE SPIRIT WORLD THE REFUSAL OF TIME / WILLIAM KENTRIDGE 2 3 EMMA RUDOLF STEINER Am Amfang war die Wärme, 1924. HILMA AF KLINT Parsifal no 16, 1916. WILLIAM KENTRIDGE The Refusal of Time, 2012. JAAKKO MATTILA Aukko, 2013. EGGERT PÉTURSSON Untitled (Nordurland Tröllaskagi), 2011. Exhibitions + Contents Viewpoint 3VIEWPOINT The Steiner Phenomenon 4 DESIGNER OF THE EVERYDAY, RUDOLF STEINER AT EMMA Designer of the Everyday / Rudolf Steiner / 26.2.2014-11.5.2014 Feel the Spirit! / 26.2.2014-11.5.2014 10 HILMA AF KLINT Clairvoyant - Art from the spirit world 14 THE REFUSAL OF TIME BY WILLIAM KENTRIDGE 19 UPCOMING PROGRAMME William Kentridge / The Refusal of Time / 18.6.2014-14.9.2014 xxxxxx / Jaakko Mattila / 22.8.2014-31.10.2014 Events in Nature / 25.4.2013-26.3.2015 The Saastamoinen Foundation Art Collection / Permanently Publisher EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art / xxxxx Inari Ranta / Editorial board Pilvi Kalhama, Ari Karttunen, Päivi Karttunen, Nana Salin, Hannele Savelainen, Päivi Talasmaa / Image editor Ari Karttunen / Graphic design and layout Dog Design / Printing house Lönnberg Painot Oy THE MAGAZINE OF ESPOO MUSEUM OF MODERN ART PRINT EDITION 25 000 / NEXT ISSUE AUTUMN 2014 / CHANGE OF ADDRESS, ORDERS (GRATIS) AND FEEDBACK INFO@EMMA.MUSEUM / CONTACT INFORMATION ON BACK COVER / FRONT COVER: HILMA AF KLINT, THE DOVE NO 2, SERIES UW, GROUP 9, 1915 The Steiner Phenomenon I n recent years, the anthroposophist Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925) has become a topical phenomenon. Although we are accustomed to associate him with pedagogy, biodynamic agriculture and alternative medicine, less attention has been paid to his personal and philosophical influence on the arts and society in general. Steiner opposed the Zeitgeist of the early 20th century and sought to rediscover the spirituality of man’s existence. Today, as when Steiner began his work, we are faced with the unknown challenges of technological progress and the fragility of our planet. Our hectic life is replete with materialism and totally fragmented. Our Zeitgeist embodies a powerful longing for spirituality and a spiritual, communal way of life. The rekindled interest in Steiner is an aspect of this. The time has come to consider Steiner in a new light and dismantle our prejudices and restrictive thoughts. Steiner is part of the history of modernism; an influential figure in the great spiritual and social turmoil of the early 20th century. He was a controversial figure in his own time – as spiritual reformers always are – a social reformer, idealist and practical organiser rolled into one. In developing his philosophy, anthroposophy, Steiner wished to create a holistic world view in which man, mankind, the earth and the cosmos were all part of one great whole. The polymath Steiner wished to include in his philosophy all known fields of knowledge; all which belonged to man’s life, from atoms to space, from man to universe. His boundary-breaking way of thinking made no difference between science, art and spirituality. Thanks to his comprehensive and multidisciplinary philosophy, Steiner’s thinking can still be seen in our society from everyday aesthetics to general wellbeing. The Vitra Design Museum’s exhibition at EMMA clarifies this diversity which we do not always recognise immediately. The sheer abundance of material in the EMMA exhibition Designer of the Everyday – Rudolf Steiner – original drawings and plans, correspondence with cultural figures, contemporary and modern designs, visual arts – tells of Steiner’s total commitment to life and the extensive influence of his philosophy. In modern art, Steiner’s way of using the blackboard as a pedagogical tool in lectures can be seen in many ways. The combination of blackboard, writing and image has also aroused considerable interest among researchers. Steiner’s architecture has also inspired contemporary architects. The connection between the various branches of art, still evident in different art genres, could already be recognised in Steiner’s thinking. Rudolf Steiner was a very modern person; a tireless lecturer, writer, traveller, participator and communicator and the initiator of diverse schemes. His heritage is exceptionally broadbased, often with strange angles, but above all for its brilliant thoughts, reformist ideas and faith in humanity. • Hannele Savelainen Researcher, exhibitions, EMMA Päivi Talasmaa Curator, exhibitions, EMMA 4 5 EMMA TEXT / PÄIVI TALASMAA PHOTOS / RUDOLF STEINER ARCHIV, VITRA DESIGN MUSEUM DESIGNER OF THE EVERYDAY, RUDOLF STEINER AT EMMA E MMA’s Rudolf Steiner exhibition is the first major retrospective ever shown in Finland. It contains almost four hundred exhibits – furniture, scale models, art works, blackboard drawings and texts. The starting point for the exhibition was Steiner’s lifework, something that proved to be a real treasure trove and enabled his work and influence to be portrayed in a fascinating manner. The idea of such an exhibition was first mooted at EMMA some three years ago when we decided to visit the Vitra Design Museum’s Rudolf Steiner exhibition and set off for Weil am Rhein in Ger- many. It was thrilling to discover the connections to modern design and visual arts this famous architectural and design museum had disvcovered from the lifework of the Austrian philosopher, artist and art pedagogue Rudolf Steiner. Topicality of the Steiner exhibition The Vitra Design Museum organised this travelling exhibition to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Rudolf Steiner (1861– 1925). During the arrangements for the EMMA exhibition we noticed how interest in Steiner’s work had also grown elsewhere in the world. For instance, at last summer’s Venice Biennale, the main hall of the Giardin Pavilion was devoted to Rudolf Steinerin muistikirjan piirros kuvaa värien ja ihmisen henkisen kehityksen välistä yhteyttä. Antroposofisten oppien mukaan violetti väri merkitsee korkeinta tasoa. Lyijykynäpiirros vuodelta 1923, Rudolf Steiner Archiv. 6 7 EMMA Steiner wished the architecture and interiors of the Goetheanum to be based on anthroposophy. together. It was clear to Steiner that there was a connection between seen and unseen reality. For him reality was no longer “true”, but some “aesthetic formation”. He saw his own work as a search for the spiritual, using imagination, inspiration and intuition in addition to classical research methods. Steiner’s major architectural project: the Goetheanums Sveitsin Dornachissa sijaitseva Goetheanum lännestä päin kuvattuna. Ensimmäinen puusta rakennettu tuhopoltettiin vuonna 1922. Kuvassa olevan toisen betonisen Goetheanumin rakentaminen aloitettiin heti. VITRA DESIGN MUSEUM, PHOTO: DEIDI VON SCHAEWEN Steiner with a display of his blackboard drawings. Evidence of the interest aroused by Rudolf Steiner’s thoughts, writings and lectures can be seen in the following he attracted among contemporary artists. His life coincided with the rise of modernism, which we associate with Wassily Kandinsky and Kazimir Malevich. They both knew Steiner, attended his lectures and corresponded with him. The present exhibitions Rudolf Steiner – Designer of the Everyday and Feel the Spirit! show how Steiner influenced con- temporary artists, particularly Hilmar af Klint, one of the pioneers of Swedish abstract art. Steiner and anthroposophy At the beginning of the 20th century Steiner was head of the German branch of the Theosophical Society. However, he renounced theosophy and developed anthroposophy, “the knowledge of what it is to be human”. Steiner saw the world as holistic; his anthroposophist ideology aimed at bringing science, art, spirituality and social life In his early years Steiner worked as a teacher and Goethe scholar. Many of his ideas, like his colour theory, owe their origin to Goethe. The majority of the exhibits come from the Rudolf Steiner archives and the Goetheanum art collection in Dornach, Switzerland. It is still the centre for his ideas. The highlights of the EMMA exhibition are the large model of the Goetheanum and the two polygon colour rooms built according to Steiner’s model. Steiner wished the architecture and interiors of the Goetheanum to be based on anthroposophy. According to his understanding of art, environmental planning should not be seen as a free art form but as a spiritually influencing activity. The style of building he initiated has, even later on, been based on irregular, crooked windows, pastel coloured interiors and almost completely round furniture. The organic principle as the basis for design The relationship between nature, art and technology was a major theme among artists in the last century and many stylistic features originated during the Art Nouveau period at the end of the 19th century. Steiner also studied the importance of the principles behind natural forms. Around 1910 Steiner developed his theory of metamorphosis in which the world was divided into four parts – the physical world, plant world, animal world and the world of man. According to this, everyday applied arts should use a combination of living, organic forms. Many of Steiner’s architectonic and furniture designs in the 1920s were characterised by a crystalline structure, which owes as much to the influence of nature as to scientific studies of geometry. Steiner and modernism Organic forms and wood were highly popular also in classical modernist circles. A good example of this is Alvar Aalto’s work in Finland. The American Frank Lloyd Wright, one of the most influential 20th century architects, was an early creator of organic architecture. His famous Prairie Houses from the 1910s were built with untreated natural materials. Wright was also one of the first architects to design everything for a building including the interiors and furniture. Steiner’s lecture drawings Rudolf Steiner illustrated his lectures by drawing and writing with white or coloured chalks on blackboards. These blackboards were wellknown in anthroposophical circles, but in art circles they were only “discovered” in the 1990s. The major issues which Steiner dealt with in his lecture drawings, the interaction of language and image or the relationship between science and art, are still central themes in modern art. Many modern artists were inspired by Steiner’s use of blackboards, as for example the German conceptualist Joseph Beuys (1921–86) who used them in his performances. Beuys placed social action and human interaction on a par with a work of art. Beuys’ “actions” in the 1970s – actually lectures on art and politics – were an attempt to create a democratic society. Also Olafur Eliasson (born 1967), whose light installation can be seen in the Feel the Spirit! exhibition, works in a wide range of mediums. Interested in optics and architecture, he combines science with art and views the surrounding world as a challenge to art. Modern design Anthroposophy does not see art and design as separate factors, but extends them into the environment. Nowadays, many architects and 8 9 EMMA © VITRA esigners have created crystalline forms and d furniture resembling plants. The exhibition also shows chairs from the Vitra collection, such as the organic-shaped Vegetal-chair by the Bouroullec brothers from recycled polyamide. Similarly, the German designer Konstantin Grcic’s Chair One resembles the bottom of a basket or lattice work. Temple-like spaces have been designed by today’s top architects like Zaha Hadid and Herzog & de Meuron. VITRA DESIGN MUSEUM, PHOTO: ANDREAS SÜTTERLIN Designer of the Everyday – Rudolf Steiner Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec Vegetal Chair, Vitra 2006 Vitra Design Museum The exhibition offers a comprehensive presentation of the origins of Steiner’s philosophy and pedagogy. Numerous original exhibits reflecting everyday life, suggesting comparisons to 20th century design, give the viewer a wonderful opportunity of tracing similarities between Steiner and modern design. Rudolf Steiner’s lecture drawings have in many ways rekindled the use of the blackboard in contemporary art. • Näyttelyssä mukana olevaan ”parantavaan värikammioon” voi mennä sisälle. Se on rakennettu 2010 Steinerin vuonna 1913 laatimien ohjeiden mukaan. Näyttely Arjen muotoilija - Rudolf Steiner avautuu EMMAssa 26.2.2014. Rudolf Steinerin luennoista on säilynyt yhteensä noin tuhat liitu taulupiirrosta. Ylimpänä Toisen Goetheanumin alkuperäisaihe (1.1.1924), alh. vas. ”Anthroposophie und Kosmosophie” (9.10.1921) ja alh. oik. ”Die falsche Furcht vor der Spiri tuellen” eli ”Henkisen väärä pelko” (6.5.1922). Rudolf Steiner Archiv. 10 11 EMMA Joutsen-sarjassa teosten ilmaisu siirtyy asteittain esittävästä kohti abstraktia. Hilma af Klint, Joutsenet nro 2 ja nro 10, sarja SUW, ryhmä 9, 1914, Stiftelsen Hilma af Klints Verk. HILMA af KLINT Clairvoyant - Art from the spirit world The Swedish artist Hilma af Klint (1862-1944) was exceptional in many ways. She forged a career as a woman artist at a time when the arts were a male prerogative, and pioneered a style of painting that was unprecedentedly radical in content and expression. She maintained a strict separation between her private and public life and art. Whilst earning her living as a traditional portrait and landscape artist, she secretly painted the esoteric works which gave rise to a uniquely rich and fascinating cosmos. The 21 works in the EMMA exhibition come from the famous Paintings for the Temple series. TEXT / HANNELE SAVELAINEN PHOTOS / STIFTELSEN HILMA AF KLINTS VERK Harbinger of the spiritual world Hilma af Klint’s esoteric paintings from the early 20th century were created through a medium at a séance, later more independently, but even then through the agency of spirits she called the High Masters. She was the harbinger of these spirits and owed the content of her art to them. Af Klint continuously took precise notes of her connections with spirit world. At the beginning her paintings were like automatic writing. Gradually her art came to reflect the ambiguities of the spiritual world. After becoming acquainted with theosophy at the end of the 19th century, af Klint’s belief in the spiritual origins of art only strengthened. Later when she met Rudolf Steiner and became an anthroposophist, these beliefs became even stronger. From the 1910s onwards, however, she felt that she was herself controlling and interpreting her work. Steinerin vaikutuksesta af Klintin taiteeseen alkoi ilmestyä esoteeriseen kristillisyyteen viittaavia symboleita. Hilma af Klint, Kyyhkynen nro 11, sarja UW, ryhmä 9, 1915, Stiftelsen Hilma af Klints Verk. Paintings for the Temple – the dream of oneness In 1906 Hilma af Klint began work on her Paintings for the Temple (1906–1916), which consists of 193 paintings in various series and groups, including the Swan, Dove and Parsifal. The content of her spiritually oriented philosophy of life and art was based on the dualism prevailing in society and manifested through opposites. In her Temple series she wished to bring out the unseen reality, the oneness, beyond the visible dualistic world. Everything is moving, developing and changing, striving towards oneness, the beginning, God. The starting point in the works is the representational which gradually develops from one picture to the next towards abstract opposites and colours – man/woman, black/white. In her art af Klint describes the freeing of the spirit from the flesh, profane and human longing, merging together, oneness. The man symbols in af Klint’s oeuvre are derived from the occult chemical formulae and atoms of theosophy and Eastern influences like lotus flowers and mandala ornamentation. Un- 12 13 EMMA MODERNA MUSEET The various coloured rectangles of the Parsifal series (No 2, 1916) appear to be purely abstract colour studies, but to af Klint they constituted an attempt to understand and describe the inner and outer dimensions of the physical level, especially of humans. Vastavärit sininen (mies) ja keltainen (nainen) visualisoivat af Klintin dualistista ajattelua. Hilma af Klint, Kyyhkynen nro 4, sarja UW, ryhmä 9, 1915, Stiftelsen Hilma af Klints Verk. der Steiner’s influence from 1912 onwards new symbols related to the esoteric Christian Rosicrucian cult, cross and crucifixion motifs, enter her imagery. Is the father of abstract art then a mother? The art world seldom experiences such surprises as The Spiritual in Art – Abstract Painting 1890– 1985 exhibition in Los Angeles in 1986. Hilma af Klint’s intriguing, strange paintings shattered the prevailing canon of abstract art. The exhibition proved that as early as 1906, many years before the art of the accepted fathers of abstract art, Wassily Kandinsky and Kazimir Malevich, had appeared, af Klint was painting works that could be considered abstract. Af Klint, however, would have been quite indifferent to any discussion of her pioneering role in abstract art. In her opinion, art was in no sense abstract. Its essential content was to portray the different dimensions of the spiritual, something that was always precisely defined. For the “official” developers of abstract art – Kandinsky, Malevich or Mondrian for instance – it was also important to believe in the spiritual in visual creativity. They also sought another reality that penetrated through the actual “surface” of material forms. Together and individually they were the avant-garde of their time. Art of the future Hilma af Klint arrived at a non-representational form partly for the same reason but years earlier, and above all for her courageous response to the inner voice and received images. She was a visionary clairvoyant, harbinger of the spiritual world. She had no wish to participate in public art life, which is why she gave instructions in her will that her works could not be exhibited until 20 years after her death. Hilma af Klint knew and valued her worth. Her work was the art of the future, for the people of the future. • Hilma af Klint left almost 200 oil paintings, about 800 gouaches, watercolours and drawings, and 150 notebooks to her nephew Erik af Klint. The Hilma af Klint Foundation was established in the 1970s. All the works in the exhibition belong to the Foundation. 14 15 EMMA TEXT / PÄIVI TALASMAA PHOTOS / MATTEO MONTI, THYS DULLAART The Refusal of Time by William Kentridge, The Refusal of Time, 2012, MAXXI Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo, Roma. MATTEO MONTI, COURTECY FONDAZIONE MAXXI William Kentridge This summer EMMA will exhibit works by one of the leading figures on today’s art scene, William Kentridge (born 1955). The exhibition consists of The Refusal of Time, first shown at the contemporary art happening Documenta 13 in Kassel, Germany, in 2012, and Other Faces, 2011, from the Saastamoinen Foundation’s collection. 16 17 EMMA W illiam Kentridge is a South African artist best known for his drawings and animated films. In his art he frequently comments on social injustice and apartheid, the victims of whom were often defended by his lawyer parents. Kentridge’s art owes its origins to the avant-garde theatre and politically committed art. He lives and works in Johannesburg, the town where he was born. The Refusal of Time In his work, Kentridge does not attempt to explain the meaning of time scientifically. Other Faces This is a typical Kentridge work, charcoal drawings filmed onto 35 mm film with a movie camera. The music is composed by Philip Miller, William Kentridge työhuoneellaan Johannesburgissa. THYS DULLAART, COURTECY OF THE ARTIST AND MARIAN GOODMAN GALLERY, PARIS AND NEW YORK William Kentridge produced The Refusal of Time in collaboration with science historian Peter Galison. It grew out of years of discussions between them about the different historical conceptions of time. The work is a five-channel video installation, projected onto three walls, with megaphones and a massive wooden breathing machine, the “elephant”. Commissioned by Documenta 13’s curator Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, it proved to be one of the main draws of the happening. Is it possible to depict time or even materialise it – and what is the element of refusal in the work? Kentridge has explained that it refuses certainty. Originally the project was called Three Time Tables which refers to the three concepts of time – Newton’s time, Einstein’s relativity theory time and time disappearing in a black hole. Gradually the project came to include other refusals, “… time has never been just a technical, mechanical or physical thing, It has always had something to do with immortality or control of the individual” (Peter Galison). The work portrays the develop- ment of measuring standard time during industrialisation in the 19th century when modern society was moulded by a common system of time. There is a powerful imagery of colonialism in Kentridge’s work. Politically, refusal meant the denial of the European sense of order imposed through time zones and also referred to other forms of control. Man cannot attack the course of the sun or the passage of the day. But those in power can be opposed when it comes to defining time. In his work, Kentridge does not attempt to explain the meaning of time scientifically. As an artist he takes the viewer on a journey to the frontiers of theatre, science and art, creating a profound and playful synthesis of art. Kentridge presents these associations through drawings, films, sound and editing. One of the central questions of modern physics is whether all information will disappear into a black hole. Will something remain? The string theory with its multi dimensions gives rise to the belief that something will indeed remain. The dramatic ending of the piece is a typical Kentridge shadow procession – figures dance, lurch or march to the beat of music. A man in a pneumatic (pressurised) bubble suit dances with a woman, leaving the door open in the hope of a better judgement. The work is owned jointly by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. 18 19 EMMA MATTEO MONTI, COURTECY FONDAZIONE MAXXI Upcoming programme 8.10.2014-11.1.2015 Victor Vasarely The Victor Vasarely retrospective in EMMA presents a wide selection of works from one of the pioneers of op art, Victor Vasarely (1906-1977). The master of abstract composition built his paintings as geometric patterns, bright colour juxtapositions, kinetic webs and sets of lines, thereby creating optical embossing and a sense of movement. Works by Matti Kujasalo, a Finnish painter who also works in kineticism, will be on view, as well. The exhibition is a collaboration between EMMA and the Musée d’Ixelles in Brussels and Museum Haus Konstruktiv in Zurich. The curator is Serge Lemoine. Victor Vasarely, Cheyt-rond-va, 1970, Paris, Collection Lahumière, © photo Galerie Lahumière. William Kentridge, The Refusal of Time, 2012, MAXXI Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo, Roma. 21.10.2014-11.1.2015 Tuomas A. Laitinen who has produced the music and sound for many of Kentridge’s projects, among them The Refusal of Time. In Other Faces, Kentridge returns to the figure of Soho Eckstein, industrialist and developer, the alter ego of Felix Teitlbaum, the central figure in the nine-part Drawings for Projection film cycle (1989–2003). Soho is a mean, self-centred man, dressed in a grey pin-striped and smoking a cigar. Felix Teitlbaum, on the other hand, always appears as a naked, romantic figure, a melancholic artistic stereotype always in search of his identity. In the cycle, Soho builds an empire with money from gold mines and Felix has an affair with Soho’s wife. Their adventures continue in several works and as the series progresses so Soho gradually develops a sense of guilt about his crimes. In Other Faces Soho moves within a Johannesburg landscape. The city no longer functions as a background for him but acquires a subjective role: Kentridge transports the viewer into the townscape simultaneously bringing out the problems of xenophobia. William Kentridge’s works have been shown at numerous important international venues, such as the Venice Biennales in 2012, 2002 and 1997. He has had exhibitions at the Tate Modern, London, the Louvre and Jeu de Paume in Paris, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, The National Museum of Modern Art in Kyoto and the Albertina in Vienna. • William Kentridge - The Refusal of Time 18.6.2014-14.9.2014 at EMMA. Tuomas A. Laitinen (b. 1976), who works on inter national video projects was awarded the first Finnish Arts’ Academy (Suomen taideakatemian säätiö) prize. As part of the prize, he will hold a solo exhibition of his socially and societally poignant video installations in EMMA in autumn 2014. Tuomas A. Laitinen has graduated from the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts’ Time and Space Arts programme in 2008. He lives and works in the US. Thus far, he has realized the most projects in China, where the changes of the global world are most visible. He has also exhibited works in Australia, Japan and Turkey, among others. Tuomas A. Laitinen, Real State, 2014, Stills from digital film. 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