Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Goya
Goya - The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters (1799)This is a self-portrait etching of the Spanish artist Goya. Symbols of folly - the owls and ignorance - the bats, express the unleashing of imagination, emotions and nightmares. Goya states in his own notes on the piece "Fantasy abandoned by reason produces impossible monsters; united with it, she is the mother of the arts and origin of its marvels."
Gothic Art
Fuseli - The NightmareGothic art is considered to be the kind of art that engages with ideas and themes discussed in Gothic literature. It is not necessarily in line with Gothic Architecture; this is because of the limited media in which Gothic artist worked - namely stained glass windows, not painting. Illuminated manuscripts, (mentioned in a previous post) are of this time, although many critics argue that the Byzantine informed this work. Meanwhile painting was progressing in a different direction, towards the classical ideal of the early Renaissance.
Therefore 'Gothic Art' is established in line with the Gothic literature of the time - "to respond similarly to the emphasis on reason and order during the enlightenment, and to move into the exploration of psychological states."
A major artist of this time was John Henry Fuseli whose art of strange dreams and visions - depicts troubled minds. "It was he who made real and visisble to us the vague and insubstantial phantoms which haunt like dim dreams the oppressed imagination" (New Monthly Magazine 1931 Jasper 1992: 105)
Monday, March 21, 2011
Thel
The eternal gate' terrific porter lifted the northern bar.
Thel entered in and saw the secrets of the land unknown.
Thel entered in and saw the secrets of the land unknown.
She saw the couches of the dead, and where the fibrous roots
Of every heart on earth infixes deep its restless twists -
A land of sorrows and of tears where never smile was seen.
She wandered in the land of clouds, through valleys dark, listening
Dolours and lamentations; waiting oft beside a dewy grave
She stood in silence, listening to the voices of the ground,
Till to her own grave plot she came.
William Blake
Thel (1789)
(4.1-9)
From
The Gothic. Punter, David and Byron Glennis, Blackwell Publishing, Oxford 2004
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Art Nouveau Jewellery Research
Neil Spiller's work in furniture design, with its curving and interlocking tendrils reminded me of the Architecture and Design of the Art Nouveau Period.
Neil Spiller's Research
"Research by Neil Spiller draws upon a variety of different disciplines to inform one - architecture. The areas of research are multidisciplinary and include: the changing status of the architectural drawing, smart materials, computer aided architectural drawing, computer aided manufacture, emergent systems, responsive environments, the architectural design of cyberspace, interactivity, cybernetics and evolving systems and algorithmic design.
To create responsive, non-prescriptive designs for architectural intervention was the starting point that led to an interest in the logic of algorithms and open-ended systems. These problem-solving diagrams used by computer programmers are very useful as a way of describing fluctuating conditions in responsive environments. This led to an interest in other computing paradigms such as cellular automata, complexity and emergence. Neil Spiller attempted to bring these and other ideas into the arena of architectural design to help architects cope with the rapid growth of computational technology that was starting to revolutionise the way buildings were designed, drawn and built."
To create responsive, non-prescriptive designs for architectural intervention was the starting point that led to an interest in the logic of algorithms and open-ended systems. These problem-solving diagrams used by computer programmers are very useful as a way of describing fluctuating conditions in responsive environments. This led to an interest in other computing paradigms such as cellular automata, complexity and emergence. Neil Spiller attempted to bring these and other ideas into the arena of architectural design to help architects cope with the rapid growth of computational technology that was starting to revolutionise the way buildings were designed, drawn and built."
Retrieved from
15/03/11
Monday, March 14, 2011
DETAILS DETAILS DETAILS
Looking closely at Neil Spiller's illustrations, one can see plans, sections, details and 3-d diagrams emerging from the darkly dynamic chaos. After initial incomprehension, Spiller achieves a delicate sense of order to the images. Moments of connection, disjunction and overlapping delight the viewer.
I have only now begun to understand the cleverness of the images, and (discovered those delicious details) after a careful copying of his works.
Now it is time to translate his 2-d images into 3-d renderings, ready for the printer!
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Neil Spiller is a practising architect and MArch Course Director at the Barlett School of Architectural, University College of London. He is an author of several books including 'Digital Dreams - Architecture and the new Alchemic Technologies 1998'. He has also edited issues of 'Architectural Design'.
The collection of images below are from the book 'Maverick Deviations'. Spiller, Neil (1985-1998)
"Spiller's Relish
I have always believed that architecture should be beautiful and have found myself out of step with the fashion for bleak white Modernism and granite Brutalism. I think my talent lies more with the Gothic: its soaring delicacy, its sense of infinite possibility. My Gothic, however, is not recreated in stone. My chosen materials have always been steel, copper, brass, bronze, velvet, rubber and synthetic fur."
Neil Spiller, 22 October, 1997
The collection of images below are from the book 'Maverick Deviations'. Spiller, Neil (1985-1998)
"Spiller's Relish
I have always believed that architecture should be beautiful and have found myself out of step with the fashion for bleak white Modernism and granite Brutalism. I think my talent lies more with the Gothic: its soaring delicacy, its sense of infinite possibility. My Gothic, however, is not recreated in stone. My chosen materials have always been steel, copper, brass, bronze, velvet, rubber and synthetic fur."
Neil Spiller, 22 October, 1997
This detail shows the Cork Gallery facade.9) Shows the glued brickwork facade. 'Superficial' finishes were developed in the post modern era when technology became available to 'fake' details which had traditionally been expressed as a necessity through the structural makeup of the building.
10) The layer of bricks sits on an air-gap behind which the in-situ concrete supports the structure.
5) and 14) Show that light enters behind the hinge-like facade.
This interesting facade completes an Art Gallery in Cork by Erick van Egeraat. It exemplifies his effective but subtle use of organic forms, which seem to attach themselves to old buildings. These epiphytical forms render entirely new spaces, both externally and internally.Similar projects by van Egeraat are available at:
http://www.erickvanegeraat.com/#/projects/offices_for_ing_and_nnh_budapest
http://www.erickvanegeraat.com/#/projects/popstage_mezz_breda
What particularly appeals to me about this example is the disjunction which forms a window out of the curved surface. The puncture is only visible from certain directions.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)