My intention is to revitalize the Bauhaus by simulating a contemporary show that embodies the ideologies and perspectives of the professors and directors in Wiemar and Dessau.
This curated show, titled, The New Bauhaus: Ultradynamism, displays the work of 21st century artists who delve into the practices of the Bauhaus, enhanced with modern technologies and independent perspectives.
This show incorporates six pieces by four artists; Felipe Pantone, Meryl Pataky, Avraham Loewenthal, and David Henry Nobody Jr. These artists have revitalized the pillars of Bauhaus’s color theory, spiritualism, and design modern through the lens of the manifesto, Ultradynamism, written by Felipe Pantone in 2013.
The Ultradynamism manifesto (Appendix A) is the backbone of this curatorial thesis. I will be only using segments of the manifesto that correlate to the art I am analyzing in context with The New Bauhaus: Ultradynamism. Apart from selecting artists for their visual analyses and applications of their medium, Ultradynamism serves as an applied symphony to Pataky, Loweanthal, and David Henry Nobody Jr.
Felipe Pantone opens the show with Planned Iridescence Dimensional, (Appendix B) displayed in front of the hypothetical gallery space. Pantone’s sculpture utilizes the ideology of the Bauhaus besides his own. In reference, he shares similarities with the design aspects of the Dessau metalsmithing studio, by focusing on the combination of ergonomics and architecture in his own work, which exaggerate movement in his sculptures and installations.
The installation shares these architectural and ergonomic aspects of Miriam Brandt’s Teapot. (Appendix C) Designed with nickel silver and ebony wood, the teapot embodies a sense of architecture in its structure, as well ergonomics, in its chrome finish.
Embodying form and function, Brandt’s design connects to Pantone’s manifesto:
“The creation of rational work, bridge between art and science, in which the non-rational self is less interesting than the intention to arrange the impetus of the world through geometry, utilizing the creative exercise as a source of knowledge.” (Appendix A7)
Both works, Planned Iridescence Dimensional, and Teapot bridge art and science through ergonomics. Brandt’s design represents a futuristic ephemeral moment: utilizing chrome, heat, speed and steam to elegantly pour hot water. Pantone’s sculpture conveys a fleeting ephemeral moment through its holographic quality. Both share a sense of geometry that demonstrates architecture through its design, The sculpture is a demonstration of architecture through its design, conveying a sense of dynamism.
Entering the gallery space, artist Avraham Loewenthal, work is installed to the immediate right. A contemporary ultra-orthodox Jewish artist residing in Tzfat, Israel[1], “expresses universal spiritual concepts of the Kabbalah,[2]” by paralleling the interpretations of Kadinsky’s philosophies through paintings. Shofar Reflections are a series of vertical paintings that depict the “spiritual pattern of Shofar sounds in reflective ascension.” (Loewenthal)
Made to be viewed or ‘read’ from top to bottom, the patterns of the ‘long’ rectangles and ‘short’ triangles represent the blasts and pauses of the shofar when active in religious ceremony. These patterns could be read like a music scorecard, which correlate with Kadinsky’s theories of Der Blaue Reiter, that “the idea of color and form carr(ies) concrete spiritual values.”
The patterns of Shofar Reflections create a “pseudo-language, using colors as symbols as dialog and interpretation.” (Loewenthal) In the Kabbalah’s interpretation of the shofar, tekia, is visually depicted as a long ‘note’, and represents right/giving. Shevarim is depicted as a series of three rectangular ‘notes’, representing left/receiving. Terua is depicted as 9 rectangular ‘notes’, representing center/harmony. And finally, tekia gedola, the longest single ‘note’ represents oneness. In addition, though formulated on the canvas in a multitude of ways, tekia, shevarim, terua, and tekia gedola represent Hebrew letters, spelling ‘י-ה-ו-ה’ or the Divine Name. (Loewenthal)
This connects to Kandinskys belief that the "synesthetic relationship between color and sound could even be codified," suggesting that "hues of varying saturation corresponded to the timbres of specific instrument." (Science of Art, pg. 13)
In Loewenthal’s paintings, prayers, meditations, and reflections are comprised of these codes. Interpreted, “When counting all of the shofar sounds in this depiction, the 100 sounds reflect to become a total of 366. This is very interesting as it reflects the days of the year- one sound for each day and the final sound that is all inclusive.”
The mediums used to express Loewenthal’s practice begin with ink, paint, and screen print on paper and canvas, which is then converted through Photoshop for alternative additions and concepts. By interpreting spiritualism into a visual syntax through color and sound, Loewenthal’s work identifies with Pantone’s manifest, with “intention to capture the velocity and the enormous ultradynamic information.” (Appendix A9) Loewenthal’s work is not only a visual document of meditation, but is used as a code to interpret our universe through the Kabbalah.
In the gallery space, this series is installed to frame a work by Meryl Pataky, Mirrors. According to Pataky, Mirrors is a “physical meditation practiced in the form of creation, by taking materials and changing them to manifest a new objects that is imbued with meaning.” (Pataky) The spiritual iconography, explained in Pataky’s message, is intrinsic with Itten’s Mazdaznan concepts of manifesting new objects with meaning. Pataky also has a relational connection to the Bauhaus, as a woman artist. As a woman a part of a male dominated niche craft, neon and glasswork, Pataky “challenges this underlying assumption about womens’ competence by not only creating work and challenging herself, but also by asserting her position as Grandmaster, a title reserved for those who have devoted themselves wholeheartedly to their journey.” (Pataky)
Early in the Bauhaus, women not only were artists and craftsman in mediums that were unassuming for them, but also became Grandmasters, a title that was assimilated into the curriculum under the direction of Gropius in Weimar. Overall, her piece is a glowing testament to spirituality in the New Bauhaus, a psychology that is used as fuel to create work at both 20th and 21st century schools of thought. It differentiates itself in its modern development most prominently in its iconography, depicting a Jewish star, which was a symbol that was vehemently denied in the past, due to Nazi infiltration and Mazdaznan culture, the root of the Christian Arian race.
Across from Mirrors, is a ‘reassemblage’ performance on loop, by artist David Henry Nobody Jr. Self described as an “interventionist/immersionist performance artist and sculptor”, David Henry Nobody Jr. works in a plethora of mediums, placing his physical body into the work. As a part of his practice, his work “often involves the creation of characters that perform and make objects.” (Brown) His body of work directly relates to the 20th century Tridiac Ballet, which share the same aspects of functionality and exploration of movement, plane and depth. Installed in the gallery space is Quantum Selfie In Black Hole, which shares a strong correlation to the spiral girl of the Triadic Ballet. In the ballet, the costume, set design, and choreography explore the planes and dimension of a white spiral in a vast black space. She completes the composition by ‘dissolving’ and activating the space through movement. Using similar materials to create the costume and set, David Henry Jr., activates his composition by demonstrating functionality and movement. This ‘reassemblage’ piece functions in Ultradynamism’s manifesto, “The stimulus of interpretations, creating in the spectator a state of active participation.” (Appendix A2) In the context of the Bauhaus, the Triadic Ballet utilized costumes to interpret distance and plane.
[1] Famed city known for Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism
[2] Kabballah is a niche study of Jewish Mysticism. “Kabbalah is likened to the proverbial "tree of life." It is a study of life, and just as life cannot be studied through a textbook but through living itself, so too, the study of Kabbalah is effective only through the practicality of its teachings in our everyday lives. Kabbalah studied as a textbook subject is as one who studies 'love' yet never experiences it for himself.” (Lowenthal)