In the realm of architecture, music and light is Lumitectura from barno on Vimeo.
I am increasingly drawn to the creative synthesis of art and design. In keeping with my theme of design and Job and Wes's recent venture into music I add a third dimension of Light.
Fascinating. On this topic I hasten to follow in Socrates' footsteps and declare that all I know is that I know nothing. That said and at the risk of saying something really stupid: one example of light playing a key role in architecture (in addition to countless others, e.g. what I've seen in Barcelona) is the Rothko Chapel in Houston, which (in my experience) provides a unique integration of art, light and architecture. Have you ever visited it?
ReplyDeleteAccording to www.rothkochapel.org: "The Rothko Chapel was the last and one of the most important endeavors that Dominique and John de Menil worked on together. This modern work of religious art commissioned for Houston is comparable in importance to the Chapel of the Rosary in Vence by Henri Matisse or the Chapel in Ronchamp by Le Corbusier in France."
I've been fortunate enough to visit all three places. Ronchamp once, Venice four times and the Rothko chapel at least once a month. Magic! Never a dull moment. Always something new. Depending on the light of the day.
Not quite sure how to phrase it, but it almost seems like a key ingredient for successful architecture is to come to terms with the prevailing light. If that doesn't happen, nothing seems to happen.
BTW: the religious significance of Rothko's fabulous panel paintings (still) goes beyond me. The chapel is deliciously non-denominational and seems 100% "free of hungry ghosts"! Works for me. :)
light - art & architecture
ReplyDeletethere is a special light in provence
there were some beautiful rothko's on display in the Tate Modern
Modern presents an exhibition by one of the world’s most famous and best-loved artists, Mark Rothko. This is the first significant exhibition of his work to be held in the UK for over 20 years.
Tate Modern's iconic 'Rothko Room' works are reunited for the first time with works from Japan. The Seagram Murals were originally commissioned for The Four Seasons Restaurant in the Seagram Building New York.
Rothko’s iconic paintings, composed of luminous, soft-edged rectangles saturated with colour, are among the most enduring and mysterious created by an artist in modern times. In the exhibition his paintings glow meditatively from the walls in deep dark reds, oranges, maroons, browns, blacks, and greys.
The exhibition will also focus on other work in series, such as the Black-Form paintings, his large-scale Brown and Grey works on paper, and his last series of Black on Grey paintings, created in the final decade of his life from 1958-1970.
Rothko is the must-see exhibition of the year - book your tickets now to avoid missing out.
Seagram Murals / Four Seasons Restaurant artistic commission
ReplyDeleteIn 1958, Rothko was awarded the first of two major mural commissions that proved both rewarding and frustrating. The beverage company Joseph Seagram and Sons had recently completed their new building on Park Avenue, designed by architects Mies Van der Rohe and Philip Johnson. Rothko agreed to provide paintings for the building’s new luxury restaurant, The Four Seasons.
For Rothko, this commission presented a new challenge for it was the first time he was required not only to design a coordinated series of paintings, but to produce an artwork space concept for a large, specific interior. Over the following three months, Rothko completed forty paintings, three full series in dark red and brown. He altered his horizontal format to vertical to complement the restaurant’s vertical features: columns, walls, doors and windows.
The following June, Rothko and his family again traveled to Europe. While on the SS Independence he disclosed to John Fischer, publisher of Harper's, that his true intention for the Seagram murals was to paint "something that will ruin the appetite of every son-of-a-bitch who ever eats in that room. If the restaurant would refuse to put up my murals, that would be the ultimate compliment. But they won’t. People can stand anything these days."
While in Europe, the Rothkos traveled to Rome, Florence, Venice and Pompeii. In Florence, he visited the library at San Lorenzo, to see first-hand the library’s Michelangelo room, from which he drew further inspiration for the murals. He remarked that the "room had exactly the feeling that I wanted [...] it gives the visitor the feeling of being caught in a room with the doors and windows walled-in shut." Following the trip to Italy, the Rothkos voyaged to Paris, Brussels, Antwerp and Amsterdam, before returning to the United States.
Once back in New York, Rothko and wife Mell visited the near-completed Four Seasons restaurant. Upset with the restaurant’s dining atmosphere, which he considered pretentious and inappropriate for the display of his works, Rothko immediately refused to continue the project, and returned the commission cash advance to the Seagram and Sons Company. Seagram had intended to honor Rothko's emergence to prominence through his selection, and his breach of contract and public expression of outrage were unexpected.
Rothko kept the commissioned paintings in storage until 1968. Given that Rothko had known in advance about the luxury decor of the restaurant and the social class of its future patrons, the exact motives for his abrupt repudiation remain mysterious. Rothko never fully explained his conflicted emotions over the incident, which exemplified his temperamental personality. The final series of Seagram Murals was dispersed and now hangs in three locations: London’s Tate Modern, Japan’s Kawamura Memorial Museum and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.[6]
Very interesting tale.
ReplyDeleteGo to http://www.luxist.com/tag/Philip+Johnson/
for a good photo of the Four Seasons Restaurant.
It looks like the Rothko's would have shown quite well