Blog — Page 209 of 282

Albert Speer

Architecture 1932-1942

Written by Leon Krier, Preface by Robert A. M. Stern

The Monacelli Press

The Robert Johnson dilemma.

Making a deal with the devil for your own greater goods.

Once the decision at the crossroads is made, there is no turning back.

Albert Speer did it.

He got in bed with Adolf Hitler and his regime.

It enabled him to create grandiose neoclassical architecture on a scale that will remain unrivalled for aeons to come.

For Speer, the end seemed to justify the means, however, the book follows the guiding question architect Le?on Krier raises, i.e. how does being a war criminal align with being an artist?

Instead of being merely a catalogue of his oeuvre, Albert Speer: Architecture 1932-1942 is much more as it goes beyond face value and generally critically sheds light on the (inter)dependencies of money, art, politics and the yin and yang informing it all, culminating in the essential question it art, no matter how significant, can be seen stripped off the political backbone and context and if, in Albert Speer’s case and circumstances, it has any merit at all.

Krier’s tenet is achieved by drawing on interviews with Albert Speer as well as his involvement and role in the third Reich and the evaluations of experts.

An essential, lavishly illustrated tome that manages to strike a well-calibrated balance between documenting and critically questioning and one that speaks for the quality of Monacelli Press’ releases, which span from comprehensive works on architecture, interior design and décor, fine arts, fashion & stile to world history and culture.

Alexander McQueen

Savage Beauty

Footprint.com.au

Alexander McQueen might be known to you as a fashion designer. Quintessentially he is exactly that, yet it you zero in closer into his work, it becomes an intricate fabric of concepts, expertly drafted plots and storyboards that culminate in a story that his emissions tell. Viewed from this angle, McQueen’s oeuvre has qualities of cinematic proportions informed by his idiosyncratic worldview full of drama and extremes.

The book succeeds in documenting the career and work of a man who set out to incorporate and pay references to the past and tradition, challenge the status quo of what was perceived possible and acceptable and pave the way to future with innovations – expression through fashion.

Ever the champion of spontaneity, freedom of expression, creativity yet never losing precision out of sight, the romantic and Victorian gothic eras and their signature styles are omnipresent and form the red thread that is weaves through McQueen’s career.

What the book revealed to me as a novum, is that McQueen is also heavily inspired by his Scottish heritage to which some of his collections can be understood to be more than merely homage. What makes it interesting is the balance he strikes – paying respect yet being tongue in cheek and throwing bringing irony in for good measure.

Another country that has had massive impact on his approach to tailoring is Japan, which is becomes blatantly evident as you peruse the pieces, which often juxtapose traditional features from different countries to achieve the desired effect.

While some of his works is intricately ornate, primitivism plays a major role in his approach as well as the principles of technology and mechanism that underpin the workings of nature - seemingly contradictory lanes that form a mélange that make his work what it is renowned for and vital to spawn the yarn he spins for his narrative.

The book comes with a cover feature that the attached depiction won’t be able to do justice in the slightest and will only unfold its savage beauty if you hold it in your hands and play with it.

Monochrome: Painting in Black and White

by Lelia Packer and Jennifer Sliwka

National Gallery London

As the title suggests, a book based on the absence of colour and a focus on black, white and shades of grey captured through an array of media.

Starting in the fifteenth century, the book travels to the present day, spotlighting the artists that grind their alchemy through a lens that is dominated by the duality of yin and yang.

It is interesting how monochrome art was perceived through the ages, be it as religious asceticism, i.e. helping to focus on what matters instead of being distracted by flashy colours, the indulgence in grey scales, i.e. grisaille to invoke the impression of three dimensionality, and especially the creative process that serves as the foundation for the creation of colour paintings yet is more often than not rooted in black and white sketches.

Different art periods are shed light on in terms of monochrome stand out artworks from the photorealistic to the abstract and it is astonishing to see the artistic prowess some creators display while limiting themselves to a monochrome palette and thereby exhibiting details through a heightened sense of dramatic impact that would otherwise have gone unnoticed.

The accomplishment of the ambitious Monochrome: Painting in Black and White lies in the reader gaining a perspective and appreciation for colorless art – art that does not have to be dreary – and one that is central to modernist experimentation and manipulation of perception, light and space.

Having read the book, the absence of colour in art immediately creates curiosity as to the motivation behind artists deliberately abandoning the hues they have at disposal.

Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman and Designer

by Carmen Bambach

METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni is widely appreciated as one of the most influential artists of the Italian Renaissance as he did not limit his work to one discipline but pursued a holistic approach to the arts tackling painting, sculpting, the written word and architecture with equal measure. Born as part of the Medici family, his works are weaved into the fabric of what comes to mind when one thinks of the more prominent pieces of the Vatican Museum’s exhibits. 

So far for the basics and historical facts. 

 If you would like to enrich your library with a tome on the man, Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman and Designer is not the worst start.

What made Michelangelo the Renaissance man he was is that his intricate emissions encapsulated a range of styles, concepts and drawings. He managed to consolidate the spectrum of the arts of his time in an unprecedented and unique manner.

The fact that only time eventually told how far ahead of his times he was goes without saying.

The book, which was originally released as a companion to the exhibition at the MET, features more than 200 drawings, arranged thematically, as well as paintings, sculptures, and architectural plans.

Framed by narrations of Carmen C. Bambach, who is thecurator in the Department of Drawings and Prints at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, highlight and document the times and trials of Michelangelo’s long career, which ultimately culminated in his world renowned work as the architect of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, apart from drawings and other references that have entered popular culture, e.g. from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to references by T.S. Eliot, that are testament to how integral Michelangelo’s work is to the DNA of what inspired art after him.

Carmen Bambach manages to not only state facts but she subtly illuminates facets of Michelangelo’s creative process and underlying ideas as well as their impact on the manifestation of his art, which makes it an interesting and engaging read for anyone interested in creative processes – be it music, design or the performing variation – as the man had a unique angle both inspiring and challenging when it came to channeling his alchemy.

There Will Be A Climax

Old Fitzroy Theatre

Sydney, Australia

January 12, 2018

I do not subscribe to the notion of guilty pleasures or liking something “ironically”.

Either you like something or not.

Period.

I love the song “You spin me round (like a record)”.

I guess it also helps that I do not dislike Luther Vandross’ “I wanted your love” that it apparently was based on.

As a matter of fact, I think that Dead or Alive’s 3:19 minutes of fame can be spun on end for extended periods of time without ceasing to entertain me.

The fact that There will be a Climax is heavily leaning onto Stock Aitken Waterman’s first numero uno chart hit, both thematically as well as visually, start and ends with it, won me over straight away.

What is sandwiched in between the play, which was originally created by Sydney-based lighting designer Alexander Berlage as part of 2016 graduate productions of Australia’s National Institute of Dramatic Art, is a spinning, colourful, funky and engaging exercise in Dadaism that would have made Samuel Beckett proud.

Everything else would enter us in spoiler territory and I’d recommend that you go and check it out for yourself . . .

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