Unsorted collection / different texts
It is about understanding through Disegno how we are drawn into the world:
We reactivate the practice of Disegno as a contemporary tool for thinking, deciding and acting, that is, for designing the conditions of our being in the 21st century.
At the same time, Disegno describes a paradigm shift; from the idea of optimized functionality to the narrative of togetherness as a reference for the design of communicative processes in politics, social affairs, economic issues and cultural exchange.
The Disegno Lectures aim at experiences that provide the coordinates to develop your own methods of design (whatever you are working on...). Methods of thinking, deciding and acting.
The ability to apply one's own method of thinking, deciding and acting is a prerequisite for the design of effective communication processes, especially in the fields of design in political, social, economic and cultural communication.
The basis for the transformation of individual experiences into valid methods is the tracing and capturing of bodily movements. In the sense of Disegno, tracing, capturing and drawing are to be understood reciprocally.
The methodological process in the lectures is divided into three parts: movement, form finding and narrative.
The starting point is to capture movement in different ways. Either by starting directly with the movement of the body, or through the phenomenon of fields of pure movement, or by using randomly placed coordinates between which movement involuntarily takes place. The choice of one or the other method depends on the framework of the task or the problem to be worked on.
The task of finding forms leads directly to individual bodily experiences, as carried out by the neurophysical apparatus. A form is first of all not a signifier that is to be related to something beyond, but already a complex coding of immediate perception. As such, the form has no meaning but provides the impulses for the repetition and differentiation of what is immediately perceived.
With the narrative history comes to an end. At least in the sense of an attempt to bring heaven down to earth. As the pseudonymous English street artist, political activist and film director Banksy says: "There is nothing more dangerous than someone who wants to make the world a better place." A narrative replaces the endless historical path to the fulfillment of a telos with sequences of immediate exchange between those who aspire to each other's selves as their own.
All the lectures:
In the beginning everything is flat. The flatness is structured by movements without objects. The objects emerge through the movement's recognition of itself.
Drawing Basics I (Starting with Movements)
The recognition of the movement itself takes place as coordinates, as they result from the intersection points of the movement. The coordinates of the intersections strive toward each other to form shapes. Thus, every object emerges from these coordinates.
Drawing Basics II (Starting with Coordinates)
The question of why and where the movements intersect is given by pure chance. Later on we, the human species, will define a a set of meanings. But for now let's work with the randomly defined.
Drawing Basics III (Starting with the Random Operation)
Once a subject is defined by form finding (which happens involuntarily by working with movement, coordinates or random operation), the question of meaning comes into play. Here we need to answer the question of how to unfold a face from the movement and coordinates.
Drawing Faces
The same question applies to the body, which already contains the meaning defined by the differences between one body and another, between the body of a child, a woman or a man.
Drawing Figures
A contemporary philosopher who deals with the question of quantum fields and the idea of pure movement without material particles is Karen Barad. She is a physicist and feminist philosopher, best known for her work in the philosophy of science, especially her concept of agential realism.
Karen Barad's work "Meeting the Universe Halfway: Quantum Physics and the Entanglement of Matter and Meaning" explores the philosophical implications of quantum mechanics, focusing in particular on how phenomena exist not as discrete particles, but as entangled events or "intra-actions" within a field of potentialities. Barad draws on the work of Niels Bohr and combines it with poststructuralist and feminist theory to propose that reality is fundamentally about processes and relations rather than static objects.
Barad's concept of "intra-action" (as opposed to "interaction") suggests that entities such as particles do not pre-exist their relational entanglements; rather, they emerge through these processes. This idea is consistent with the notion of quantum fields, where pure movement or potentiality exists without the need for material particles as traditional subjects. Barad's work provides a philosophical framework for thinking about quantum fields as dynamic and relational, where the distinctions between matter, motion, and space are not preordained but are the result of ongoing processes.
What we have done so far is a special way of encoding reality, called Disegno, we will now work on decoding and re-encoding the natural landscape. Landscape is to be understood as a special kind of natural habitat that man on the one hand worships as divine and on the other hand tries to overcome as the root of all evil.
Drawing Landscapes
The idea that behind the horror of an infinite space, as given by nature and perceived as an infinite threat to survival, there must be a perfectly ordered space that we just have to discover and conquer in order to be saved, gave rise to urban space. Now we must understand that by erasing the space given by nature we are erasing ourselves. This requires a different kind of coding. Again we use Disegno.
Drawing Spaces
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The phrase "drawing after nature" can be interpreted in four different ways, taking into account the different meanings of the word "after".
Interpretation 1: "Drawing based on nature"
In this interpretation, "after" is understood as "following" or "based on". Thus, "drawing from nature" means creating drawings that are inspired by or derived from observing the natural world. This approach involves studying natural forms, landscapes, plants, animals, and other elements of nature to create artwork that reflects their appearance, structure, and beauty. It emphasizes the artist's attempt to capture the essence and details of the natural world through careful observation and representation.
Interpretation 2: "Drawing in the Style of Nature"
In this interpretation, "after" takes on a more stylistic or sequential meaning. Here, "drawing after nature" can mean creating drawings that emulate the style, techniques, or principles found in nature. This could mean using organic forms, natural patterns, and principles such as symmetry, fractals, or other elements inherent in the natural world. It suggests that the artist is influenced by the aesthetics and methods found in nature, and seeks to replicate or incorporate these natural qualities into his or her own work.
Interpretation 3: "Drawing as Nature Changes"
In this interpretation, "after" is understood in a temporal sense, indicating a relationship in time. "Drawing after nature" suggests creating artwork in response to changes in nature over time. This could include documenting the transformation of natural landscapes, the impact of the seasons, the effects of climate change, or the consequences of human activity on nature. This perspective emphasizes the dynamic and ever-changing aspect of nature and the role of the artist in capturing these transitions. It may also reflect a sense of nostalgia or retrospection, where the artist is inspired by a sense of what nature once was compared to what it is now or may become in the future.
Interpretation 4: "Drawing in a Post-Nature Era"
In this interpretation, "after" signifies a state of existence following the significant alteration or loss of nature as it was once known. "Drawing after nature" means creating art in a world where the natural environment has been profoundly altered or degraded to the extent that the traditional, unspoiled nature of previous centuries no longer exists. This approach reflects an artist's response to environmental degradation, climate change, urbanization, and other human impacts that have altered the natural world. It may involve depicting the remnants of what nature once was, imagining future landscapes in a world where nature has been irrevocably altered, or expressing a sense of loss and mourning for the natural world that has been diminished or lost.
We must not forget the 5th and last interpretation: "Drawing after the transformation of human nature".
In this interpretation, "after" refers to the state of human nature and habits after being cut off from the natural social and biological environment that once shaped human behavior and culture. "Drawing after nature" in this case means art created in response to the consequences of this separation on human nature and habits. The question is how the loss of our relationship with the natural environment, as it existed for some sixty thousand years, affects human identity, behavior, and social norms. Is it actually about describing the changed behaviors, lifestyles, and psychological states of people who no longer have a direct connection to the natural world? The fact is that, in this case, artists will no longer be able to reflect on the artificial environments we have created, the technological and urban landscapes that now dominate human existence, and the impact of this shift on our sense of self and community. In fact, in this case, art becomes part of a lifestyle in which art as our correspondence to our own natural being is no longer possible. As a result, drawing and art are transformed into no-art, into something meaningless, useless, paradoxically, into an unavoidable freedom.
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Drawings can be used for many different purposes. They all relate to the triad of existential assumptions, so in most cases as sketches and plans for functional optimization. I will give you a simple example: the drawing of a portrait or a landscape, which tries to be as accurate and beautiful as possible, is actually an attempt to use the functionality of drawing to optimize the image of reality. In a sense, to show how it will be one day. The attempt to optimize belongs not only to the result, but above all to the way in which drawing functions. In other words, the ability to draw something perfectly is not only identical to the ability to give a preview of a functionally optimized reality, but also to pre-code it.
So the question is, what happens when we try to draw our perception? Is there a task or drive related to the act of perceiving?
According to Simone Weil, the task of perception is to grasp what is happening around us in the sense of a "superimposed reading: reading the necessity behind the sensory perception, reading the order behind the necessity, reading God behind the order" Appearances as such do not lead to knowledge; "sensory impressions are produced by the seemingly external, which does not or hardly reveals itself". Rather, appearances give rise to sensations and emotions, which are the very basis of all knowledge.
In subjective judgment, however, the appearances are modified and thus become meanings, the "significations." The value-laden world of meaning constituted by subjective judgment is not true reality. True reality can only be recognized when man frees himself from public opinion as well as from his desires ("les passions"), imagination, and illusion.
According to Weil, this is only possible through "décréation". In doing so, man reduces the parts of the "I" (ego parts) in cognition (we understand cognition as a reading of the world, which can only take place through writing, since the world as such is brought forth in writing). Only then is it possible to recognize the divine behind all phenomena. An attitude of attention ("attente", hopeful expectation) leads to the knowledge of God, the "connaissance surnaturelle", . This is not goal-oriented. It presupposes a patient expectation and consent to grace, in other words, an abandonment to the ground of language, that is, to the "spirit, which is like a wind that blows where it wills". With regard to the possibility of cognition (i.e. a definition of the object, the what and its purpose, or its meaning, the why), Simone Weil speaks of "non-lecture", i.e. that which cannot be mediated, since it only mediates itself to those who actively submit to the movement of mediation. The separate individual phenomena of the world are understood as a total symbolic system pointing to God. The world is understood as "poésie surnaturelle".
But only the divine itself can read the true text: "To imagine a true text that I do not read, that I have never read, is to imagine a reader of this true text, that is, God".
The question, then, is to what extent reading and writing (in whatever form), since they represent the same, mutually conditional act, are only able to produce the text (i.e. the world created by language) in this mutual reference.
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Paul Klee, a renowned artist and thinker, emphasized the importance of drawing not merely as a technical skill but as a fundamental form of artistic expression and perception. According to Klee, the sense and need of drawing are deeply rooted in its ability to make the invisible visible, to give form to the unseen. He believed that drawing was not about replicating the visible world but about creating new realities and making hidden aspects of the world perceptible.
Klee's philosophy on drawing highlights its role as a medium for exploring and expressing inner realities and abstract concepts. He saw it as a vital process for artists to engage with their thoughts and emotions, transforming them into visual forms that communicate more than what is immediately apparent.
This perspective is consistent with the artistic view that drawing is a means of thinking through visual forms, allowing artists to conceptualize and visualize ideas that transcend the limitations of spoken and written language alone. For Klee, drawing is an essential practice that sharpens perception, hones artistic skills, and bridges the gap between the tangible and intangible worlds.
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In this course we deal with the following question:
If we start from the triad "Lust for life / Environment (in the sense of everything that touches us sensually) / Togetherness", what can we say about our perspective on space?
Perspective from which point of view, on what - which physical, which mental space?
How do we grasp the different perspectives as images of thought; of the space of our own body, that of the world, that ideal and physical space in which we interact with each other?
First we will have a look at the development of the therm:
"Perspective" comes from the Latin "perspectivus," derived from the verb "perspicio" which is a combination of "per-" (meaning "through") and "specio" (meaning "to look" or "to see"). hus, "perspicio" means "to look through" or "to see clearly."
The verb "specio" comes from the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) root "*spek-" or "*spek-yo," which means "to observe" or "to look." This PIE root is the origin of several words in various Indo-European languages that are related to seeing or observing.
The PIE root "*spek-" has given rise to numerous words across different languages.
In Greek "skopein" (to look, to examine), leading to words like "scope" (as in telescope, microscope). In Latin Besides "specio," we have "specto" (I watch, I observe) and "species" (appearance, kind, type). In Old English: "Specan" (to speak, implying the act of observing or stating).
In Medieval Latin, "perspectiva" referred specifically to the science of optics or the study of light and vision. It was used to describe the techniques and principles of visual perception and the way objects are seen in space.
The term was adopted into Old Italian as "prospettiva" and into Middle French as "perspective." In both languages, it retained its association with optics and visual representation.
In Italian, "prospettiva" began to be used in the context of art, particularly during the Renaissance, to describe the technique of representing three-dimensional objects on a two-dimensional surface.
The term "perspective" entered the English language in the late 14th to early 15th century, borrowed from Middle French.
Initially, it maintained its original meanings related to optics and the science of vision. Over time, it also came to refer more broadly to the techniques used in art to create the illusion of depth and three-dimensionality on a flat surface.
By the 17th century, "perspective" began to acquire figurative meanings in English. It started to be used to describe a particular viewpoint or way of regarding something. This abstract sense of "perspective" as a mental or subjective outlook became increasingly common.
Today, "perspective" is widely used to refer both to the artistic method of depicting spatial depth and to a person's point of view or attitude towards a particular subject or situation.
In summary, "perspective" has evolved from its Latin roots, meaning "to see through" or "to look clearly," through its use in medieval and Renaissance optics and art, to its modern application in describing both visual techniques and abstract viewpoints.
Through what must we see as clearly as possible? What happens when we see through the void, the nothing, the undivided? How is that possible?
Just by drawing a horizontal line.
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Martin Heidegger's concept of the "Fourfold" (das Geviert) is central to his later philosophy, particularly in his work on dwelling and being. The Fourfold represents a holistic framework that captures the fundamental dimensions of existence and the world, bringing together:
Earth (Erde): Earth refers to the physical, material aspect of the world. It encompasses nature, the ground, and all that provides sustenance and stability. Earth is not just a collection of physical elements; it is the source of life and shelter, grounding human existence.
Sky (Himmel): Sky represents the celestial, the cosmic order, and the overarching expanse of the heavens. It includes the weather, the seasons, and the passage of time. Sky symbolizes the dimensions of openness, light, and the cyclical rhythms of nature, influencing how humans perceive and relate to the world.
Divinities (die Göttlichen): Divinities refer to the presence of the sacred or the divine in the world. This dimension acknowledges the spiritual, the holy, and the transcendent aspects of existence. Divinities are not necessarily tied to specific religious doctrines but represent the dimension of awe, reverence, and the sense of something greater than human beings.
Mortals (die Sterblichen): Mortals are human beings, defined by their finite nature and their awareness of mortality. This aspect emphasizes the human condition, the experience of life and death, and the unique capability of humans to contemplate their existence and the world around them.
In Heidegger's view, these four elements are not separate entities but interrelated dimensions that together form the essence of Being and dwelling. They are intertwined and co-constitutive, meaning that they can only fully be understood in relation to each other. The Fourfold is a way of understanding how humans dwell in the world, how they find their place, and how they relate to the totality of existence.
Heidegger uses the example of a bridge to illustrate the Fourfold. A bridge gathers and connects the earth, providing a path over it; it spans the sky, open to the heavens; it invokes the divinities, often through rituals or historical significance; and it is used by mortals, who cross it in their daily lives. In this way, the bridge exemplifies the interplay and unity of the Fourfold.
The concept of the Fourfold invites a reflective and meditative engagement with the world, urging individuals to see beyond the superficial and to appreciate the deeper interconnectedness of all aspects of existence. It challenges the modern, technological mindset that tends to reduce the world to mere resources and functions, encouraging a more holistic and respectful approach to living and being.
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The ups and downs of the rocking ship do not affect the line. The line is etched into the horizon. Something else begins above the line that I can't see from a distance. It becomes brighter. A dissolution. We continue to approach the line, without the line coming any closer.
"It depends on your perspective," said my mother's friend. My mother's friend was an architect. He used the term perspective ambiguously. Only her friend, not her lover.
Nothing changed as I sat on the deck. The perspective remained the same, as did the diffusion that took place above the line. My brother turned three years old that day. I was playing with a little metal car that rolled back and forth on the tabletop as the ship moved up and down. All I had to do was turn the car at the right moment so it wouldn't go backwards. A car going backwards seemed completely unacceptable to me. I had put my cheek on the table so that I could see the car better and so that the car looked bigger. Like a real car and not a toy car. The line formed by the end of the tabletop moved like the slow up and down of a swing around a kind of anchor point formed by the up and down swinging line and the unmoving horizon line.
There is a black-and-white photograph of my mother's acquaintance from their time together in Yugoslavia, the sea in the background, he is smiling at her, in one hand he is holding a thin wooden board at the narrow upper end, which, supported at the narrow lower end on his hip, forms a kind of drawing surface on which a piece of paper seems to be attached (although this is not visible in the photograph). He is holding a pencil in his other hand. It can be assumed that he is drawing the landscape, because my mother told me that he drew the landscape over and over again, like all architects, looking for the perspective according to which everything can be arranged.
Perspective construction, as my mother's friend worked on it, involves creating the illusion of depth and space on a two-dimensional surface, in his case a piece of paper mounted on a thin wooden board. To give you an idea of how it works, here is a concentrated overview of perspective construction as Bernd (the name of my mother's friend) did it in Yugoslavia:
Horizon Line: The first step in constructing perspective is to create a horizon line that represents the viewer's eye level. The horizon line is usually drawn across the center of the composition, although its placement can vary depending on the desired viewpoint.
Vanishing Points: Vanishing points are points on the horizon where parallel lines converge in the distance. In one-point perspective, there is usually only one vanishing point, which is located at the center of the horizon. In two-point perspective, there are two vanishing points, usually at opposite ends of the horizon. Three-point perspective has three vanishing points, one of which is typically above or below the horizon line.
Orthogonal Lines: Orthogonal lines are lines that recede into the distance and converge at vanishing points. These lines represent the edges of objects or architectural elements in the scene. They are drawn from the corners or edges of objects back to the vanishing points on the horizon line.
Measure Depth: To create the illusion of depth, objects are scaled and positioned relative to their distance from the viewer and the vanishing points. Objects closer to the viewer are larger and positioned lower on the image plane, while objects farther away are smaller and positioned higher.
Foreshortening: Foreshortening is the technique of making objects or parts of objects appear shorter or compressed to create the illusion of depth. This occurs when objects are viewed at an angle or in perspective. For example, a long road may appear to narrow and converge as it recedes into the distance.
Atmospheric Perspective: Atmospheric perspective uses color and value changes to simulate the effects of atmospheric haze and distance. Objects in the distance appear lighter in color, less detailed, and slightly blurred compared to objects in the foreground. This technique enhances the illusion of depth and spatial depth perception.
Bernd said that by following these basic principles of perspective construction, artists, designers, and architects can create realistic and convincing representations of three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional surface. He was a great proponent of perspective construction because, as he claimed, perspective allows for the accurate representation of spatial relationships, proportions, and depth perception, giving the viewer a sense of immersion in reality.
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WHAT | WHY | HOW
The goal of this seminar
is the ability to take the idea of what you want to become and turn it into a concrete action. You will learn how to do this through the use of the creative tools of art and design.
Step 1 - Images of your images
First, the idea of what you want to become or what you want to do must be captured as concretely as possible in an image. The image has to be understood literally in two ways, as a mood board and as a sketch or drawing of an object that exemplifies the idea.
Step 2 - Objects of imagination
Once the image has become concrete, it is time to objectify the idea. In other words, to let it become physical reality in an exemplary way. This can take the form of any object of use, clothing, furniture, tools, even models of larger objects, etc.
Step 3 - Actions of realisation
Based on the concretization of the idea in the form of mood board and object, the last step is a concrete plan of how to proceed to make the idea come true. This should be defined using tools such as mind maps, diagrams and timelines.
The ability to translate the idea of what you want to be (with regard to your profession and therefore your identity) into concrete actions requires both creative ability and knowledge of theoretical references.
We can put it this way: in order to become what we want to be, we must encode our desires and longings into a narrative that has the potential to become a physical reality in the course of time.
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"Do I know - what I want to do, why and how?"
Being able to formulate what I want, why I want it, and how I can make it come true in a very concrete sense is identical with the question of how identity is constructed - only by the dictum of doxa (i.e. by the demand of others) or by a dynamic and flexible combination of social conditions and individual needs.
The question of identity construction has always been an important topic in philosophy, and below you will find the three main approaches in concentrated form. The last one, Ricoeur's Narrative Identity, will be the theoretical focus of this seminar.
Performative Identity
Judith Butler
In "Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity," Judith Butler challenges traditional notions of gender and identity. Butler introduces the concept of performativity, suggesting that gender identity is not an inherent quality, but rather an ongoing performance. According to Butler, identities are constructed through repeated social performances that create the illusion of a stable and coherent self. This view disrupts the binary understanding of gender and emphasizes the fluidity and variability of identity. Butler's work has been influential in gender studies and queer theory, highlighting how power and discourse shape our understanding of identity.
Discursive Identity
Michel Foucault
Michel Foucault's work, particularly in "The Archaeology of Knowledge" and "Discipline and Punish," explores how identities are constructed through discourses and power relations. Foucault argues that identity is a product of various discursive formations - systems of knowledge and power that define and regulate individuals. He examines how institutions such as prisons, hospitals, and schools contribute to the construction of identity by categorizing and controlling individuals. Foucault's analysis shows that identity is not a fixed essence, but the result of historical and social practices that shape and constrain individuals.
Narrative Identity
Paul Ricoeur
Paul Ricoeur's concept of narrative identity, discussed in "Time and Narrative" and "Oneself as Another," emphasizes the role of storytelling in the construction of identity. Ricoeur argues that we understand and define ourselves through the stories we tell about our lives. These narratives integrate our past experiences, present actions, and future aspirations into a coherent whole. Ricoeur's approach emphasizes the temporal and dynamic nature of identity, suggesting that our sense of self evolves as we reinterpret and reconfigure our life stories. This narrative perspective underscores the importance of memory, imagination, and personal agency in identity formation.
A brief introduction to Paul Ricoeur's "Time and Narrative",
which consists of three volumes. "Time and Narrative is a seminal work that explores the complex relationship between time, narrative, and human experience. The work is divided into three volumes, each of which explores different aspects of this relationship.
Narrative and Time
In the first volume, Ricoeur examines how narrative constructs human experience of time. He draws on the works of Aristotle and Augustine to outline the tension between cosmic, chronological time (cosmological time) and human, lived time (phenomenological time).
Aristotle's Poetics: Ricoeur uses Aristotle's concept of mimesis (imitation) to discuss how narratives represent actions and events, structuring them into a coherent whole with a beginning, middle, and end. This structuring gives shape to time, making it intelligible and meaningful.
Augustine's Confessions: Augustine's reflections on time, memory, and consciousness highlight the subjective experience of time. Ricoeur explores Augustine's idea that time is experienced in the present, through memory (past), attention (present), and expectation (future).
Ricoeur argues that narrative reconciles these two conceptions of time by transforming the chronological sequence of events into a meaningful story, thus bridging the gap between cosmological and phenomenological time.
The Configuration of Time in Literary Narratives
The second volume focuses on how different literary narratives shape and configure time. Ricoeur analyzes a range of literary works to demonstrate the diverse ways in which narrative can manipulate time.
Narrative Techniques: He explores techniques such as anachrony (out-of-sequence events), flashbacks, and foreshadowing, which disrupt linear chronology but enhance the depth and complexity of the story.
Temporal Experience: Ricoeur shows how these narrative techniques create a multi-layered temporal experience, allowing readers to engage with the past, present, and future simultaneously. This narrative manipulation of time reflects the complexity of human temporal experience.
The Intersection of Time and Narrative
In the third volume, Ricoeur brings together his insights from the previous volumes to address broader philosophical and existential questions.
Historical Narrative: He examines the relationship between historical writing and fictional narrative, arguing that both are forms of storytelling that shape our understanding of time and human action. Historical narratives provide a structured account of past events, imbuing them with meaning and coherence.
Ethical Implications: Ricoeur discusses the ethical dimensions of narrative, suggesting that the stories we tell shape our moral understanding and identity. By interpreting our actions and experiences through narrative, we construct a sense of self and moral agency.
Philosophical Reflection: Ricoeur concludes by reflecting on the philosophical implications of narrative for our understanding of time. He emphasizes that narrative is essential for making sense of the temporal flow of life, enabling us to connect disparate moments into a coherent and meaningful whole.
Key Themes and Contributions
Ricoeur presents the narrative as a "mediator of time". His central thesis is that narrative is a crucial mediator between chronological time and lived time. By structuring events into a meaningful story, narrative allows us to comprehend, navigate, and act upon the complexity of temporal experience.
Another key theme is the "multiplicity of temporal experience". Ricoeur emphasizes the multiplicity and fluidity of temporal experiences and shows how narrative can capture and encode the interplay of past, present, and future in human consciousness.
Temporal Experiences is characterized by an "interdisciplinary approach", drawing on philosophy, literary theory, history, and theology to provide a comprehensive account of the relationship between time and narrative.
Not least, Ricoeur emphasizes the "ethical and existential dimensions". By linking narrative to ethical and existential questions, he underscores the importance of storytelling in shaping our moral and existential understanding.
All in all, "Time and Narrative" is a profound exploration of how narrative structures our experience of time and reality and our respective actions. Ricoeur's insights have had a significant impact on fields ranging from philosophy and literary studies to history and theology, offering a deep understanding of the human condition through the lens of narrative.
In order to concretize the images of what you want,
the task is to search for appropriate impressions and references. The research is based on the following aspects:
Role Models: Images and statements from two or three people who are role models for you, or at least inspire you.
Exemplary Works: Choose at least four works by each of the people you consider exemplary in their work.
Concentrate on the basic shapes: Condense the selected works into a stencil and cut them out of cardboard according to the technical scheme shown below. Certainly, your condensation of the works should not consist only of circles and the basic geometric shapes as in the given example, but try to concentrate the form as much as possible.
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Each idea of what we want to achieve is only to be grasped on a physical level. For this it is needed to have an idea as clear as possible of what is to be achieved.
I give you a simple example. For those little boys that what to become an excavator driver their wish is directly related to playing with sand and a small metal toy excavator.
The wish to become something is pre-drawn in playing. Playing needs two conditions, imagination and physical objectivisation.
This course is designed to develop your ability to use everyday affections and immediate perceptions as a source for writing notations (you can also call them poems). This is a fundamental skill for any kind of art and design; to take everything you need for your creative process from the impulses of the sensual given.
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The poem is a deconstruction of the Trinity, consisting of 1st, what is happening now in the sequences of the actual, 2nd thinking about what happened in the past, just yesterday or centuries ago, what might happen in the future, why it happened and how to prevent it from happening again or strive for a repetition. Even thinking about where to go for dinner tonight is part of the what-why-how structure of our daily thinking.
The third part of the Trinity is the whispers of the saints following the instructions of the Holy Spirit. The psychoanalysts call the whispers the id, thinking is identical to the super-ego, and our immediate reactions to what is happening in the present are equivalent to the ego.
Poetry is constantly decoding and recoding itself as an open system per se through the deconstruction of all surrounding systems into what is decaying and the ungraspable unknown that remains in the form of a remnant of directed motion and undirected time.
The entire order of the Earth system, including our being and our activities, is heading toward entropy. Entropy is a bit like a one-way street, but with some interesting nuances.
In a closed system (one that doesn't exchange energy or matter with its surroundings), entropy tends to increase over time, and this increase is generally irreversible. But even in closed systems, entropy isn't perfectly uniform. Random fluctuations can sometimes create pockets of lower entropy, allowing new structures to emerge temporarily. But these are statistically rare events. In a closed system, new complex structures are extremely unlikely once entropy reaches its maximum.
Poetry is, in a sense, a statistically extremely rare event. If we assume that a lifetime is about 85 years, or 310,025 days, or 744,600 hours, or 44,676,000 minutes, and that the duration of a poem is two and a half minutes, we have a 0.0000056 percent chance of being affected by a poem. We must also assume that most people on earth have never been affected by a poem. So the occurrence of a poetic fluctuation that allows new structures to emerge temporarily, over a period of, let's say, 300 years, from the Age of Enlightenment to today, is close to zero.
But that shouldn't discourage us!
The poem:
-
stretch out with all your might only
by the way that the
shoulder hurts and where she
had bitten be it torn open into small
pieces that in a certain
period of time everything
would be connected with each other
the chunks of meat out of the
can from one bowl to the other
afterwards left in water in the kitchen
as an inevitable
consequence of ageing
barefoot by getting this she thought
if we had accepted
the marked time / as all the more
in some places the
skin is so dry that I can scratch it off
says you're
cold on your arms put on a jacket
over there into the silver flask
the faces are drawn meters long
on the windowsill
a dead butterfly oh so beautiful
how the sun shines on my birthday
the wasps came
who pestered me so that I dared not
to breathe and the high
treetops / I was just too slow
The poem obviously explores themes of physicality, pain, and the interconnectedness of experiences and the body, written in a fragmented, almost prose-poetry style that is characteristic of certain modernist and postmodernist literary movements.
First let's follow the stream of consciousness: The poem's fragmented style and lack of clear punctuation reflect a stream of consciousness technique, where thoughts and sensations are recorded as they occur. This style was popularized by modernist writers like James Joyce and Virginia Woolf.
Second we follow the imagery and sensation: The focus on physical sensation ("the shoulder hurts," "had bitten torn open") aligns with the modernist focus on immediate, often raw experiences. Modernist poetry often delves into the corporeal and visceral aspects of human life.
We also identify the postmodernist elements, such as fragmentation and disjunction: The disjointed structure and lack of a clear, linear narrative are hallmarks of postmodernist literature. Postmodernist poets like John Ashbery and Charles Olson often used fragmentation to reflect the chaotic nature of modern existence.
Now let's face the interconnectedness: The idea that "everything would be connected with each other" is to be seen as a postmodern interest in the web of relationships and the complexity of interconnected systems. This theme is common in postmodern literature, which frequently explores how disparate elements can form a whole.
We do not know the author, given the style and themes of the poem, it might be attributed to those authors known for their modernist or postmodernist experimentation as Lyn Hejinian, known for her avant-garde, fragmented style and exploration of consciousness, Hejinian's work might resemble the disjointed, yet connected nature of this poem.
To draw a conclusion, we can say that the poem blend modernist and postmodernist elements, focusing on the physical experience of pain and the concept of interconnectedness. Given its style and themes, it might have been written by a poet like Charles Bukowski, Allen Ginsberg, or Lyn Hejinian, all of whom are known for their experimental, fragmented approaches to poetry that delve deeply into the human experience.
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Draw a horizontal line.
Draw derivations from the line. Draw them in a line, governed by the variations of your movement in relation to the horizon, imagine a path you take to order your thoughts or emotions or whatever. The horizontal line is the back end of the stage that shifts in time.
Use the random kinks and edges of the lines as reference points for developing the outlines.
Cover the horizontal line and its derivations with paint. Don't paint the space between the lines! Orient yourself to the lines and at the same time give space to the color.
This is one way to define a space that starts from the nothingness of the blank page. Never forget that the empty page is nothing but the paradox of a bordered nothingness.
Now the nothingness is divided into something above the horizon and something below the horizon. The derivatives are the figures and things that have emerged from the horizontal line, which is also the line of time on which we write to give names to the figures and things.
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Drawing and writing, at least in the field of poetry, are in a reciprocal relationship. Drawing cannot be thought without writing, and vice versa.
We write along the line; text, music, dance, sculpture, and so on. The line is a kind of diagrammatic realization (in the multiple meaning of the word) of time; the timeline and what follows from it.
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It easily happens to me that the systematic is not clear enough. That is, I do not know exactly how to proceed methodically. The lines get confused, I start to aim at this or that statement, and the whole thing is ruined. Then I have two choices: throw it out or paint over it, either completely or according to the derivations.
The more I get confused, and with me the lines, the more passionate it becomes. I begin to suffer. I hate myself. I call myself a failure, a complete idiot, a whiner.
At the same time, I am overcome by a compulsion, an inescapable desire, an almost religious passion to breathe life back into the corpse.
Technically speaking, this can lead to outbursts of violence involving paper, canvas, paint, brushes, and pens. When the suffering is unbearable, I cut the surface, tear out the pieces and force them back together in blind desperation.
Surprisingly, the figurations hold up, at least in most cases.
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Anmerkung zum Latent Space:
Der Latent Space in der künstlichen Intelligenz beschreibt einen abstrakten numerischen Raum, der die wesentlichen Merkmale von Daten in kompakter Form darstellt. Er basiert auf hochdimensionalen Vektorräumen, in denen Datenpunkte durch mathematische Vektoren repräsentiert werden. Diese Repräsentationen werden während des Trainings eines Modells erlernt und sind so gestaltet, dass sie die zugrunde liegende Struktur und Muster der Daten erfassen.
Einbettungen transformieren dabei Objekte wie Bilder oder Texte in den Latent Space und ermöglichen eine abstrakte Darstellung, in der ähnliche Datenpunkte nah beieinander liegen. Solche geometrischen Strukturen erleichtern Analysen, zum Beispiel durch die Gruppierung ähnlicher Kategorien (z. B. Bilder von Katzen oder Hunden).
Die Erstellung und Nutzung des Latent Space erfolgt durch Techniken wie Autoencoder, Variational Autoencoders (VAE) oder Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Diese Methoden reduzieren die ursprüngliche Dimensionalität der Daten, um wichtige Merkmale hervorzuheben, und nutzen Optimierungsalgorithmen wie den Gradientenabstieg, um die Parameter anzupassen. In probabilistischen Ansätzen wird der Latent Space als Wahrscheinlichkeitsverteilung modelliert, was ihn besonders flexibel macht.
Die Transformationen in den Latent Space und zurück werden durch neuronale Netze realisiert, die mit nichtlinearen Funktionen arbeiten. Dies ermöglicht es, komplexe Muster zu erfassen und in abstrakter Form zu speichern. Letztlich ist der Latent Space ein vielseitiges Werkzeug in der KI, dessen Struktur und Dimensionierung je nach Anwendungsfall angepasst werden kann, um die zugrunde liegende Information der Daten optimal zu nutzen.
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Schnittstellen der Innovation: Die New York School of Poets and Artists und das Black Mountain College
Die Mitte des 20. Jahrhunderts war eine fruchtbare Zeit für avantgardistische Kunst und Poesie in Amerika, in der zwei einflussreiche Bewegungen – das Black Mountain College und die New York School of Poets and Artists – dazu beitrugen, kreative Grenzen neu zu definieren. Obwohl diese Gruppen aus unterschiedlichen Ursprüngen und Kontexten hervorgingen, teilten sie das Engagement für interdisziplinäre Experimente, Zusammenarbeit und die Ablehnung traditioneller Hierarchien in Kunst und Literatur. Ihre Beziehung spiegelt ein breiteres kulturelles Ethos der Innovation und gegenseitigen Befruchtung wider, das die Nachkriegsavantgarde in Amerika prägte.
Black Mountain College: Ein gemeinschaftliches Experiment in Kreativität
Das Black Mountain College (1933–1957), eingebettet in die ländliche Landschaft von North Carolina, war mehr als eine experimentelle Hochschule für freie Künste; es war ein Schmelztiegel für avantgardistisches Denken und interdisziplinäre Kunst. Inspiriert von der Bauhaus-Bewegung legte das College Wert auf die Integration von Kunst in den Alltag und förderte die Zusammenarbeit zwischen Poesie, bildender Kunst, Musik und Performance. Schlüsselfiguren wie die Dichter Charles Olson, Robert Creeley und Robert Duncan – die sogenannten Black Mountain Poets – entwickelten einen radikal neuen Ansatz für Verse, der durch Olsons Konzept des „projektiven Verses“ verkörpert wurde, bei dem die organische Form und der Atemfluss gegenüber der traditionellen Metrik im Vordergrund standen.
Ebenso wichtig waren die Beiträge von bildenden Künstlern wie Josef Albers, dessen Bauhaus-Lehren zur Farbtheorie das Ethos des Colleges tiefgreifend beeinflussten, Willem de Kooning und Robert Rauschenberg, deren visuelle Innovationen den abstrakten Expressionismus neu definierten, sowie der Komponist John Cage und der Choreograf Merce Cunningham, die den Zufall und die Unbestimmtheit nutzten, um die Grenzen zwischen Klang, Bewegung und Raum zu verwischen. Die gemeinschaftliche Atmosphäre des Black Mountain College schuf einen Raum, in dem Kunst nicht auf einzelne Kategorien beschränkt war, sondern als ganzheitlicher Prozess der Erkundung und des Ausdrucks behandelt wurde.
Die New York School: Urbane Energie und spielerisches Experimentieren
Während das Black Mountain College in seiner abgeschiedenen ländlichen Umgebung florierte, entstand die New York School of Poets and Artists aus der geschäftigen, frenetischen Energie des New York City der 1940er bis 1960er Jahre. Dieses lose Dichterkollektiv – Frank O'Hara, John Ashbery, Kenneth Koch und Barbara Guest – war in der dynamischen Kulturlandschaft der Stadt verwurzelt und teilte künstlerische Affinitäten mit den bildenden Künstlern der New York School, darunter Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko und de Kooning. Beeinflusst vom Surrealismus, Modernismus und der Spontanität des Jazz und des abstrakten Expressionismus war ihr Werk von urbaner Sensibilität, Verspieltheit und Ironie geprägt.
Für die Dichter der New York School war die Zusammenarbeit mit bildenden Künstlern von zentraler Bedeutung für ihre kreative Praxis. Frank O'Hara beispielsweise arbeitete eng mit den Malern Grace Hartigan und Larry Rivers zusammen und schuf Werke, bei denen es ebenso sehr um den Akt der Kommunikation zwischen den Disziplinen ging wie um das fertige Produkt. Ihre Poesie spiegelte oft die fließenden, improvisierten Techniken des abstrakten Expressionismus wider, was zu dem führte, was O'Hara als „Personismus“-Ansatz bezeichnete – Poesie als intimes Gespräch statt als große philosophische Aussage.
Verbindungen: Gemeinsame Philosophien und gegenseitige Befruchtung
Trotz ihrer geografischen und tonalen Unterschiede waren das Black Mountain College und die New York School durch sich überschneidende Ideen, gemeinsame Figuren und einen interdisziplinären Ethos eng miteinander verbunden. Künstler wie Willem de Kooning und Robert Rauschenberg überbrückten beide Welten, indem sie zu den gemeinsamen Experimenten am Black Mountain College beitrugen und gleichzeitig eine zentrale Rolle in der New Yorker Kunstszene spielten. Ebenso beeinflussten John Cage und Merce Cunningham, die zu den Gründungsfiguren von Black Mountain gehörten, die kreative Gemeinschaft in New York durch ihre experimentellen Ansätze in Bezug auf Komposition und Bewegung nachhaltig.
Der Einfluss des abstrakten Expressionismus war ein weiterer wichtiger Verbindungspunkt. Beide Gruppen nahmen seine Spontaneität und die Betonung des Prozesses gegenüber dem Produkt auf, obwohl sie diese Prinzipien auf unterschiedliche Weise anwendeten. Am Black Mountain College übersetzte Olsons „Open Field“-Poetik die expansive, gestische Energie des abstrakten Expressionismus in Verse, während die Dichter der New York School dessen improvisatorische Qualität in ihrem witzigen, informellen und gesprächigen Ton widerspiegelten. Diese gemeinsame Ästhetik markierte eine Ablehnung starrer Formen und Hierarchien und umfasste stattdessen eine Kunst, die dynamisch, offen und tief in den Akt der Schöpfung eingebunden war.
Unterschiede: Ländlich vs. städtisch, Ernsthaftigkeit vs. Verspieltheit
Obwohl ihre philosophischen Ausrichtungen von Bedeutung waren, unterschieden sich die beiden Bewegungen auch in wichtigen Punkten. Die ländliche, gemeinschaftliche Umgebung des Black Mountain College förderte einen ernsthaften, fast klösterlichen Ansatz in der Kunst als Mittel zur Erforschung von Bewusstsein und Form. Im Gegensatz dazu eignete sich die städtische Umgebung der New York School für eine leichtere, ironischere Sensibilität, die das Chaos und die Unmittelbarkeit des Stadtlebens zelebrierte. Dieser unterschiedliche Tonfall spiegelt nicht nur ihre geografischen Umgebungen wider, sondern auch ihre kulturellen Kontexte – das Black Mountain College war ein Rückzugsort vom Mainstream, während die New York School im Herzen des Mainstreams florierte.
Die Beziehung zwischen der New York School of Poets and Artists und dem Black Mountain College ist ein Beispiel für die Vernetzung der amerikanischen Avantgarde-Bewegungen in der Mitte des 20. Jahrhunderts. Obwohl sie sich in ihren Ursprüngen und Stilen unterschieden, teilten diese Gruppen ein Ethos des interdisziplinären Experimentierens, der Zusammenarbeit und der Bereitschaft, Konventionen in Frage zu stellen. Indem sie die Grenzen zwischen Poesie, bildender Kunst, Musik und Performance aufhoben, trugen sie dazu bei, die Möglichkeiten des kreativen Ausdrucks in einer sich schnell verändernden Nachkriegswelt neu zu definieren. Zusammen repräsentieren sie zwei Facetten desselben avantgardistischen Geistes, der Künstler und Schriftsteller weiterhin dazu inspiriert, die Grenzen ihrer Disziplinen zu erweitern.
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The New York School, a collective of avant-garde poets, painters, and musicians, emerged in 1940s and 1950s New York City, leaving an indelible imprint on modern art, literature, and music. Defined by spontaneity, collaboration, and a radical rejection of traditional forms, this movement brought together some of the most innovative creative minds of the time. Among them were poets like Frank O’Hara, John Ashbery, Kenneth Koch, and Barbara Guest, whose works were deeply intertwined with the explosive energy of abstract expressionist painters such as Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Robert Motherwell, and Franz Kline, as well as trailblazing musicians like John Cage, Morton Feldman, and David Tudor. The rich cross-pollination of ideas and mediums fostered a dynamic space for artistic experimentation.
Frank O’Hara, a defining voice of New York School poetry, captured the vibrant pulse of urban life in his work. His celebrated collection Lunch Poems brims with the immediacy of daily experiences, blending the rhythms of city streets with the intimacy of friendships and the glamour of the art world. John Ashbery’s poetry, by contrast, is famously elusive and complex, echoing the abstract expressionism of his painter friends. His collaborations with visual artists like Jane Freilicher reveal an intricate dialogue between word and image. Kenneth Koch’s exuberant, humorous verse mirrors the wit and color of his collaborations with artists such as Larry Rivers and Alex Katz. Meanwhile, Barbara Guest’s refined and abstract poetry elegantly distills her engagement with visual aesthetics, embodying a profound affinity for the art world’s conceptual energy.
The painters of the New York School drew reciprocal inspiration from their poetic peers. Jackson Pollock’s iconic drip paintings, with their emphasis on process and improvisation, resonated with the poets’ embrace of spontaneity. Willem de Kooning’s bold, gestural canvases, alive with dynamic movement, deeply influenced poets like O’Hara, creating a dialogue that bridged visual and literary expression. Robert Motherwell’s works, steeped in literary and philosophical themes, epitomized the synthesis of word and image, while Franz Kline’s stark, elemental compositions mirrored the experimental ethos of New York School poetry.
In music, John Cage emerged as a visionary avant-garde composer, embodying the movement’s experimental spirit. His use of chance and indeterminacy paralleled the fluid, unstructured techniques of his painter and poet contemporaries. Morton Feldman, a minimalist composer, drew aesthetic inspiration from abstract expressionist painters such as Pollock and Philip Guston, embedding their visual vocabulary into his music. David Tudor extended this spirit through his groundbreaking performances and collaborations, working alongside Cage and other artists to dissolve the boundaries between sound, vision, and text.
At its heart, the New York School thrived on its interdisciplinary ethos. Poets wrote about the paintings of their friends, painters found muses in the poets’ words, and musicians wove the spontaneity of both into their compositions. Informal gatherings at Greenwich Village’s Cedar Tavern or loft studios served as fertile grounds for idea exchange, while formal collaborations—illustrated books, joint exhibitions—cemented their shared legacy. This interplay of art forms not only defined the movement but also seeded innovations that continue to inspire today.
Strikingly, the New York School’s interdisciplinary dynamism evokes parallels to the Renaissance ideal of Disegno, the unifying concept of design that bridged the visual arts with intellectual inquiry. In Renaissance Italy, particularly Florence, Disegno encompassed both the physical act of drawing and the intellectual process of conceptualization, serving as the foundation for painting, sculpture, and architecture. This holistic approach to art-making echoes the New York School’s synthesis of diverse forms of creativity.
Leonardo da Vinci epitomized the Renaissance ideal, merging art, science, and philosophy through his detailed anatomical studies and visionary inventions, all anchored in the discipline of drawing. Michelangelo, likewise, infused his masterpieces—such as the Sistine Chapel—with a seamless integration of visual splendor and philosophical depth. Giorgio Vasari, both artist and chronicler, celebrated this interconnected artistry in his seminal Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, which championed Disegno as the engine of artistic innovation.
Renaissance artists often collaborated with philosophers and scientists to enrich their work. Raphael, for instance, worked closely with humanists like Baldassare Castiglione, embedding humanist ideals into the harmonious elegance of his paintings. Similarly, the New York School drew upon contemporary philosophical movements such as existentialism and phenomenology, exploring themes of individual perception and lived experience. These philosophies informed the movement’s emphasis on spontaneity, subjectivity, and the personal nature of artistic creation.
At their cores, both Renaissance Disegno and the New York School share a commitment to erasing boundaries between disciplines. In Renaissance workshops and studios, much like in the New York City lofts and taverns, collaboration and intellectual exchange flourished. Both periods were marked by an intense engagement with the philosophical undercurrents of their times, yielding revolutionary works that pushed the limits of creative expression.
In sum, the New York School and Renaissance Disegno represent two extraordinary moments in cultural history, united by their interdisciplinary ambition and legacy of innovation. Both movements reveal the transformative power of collaboration across artistic and intellectual boundaries, reminding us that creativity thrives most vividly in dialogue with others. Their enduring influence continues to shape contemporary art, underscoring the timeless vitality of shared inspiration.
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Disegno and Poetry
In the Renaissance, poetry and Disegno were closely intertwined and often seen as complementary forms of artistic expression. Both poetry and Disegno were highly valued as means of conveying ideas, emotions, and aesthetic ideals during this period.
One significant aspect of their relationship was the concept of "ut pictura poesis" (as is painting, so is poetry), which suggested that poetry and painting shared similar goals and techniques. This idea originated from the ancient Roman poet Horace and was revived and embraced by Renaissance thinkers and artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael. It implied that both poetry and painting should aspire to evoke emotions, tell stories, and capture the essence of their subjects with skill and artistry.
Furthermore, many Renaissance artists and poets were influenced by classical texts and ideas, which often intertwined poetry with visual arts. For example, the mythological narratives found in works like Ovid's "Metamorphoses" inspired both poets and painters to create their own interpretations of these stories, blurring the lines between verbal and visual representations.
Additionally, patrons of the arts in the Renaissance often commissioned both poets and painters to collaborate on projects, such as decorating palaces or churches with both visual and textual elements. These collaborations further reinforced the connection between poetry and disegno as complementary forms of expression.
Overall, in the Renaissance, poetry and Disegno were deeply interconnected, with both forms of artistry influencing and enriching each other in the pursuit of aesthetic and intellectual expression.
Here are some examples of artists and poets from the Renaissance period who exemplify the close relationship between poetry and Disegno:
1. Michelangelo Buonarroti: Michelangelo was not only a renowned sculptor and painter but also a poet. His poetry often explored themes of love, spirituality, and the human condition, reflecting the same depth of emotion and insight found in his visual artworks. Michelangelo's poetic works, such as his sonnets and madrigals, reveal his mastery of language and his ability to convey profound thoughts and feelings.
2. Leonardo da Vinci: Leonardo da Vinci was not only a pioneering artist but also a polymath who excelled in various fields, including engineering, anatomy, and literature. He wrote extensively in his notebooks, jotting down ideas, observations, and reflections in his distinctive mirror writing. Leonardo's writings often accompanied his sketches and drawings, demonstrating how his disegno and his thoughts on science, nature, and the human body were interconnected.
3. Raphael: Raphael, like his contemporaries Michelangelo and Leonardo, was not only a talented painter but also a poet. He composed sonnets and other poetic works, often inspired by themes from classical mythology and literature. Raphael's poetry, like his paintings, reflects the humanist ideals of the Renaissance and demonstrates his mastery of form, style, and emotional expression.
4. Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch): Petrarch was an Italian poet and scholar whose works had a profound influence on Renaissance literature and art. His sonnets, particularly those addressed to his beloved Laura, inspired countless poets and artists with their themes of love, beauty, and longing. Petrarch's poetry, with its emphasis on classical ideals and human emotions, resonated deeply with Renaissance artists striving to capture the essence of the human experience in their visual artworks.
5. Dante Alighieri: Although Dante lived before the Renaissance period, his epic poem "The Divine Comedy" had a lasting impact on Renaissance literature and art. Dante's vivid descriptions of Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven provided rich visual imagery that inspired artists such as Botticelli, Michelangelo, and Gustave Doré to create illustrations and paintings based on his infernal journey. Dante's poetic vision and narrative skill influenced Renaissance artists in their exploration of moral, spiritual, and metaphysical themes in their own works.