Von Ledoux bis Johnson, and beyond : la trascendencia americana de Emil Kaufmann = Von Ledoux bis Johnson, and beyond : The American transcendence of Emil Kaufmann

ResumenUno más en la masiva e ideológicamente filtrada migración intelectual provocada por el triunfo de los fascismos en Europa y la consiguiente Guerra Mundial, la trascendencia de Kaufmann en su destino americano seguirá un sorprendente camino doble. Las forzadas conexiones entre autores, actitudes y posiciones intelectuales de puntos muy distintos de la historia de Von Ledoux bis Le Corbusier, provenientes de un contexto de oposición al nazismo encontrarán, en ausencia de una traducción que con la que corregir malinterpretaciones, una deformada pero muy influy­ente continuidad. Será a través de un Philip Johnson, precisamente exnazi, y de sus casas. En la primera de ellas, Kaufmann dará su primera conferencia en los Estados Unidos. La segunda, muy famosa, la concebirá Johnson basándose en una interpretación libre y adaptada a un muy distinto contexto de los conceptos de Kaufmann. Su alargada influencia sentará las bases de un primer postmodernismo e incluso de su posterior deriva hacia la star-architecture. Mientras tanto, y opuestamente, las investigaciones de Kaufmann en territorio americano se replegarán hacia el periodo de la Ilustración.AbstractAs yet another mind caught up in the mass ideologically filtered intellectual migration caused by the triumph of fascisms in Europe and the consequent World War, Kaufmann’s transcendence in his American destination would follow a surprising double path. The forced connections between authors, attitudes and intellectual positions from very different points in the history of Von Ledoux bis Le Corbusier, coming from a context of opposition to Nazism, would encounter, in the absence of a translation with which to correct misinterpretations, a deformed but highly influential continuity. This would be done through a Philip Johnson, precisely a former Nazi, and his houses. Inside the first of these, Kaufmann would give his first lecture in the United States. The second, very famous, would be conceived by Johnson based on a free interpretation of Kaufmann’s concepts, adapt­ed to a very different context. His long-lasting influence would lay the foundations for an early postmodernism and even for his later drift towards star-architecture. Meanwhile, and conversely, Kaufmann’s research on American territory would withdraw towards the Age of Enlightenment.

Sobre espaço e experiência. Um olhar sobre a obra Untitled (1971) de Donald Judd na Glass House de Philip Johnson.

O presente artigo se propõe a analisar a primeira obra site-specific de concreto do artista Donald Judd, Untitled (1971), construída no terreno da Glass House de Philip Johnson. Através do entendimento do trabalho de Judd dentro do contexto da minimal, somado às intenções compositivas de Johnson para o objeto implantado no núcleo histórico de sua icônica residência de vidro, pretende-se especular sobre os cruzamentos e sobreposições de ambos. As distintas percepções acerca do espaço e da experiência que impulsionam os autores, se complementam na criação do objeto que culmina na convivência autônoma e complementar dos tempos de Judd e Johnson.

«IMAGO TEMPLI» DE LA IGLESIA INVISIBLE: IDEALISMO Y ARTE ABSTRACTO

Dos eventos, aparentemente distantes uno del otro y sin vínculos directos entre ellos, pero sin embargo estrictamente relacionados por un legado espiritual común, constituyen el tema de este trabajo. El primero, tuvo lugar en 1971, cuando una «capilla ecuménica» muy especial abrió sus puertas al público. Es conocida bajo el nombre de «Rothko Chapel», debido al proyecto general, realizado por el pintor Mark Rothko. Desde entonces, se ha convertido en una de las obras de arte más valiosas que representan la estética religiosa contemporánea. Las pinturas negras de Rothko, la planta del edificio de «cruz griega» diseñado por el arquitecto Philip Johnson, el obelisco del artista Barnett Newman y la música compuesta para este ambiente por el compositor Morton Feldman, han reemplazado lo que tradicionalmente ha sido llamado «imago templi»; pero, contrariamente a toda tradición cristiana, representan nada (literalmente: no-thing). El segundo evento, tuvo lugar en 1795, cuando dos jóvenes amigos, Hegel y Schelling, estaban haciendo una especie de juramento bajo el signo de una Iglesia Invisible, actualizando un concepto ambiguo que, incluso arraigándose en las Sagradas Escrituras, ya había sido condenado por las iglesias oficiales por sus consecuencias heréticas. La relación entre estos dos eventos está dada por historiadores del arte moderno que han establecido que la pintura abstracta, desde un punto de vista formal, tiene sus raíces en la tradición romántica. Con este trabajo me gustaría contribuir al establecimiento de esta conexión, no solo por medios formales, sino también mostrando una actitud espiritual común hacia las imágenes. El cristianismo, esencialmente figurativo en su estética religiosa, siempre ha tenido que lidiar con la prohibición judía de la creación de imágenes. Esta dificultad ha sido trasferida a los debates contemporáneos en los que artistas con lecturas y educación clásicas, a menudo de origen judío pero activos en sociedades cristianas, intentan crear un nuevo tipo de arte, fuera de toda tradición y sin dogmas. Según mi sugerencia, Rothko Chapel debería considerarse como la realización de un equilibrio frágil en el que tanto el «aniconismo» como la «necesidad de imágenes» han superado su mutua unilateralidad, produciendo una etapa espiritual más elevada. Por lo tanto, tal capilla no sería un simple espacio donde todas las religiones podrían solo reunirse y dialogar, pero debería considerarse algo más sorprendente, es decir, una realización única de lo que lógicamente aparece como una pura contradicción: la realización de un Imago Templi para una Iglesia Invisible.Key words: Rothko; Hegel; Arte Abstracto; Idealismo; Iglesia Invisible

SFMA, MoMA and the Codification of Bay Region Architecture (1935-1953)

<p>This paper addresses the under-recognized implications of SFMA’s early architectural exhibition program. Conceived under founding director Grace Morley, a series of pioneering events first presented Bay Area architects’ work as interdependent with the region’s rich geographical and cultural context, offering new lens through which Eastern critics prompted to re-evaluate California modernism. Among these shows, the 1949 landmark exhibition <em>Domestic Architecture of the San Francisco Bay Region</em> would epitomize the postwar discussions upon the autonomy of American modern architecture. Correspondingly, by exploring SFMA-MoMA exchanges during Elizabeth Mock’s curatorship, this essay aims to examine the conflict of perceptions and intentions between the country’s two Coasts that brought about the 1949 show as part of a well-orchestrated campaign that had begun years before Lewis Mumford’s 1947 <em>New Yorker</em> piece triggered a controversy over the existence of a “Bay Region Style.” Contrary to prevailing assumptions that this exhibition was a delayed reaction to the 1948 MoMA symposium organized by Philip Johnson to refute Mumford’s arguments, it was the consequence of an effective regionalist agenda whose success was, precisely, that many influential actors in the United States were exposed, indoctrinated and/or seduced by the so-called Bay Region School’s emphasis on social, political and ecological concerns.</p>

THE IMAGO TEMPLI OF THE INVISIBLE CHURCH: IDEALISM AND ABSTRACT ART.

Two events, apparently distant one from the other and without any direct link between them, but nevertheless strictly connected by a common spiritual legacy, constitute the subject of this paper. The first one, took place in 1971, when a very special «ecumenical chapel» opened its doors to the public. It is known under the name of «Rothko Chapel», due to the general project, undertaken by the painter Mark Rothko. Since that time, it has become one of the most precious artworks that represent the contemporary religious aesthetics. The black Rothko’s paintings, the Greek-cross building designed by the architect Philip Johnson, the Broken Obelisk of the artist Barnett Newman standing right out of the Chapel and the music composed for this ambient by the composer Morton Feldman, have replaced what traditionally has been called an «imago templi»; but contrary to all Christian tradition they represent (literally) no-thing. The second event, took place in 1795, when two young friends, Hegel and Schelling, were making a kind of oath under the sign of an Invisible Church, actualizing an ambiguous concept that, even if rooted in the Holy Scriptures, it had been condemned for its consequences as heretical. The relationship between these two events is given by contemporary art historians which have established that modern abstract painting, from a formal point of view, is rooted in the Romantic tradition. With this paper I would like to contribute to the establishment of this connection, not only by formal means, but by showing a common spiritual attitude towards images. Christianity, essentially figurative in its religious aesthetics, has always had to deal with the Jewish prohibition of image-making. This difficulty has been inherited to contemporary debates in which artist with classical readings and education, often of Jewish origins but active in Christian societies, try to create a new kind of art, above all traditions and free of dogmas. According to my suggestion, Rothko Chapel should be considered as the realization of a fragile balance in which both «aniconism» and «need of images» have simultaneously sublated their one-sidedness, producing a higher spiritual stage. Thus, such a chapel would not be a simple space where all religions could only meet and undertake a dialog, but should be considered as something more surprising: a unique realization of what logically appears as a pure contradiction: the realization of an Imago Templi for an Invisible Church.

Transitions

Arthur Hoye Johnson died 9 August 2017. Leon Reiter died 6 September 2017. Stanley Cunningham died 29 November 2017. Robert Seltzer died 4 January 2018. Philip Johnson died 1 October 2018. Richard Schneider died 14 November 2018.