When artists try to cultivate art in three dimensions, works like Michelangelos' "David" result, or the great mobiles we find in airports and stations, or the unusually structured airports themselves. In your opinion, which is the most meaningful and expressive of these artworks? Could you cite specific examples, post pictures, and explain the meanings you find in such works?
My first idea are the famous churches around the world, like Ulmer Münster, Kölner Dome, Sacre Coeur and all the other wonderful architecture, and of course Liberty, Tour Eiffel.
I know Kölner Dom, the two towered cathedral in Cologne. Why do you suppose it has two towers, Hanno? Is there any explanation for this strange structure? I had a chance to climb up inside it.
There are many structures I can think of in India. One of them is the Charminar, in Hyderabad India was built in 1591 translating to "Four Towers" to commemorate the eradication of plague. It was built by Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah had prayed for the end of a plague that was ravaged his city and vowed to build a Mosque at the very place where he prayed. Mir Momin Astarabadi, the prime minister of Qutb Shah played a leading role to prepare the layout plan for the Charminar along with eminent architects from Persia. The structure is of Indo-Islamic architecture style, incorporating Persian architectural elements.
Dear Nelson,
I´m not sure, but I think it was the historical two towered pattern like Notre Dame de Reims, Notre Dame de Chartres and Notre Dame d´Amiens.
Dear Nelson,
Your question is a hard nut. One should have a vast knowledge to show meaningful or characteristic three-dimensional monuments. I think pyramids, la basilica de la Sagrada Familia, le Tour Eiffel, and Brasilia (the town) built by Le Corbusier. All of these memorials characterise the age and the change of ideas and somehow the way of life.
Pyramids: the perfect monuments for eternity.
Basilica de la Sagrada Familia (Antoni Gaudi; Barcelona) a gothic, eclectic secessionist oevre which suits perfectly the resultant impacts of age, the faith, the country and the artist.
Le Tour Eiffel (Paris): expresses that the new age of modernity (the age of steel) has arrived.
Brasilia (the part designed by Le Corbusier): proves it is the age when it is impossible to live as it should be, the monuments of perfect form where it is hopeless to live.
Dear Nelson, I think I did not get the right point about three dimensional art, with "mobiles" on stations and airports. Did you mean triptych ? I find your question very interesting and will vote for sculptures and scupptors as Giovanni Bernini (Itatian), August Renoir (French), Igor Mitoraj (Polish), Alberto Giacometti (Swiss). That's not all my favorites.
I choosed "Three Man Walking" 1949, by A. Giacometti.
I am fascinated by the architecture of lighthouses.
From time to time - like a boomerang - the world of art embarks on a discussion of about the so-called "usefulness of art". You can argue about the extent to which the artist can be limited objectives of this policy during the creative act, but you can not not noted that in the case of lighthouses we have to deal with the essence of the motto "useful art", not to say downright "the art of life-saving".
Avala TV Tower is my favourite! On 29 April 1999, it was destroyed by NATO bombing.
On 21 April 2010, the new tower was officially opened!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avala_Tower
The fascinating rock hewn churches of Lalibela ( 11 in number ). They are curved out of bed rocks beneath the ground in the 12th and 13th centuries in Ethiopia. One of the churches is a cross built - in a sense the chucrch from top to bottom is a cross shape.
I have attached the link from UNESCO: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/18
One more - the Aksum obelisk of Ethiopia ! Link from a previous post in ResearchGate!
https://www.researchgate.net/file.PostFileLoader.html?id=534ca666d039b15a2f8b4570&key=72e7e534ca665798b2
Dear Kamal, thank you for sharing pictures. Fontana Di Trevi, was created by one of my favorite sculptors, Giovanni L.Bernini. I think throwing lot of coins into fountain could be dengerous ! :))
Dear Raoof, thank you for pics with amazing Iranian architecture !
Dear Dejenie, absolutely impressive Ethiopian architecture !
For the history of humanity, certainly is Architecture: Parthenon, Pyramids, Machu Picchu .... For everyday life, probably sculpture is closer to us.
Here is the Parthenon, lying in ruins but still impressive today atop the Acropolis. When you see the serene classicism of those lines, you realize the architecture appropriateness of the worship of the serene goddess of wisdom Athena.
Here is the Great Pyramid of Gizeh. This has been imitated in the pyramid at the entrance to the Louvre in Paris and in the pyramid incongruously inserted into the U.S. gambling capital of Las Vegas. The Great Pyramid shows man's aspiration to eternal life, both within the monument and without for its grandeur.
Here is Macchu Pacchu, the ruins of the great Inca city. On the one hand, the city illustrates the grandeur of the Inca civilization; on the other hand, it exemplifies the fugacity of human efforts (esp. as compared to the perpetuity of divine creation for those of us who are believers).
Here is the Great Wall of China, the only earthly structure large and vast enough to be visible from the moon!
Here is the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, a monument holy to Christianity, Islam, and Judaism alike. The histories of all three faiths share this common geographic site.
We need to get into sculpture in this string. So while not getting away from architecture, I am offering a picture of the Chicago "Picasso," 50 feet high (15 m.), and today a trademark of the city of Chicago.
Dear Kamal,
Thanks for the views of Petra, which I hope to visit in August. My brother saw it and said it is awe-inspiring in size and color.
My question was: what is the most meaningful three-dimensional structure? Here is the Great Sphinx of Giza. What does it mean? Something between complete meaningfulness and complete meaninglessness. We simply do not know!
Dear Nelson,
I've explained that at the question of Lewis Kausel about the animals in art.
The Great Sphinx of Giza is a huge sculpture that has a combination of man's head, to indicate wisdom and a lion's body to indicate strength. It's a matter of power.
Dear Nelson and Dear Kamal Thank you for sharing inspiring images. I attache pieces of monumental and emotional art by Igor Mitoraj, Polish sculptor, living in France for years.
Link to Igor Mitoraj's works: http://artodyssey1.blogspot.com/2013/09/igor-mitoraj.html
Dear Nelson, As woman I prefer more David by Giovanni L. Bernini, than by Michaeloangelo's.
The Lion of Babylon, large and splendidly carved in basalt. The Babylonian artist was seeking to glorify the victories of his people and its leader Nebuchadnezzar appeared evident through the power of the mass and the weight of the stone material in addition to the content of the symbolic meaning for Victory by the lion perched on one of the enemy soldiers (around 605 BC).
Jeanan and Beata, thanks for your contributions. In contrast to your ponderous, majestic lions, Jeanan, I am posting the "Court of the Lions" at the Alhambra Palace, Granada, Spain. According to legend, the graceful circle of stylized lions, forming a fountain, symbolize the lion of Judah and was the work of the Jewish treasurer Samuel ibn Nagralla, original builder of the pleasure palace which was the Alhambra. He lost his life, but subsequent Arab rulers added on to it, making it a huge fort. In the present-day Court of the Lions, you can see delicate columns, supposedly symbolic of the tent-posts of desert-wandering warriors.
The Great Sphinx of Giza is one of the largest and most recognizable statues in the world. It is a large human-headed lion that was carved from a mound of natural rock, with 57 meters long, 6 meters wide, and has a height of 20 meters.
Dear Mahfuz, here is America´s answer to the Great Sphinx of Giza: Mount Rushmore, in the Black Hills of South Dakota, celebrating lives and accomplishments of four great American Presidents-- arguably the greatest: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln--. Under the direction of Danish-American sculptor Gutzon Borglum, their faces were blasted with T.N.T. out of the surrounding mountain. The faces are 60 feet (18 metres) high, each one. Is this monument a deification of the State? I do not know, but it does represent the humanization of nature on a gigantic scale.
Here is a colossal statue of President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), to my mind the best of all U.S. Presidents. He is best known for his Emancipation Proclamation, freeing the Afro-American slaves. Daniel Chester French (1850-1931) sculpted this statue in 1920. The white marble sculpture is 30 feet (9.1 metres) high on an 11 foot high (3.4 metre) pedestal. It sits in a white marble building carved in Greek temple style and attainable by ascending 77 steep marble stairs: I know the number because my grandchildren counted them as their speedy little legs carried them to the top. Idolatry of the State? As close as we in the U.S. come, and I always remind my children that the Presidents are public servants.
In 280 B.C. Chares of Lindos sculpted the Colossus of Rhodes on the island by that name. Seeing the U.S. Statue of Liberty as kindly posted by our dear friend Kamal reminded me of the colossus, representing Helios the sungod. Let us hope that Miss Liberty does not share the same fate as the Colossus, considered a wonder of the ancient world but destroyed in an earthquake.
It's my favorite sculpture by O.Rodin.He created the greatest patriots and heroes of France. They are walking on the way to their death for the sake of saving their own city and citizens Fortunately, they happened to be alive..It's in Basel.
According to me, its architecture.
Architecture of any form fascinates me.
Regards,
Nitish
Usually the author of a string sums up all general conclusions of that string. However Cecilia Lewis Kausel has performed that service for me. How happy I am that I invited her back to this string, because this is really her province. The rest of us are amateurs... and yet, look what dear Kamal has just posted! I remember seeing commemorative plaques of Roentgen when I was lecturing at the Universität Wurzburg (SW Germany). That could be the theme of an RG question: commemorative mementi throughout the world.
Dear Nelson, of course I'm amateur in art, but Dear Nelson maybe you can answer such question: why some of great amateurs got Nobel Prizes, as our Polish tailor Władyslaw Reymont in literature in 1924 ? I'm not fan of his writings, but Nobel is Nobel.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Reymont
I have the same problem with two Nobel Prize winners from Spain: the poet Juan Ramón Jiménez and the novelist Camilo José Cela. Jiménez writes poetry about writing poetry, while Cela flits from one theme to another with tongue in cheek. De gustibus non disputandum. But we are getting off the subject... even if it´s fun!
This is a followup on Dr. Kamal´s contribution on the grave of Theodor Billroth, founder of abdominal and gastric surgery.
I have information on the Röntgen Memorial in Wurzburg, SW Germany:
The Röntgen Memorial
Visit the laboratory where the x-rays were discovered by Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen in 1895.
Take a trip back in time:
Visit the laboratory where Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen discovered the x-rays. See replicas as well as original laboratory equipment used at former time.
Booking Information
Mon - Fri 8 am - 8 pm, Sat 8 am - 6 pm
Free admission, guided tours on request
Information
Röntgen - Gedächtnisstätte
Röntgenring 8
D - 97070 Würzburg
Phone +49 (0) 931 / 35 11 60 02
Fax +49 (0) 931 / 35 11 60 44
www.wilhelmconradroentgen.de
There were many examples of art sculptures, architecture... Here is 10 World Famous Statues with explanation, follow the link!
http://www.touropia.com/world-famous-statues/
We have forgot from Auguste Rodin, the famous sculpture “The Thinker.” Wonderful!
Thank you, Ljubomir, for your fine contributions, as always. Their high quality is something we have learned to expect. To counterbalance the heaviness of Rodin´s "Le Penseur," I post the Romanian Brancusi´s "Bird in Space," epitome of lightness in the least possible lines.
Dear Nelson, I forgot to mention about my favorite, modern, world known sculptor Anish Kapoor, who has changed the thinking of contemoprary sculpture. He does giagantic colorful forms and puts them in different contexts as in galleries, cities, fields, parks etc. I perceive his art (and performances) much organic and moving.
Here is some more:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umVSGErfg8E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S70FwPUhDO4
Anish Kapoor - red form on the water. He uses mainly pure colors and simple forms.
Thank you, dear Beata, for the revelation of Anish Kapoor, with the eye-filling roundness of his sculptures. In ResearchGate perhaps the most valuable lesson I have learned is the daily reminder of my own ignorance. The present thread, much to my surprise, is driving this Socratic lesson home with a vengeance.
Dear Kamal,
What you have just said proves the mathematical impossibility that the number following infinity is zero.
I think that all the contributions of this wonderful thread are priceless or infinite.
Swiss sculptor Alberto Giacometti, initially associated with the surrealist movement, although beginning as a realist, suffered a perceptual crisis and began whittling his figures down to what he called their "shadows," but what we could regard as their essences for this tortured artist. Here is a reproduction of "Three Men Walking." Note that they are all walking into each other.
Here is Giacometti´s "Man Pointing." He seems to be pointing at nothingness.
Here is Giacometti´s "Walking Woman." Some critics consider this a dream figure, encountered in oneiric visions, but I see it as a woman reduced to her own walk.
Giacometti´s "Standing Woman" is the reduction of a woman to her own stance.
Our dear friend Kamal once elaborated a question which, in my judgment, gives us a key to the strange art of Giacometti. "Are we human beings or human doings?," asked Kamal. Giacometti answers without hesitation, "We are human doings."
We cannot allow the negation of form to predominate in this string, of itself so positive in theme. To elevate discussion, I propose that we contemplate the Sydney Opera House, which graces the harbor of that beautiful east coast Australian city, visited by me in 2012. Note the seashell-like roof which raises and lowers its multiple elements. The capacity of the opera house is huge, and houses several simultaneous performances in various auditoriums.
I also wanted you to view the Sydney Opera House by day, here seen from the air at the entrance to the harbor. I mostly visited it by day and was struck by the coordination of color and form. It is setting a paradigm for late 20th c. and early 21st. c. architecture.
In my endeavor to counter Giacometti´s negativity, I not only reproduced the Sydney Opera House, but now I post an image of "Our Lady of Hope," La Macarena, carried in Holy Week processions in Seville. At one point, a cynic threw a beer bottle at the image, struck her cheek, and left... a bruise, and all attempts to erase it have failed! So much for cynicism! Do these sacred images represent idol-worship? Philosopher of religion Miguel de Unamuno sees the tradition of idols beneath these images. In themselves they seem to command the devotion of the pious. And yet the spirituality or reference to a higher God saves them from being idols in the strict sense of a manmade image that one worships directly.
Dear All,
One of the most beautiful homage to a wife!
The husband (emperor Shah Jahan) wrote this on the Taj Mahal (India):
“Should guilty seek asylum here,
Like one pardoned, he becomes free from sin.
Should a sinner make his way to this mansion,
All his past sins are to be washed away.
The sight of this mansion creates sorrowing sighs;
And the sun and the moon shed tears from their eyes.
In this world this edifice has been made;
To display thereby the creator's glory.”
Dear András: Beautiful! I was not aware of the inscription on the Taj Mahal. In my opinion, that monument is THE most beautiful tribute of a husband to a wife. I know of none more breathtaking.
As to comparing the creation of the earth to artistic creation, you are not the first in this string to make the comparison. It is of course problematic: to liken God´s work to human art may be saying too much and too little. Perhaps divine poiesis is infinitely more complex and holier than artistic poiesis. Perhaps human creating is too lowly and divine creating too lofty for an accurate comparison. Perception of human creativity as resembling the divine varies from one historical period to another. Then there are the why´s: what is the cause of divine creation? In "The Great World Theatre," likening creation of the universal to play producing, Pedro Calderon de la Barca said that God has created the drama of universal history to honor His Own majesty and power. Here the comparison may fail, because few artists attain enough prestige to want to honor themselves. Anyhow, these are points to think about.
Dear Nelson,
I am sorry I have not seen Abdallah’s comment and picture. Generally, I do not steal ideas. I apologise for this parallelism.
What was positive that both of us had a similar sparkle.
Certainly, you are right that it is impossible to compare the divine creation with human creation fragments. Humans may have but one excuse, the talent for the good and beauty is a gift of God.
No, András, I never even supposed you had seen our friend Abdallah´s idea. It is a perfectly natural thing to compare the creation of the earth to creation of an artwork, although I personally have reservations about the comparison. The reason is my Spinozism. Spinoza held that God is so far superior to anything that man is or does, that any comparison is odious. But you and Abdallah are entitled to your common opinion, and I deeply respect you both.
Dear András and dear Nelson,
it sometimes happens, to be in the same time with the same idea. I made the same experience. And you don´t believe it, occasionally you overread an information.
Same thought from the same appreciated collegues consolidates the thinking and meaning.
Regards
Hanno, I appreciate the depth of both comments, both András´s and Abdallah´s, although I do not agree intellectually with them. Both of them are high on my list of friends, as are you.
I wonder if anyone has seen the Basilica and Expiatory Temple of the Sacred Family in Barcelona? Antoni Gaudí practically killed himself building it, and although it´s presently in use, it´s still not finished. Architecturally it combines Gothic and Art Nouveau. Really an innovative structure and well worth seeing, although as a tourist I´m not a cathedral-goer.
If you are not into church architecture, Spain has everything: the archetypal castle, for instance, from fairytales. This is so true, that Disney uses the Alcázar or Castle-Fort of Segovia as its model castle in its cartoons and at Disneyland. When you look at the structure of the turrets, you can easily see why.
Here is the Disney Cinderella Castle at Disneyworld. You can see the similarities.
Dear Hanno and Nelson,
I would be glad if I were able to express myself as delicately as you did. The sparkles of your presence on RG belong to my most agreeable and refreshing experiences.
Bogdan Bogdanović designed the Flower Memorial in Jasenovac. It was built in 1966 on the site of the former Jasenovac Camp III (Brickworks).
Dear All,
Was Xanadu similar like that?
Kubla Khan
By Samuel Taylor Coleridge
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.
So twice five miles of fertile ground
With walls and towers were girdled round;
And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,
Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;
And here were forests ancient as the hills,
Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.
But oh! that deep romantic chasm which slanted
Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover!
A savage place! as holy and enchanted
As e’er beneath a waning moon was haunted
By woman wailing for her demon-lover!
And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething,
As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing,
A mighty fountain momently was forced:
Amid whose swift half-intermitted burst
Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail,
Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher’s flail:
And mid these dancing rocks at once and ever
It flung up momently the sacred river.
Five miles meandering with a mazy motion
Through wood and dale the sacred river ran,
Then reached the caverns measureless to man,
And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean;
And ’mid this tumult Kubla heard from far
Ancestral voices prophesying war!
The shadow of the dome of pleasure
Floated midway on the waves;
Where was heard the mingled measure
From the fountain and the caves.
It was a miracle of rare device,
A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice!
A damsel with a dulcimer
In a vision once I saw:
It was an Abyssinian maid
And on her dulcimer she played,
Singing of Mount Abora.
Could I revive within me
Her symphony and song,
To such a deep delight ’twould win me,
That with music loud and long,
I would build that dome in air,
That sunny dome! those caves of ice!
And all who heard should see them there,
And all should cry, Beware! Beware!
His flashing eyes, his floating hair!
Weave a circle round him thrice,
And close your eyes with holy dread
For he on honey-dew hath fed,
And drunk the milk of Paradise.
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