Kaitlyn Menefee Ryan Pipan April 14 2012 Daoism in the West Art and Architecture If our youth seriously listen to such unworthy representation of gods instead of laughing at them as they ought hardly willing of them deem that he himself being but a man can be dishonored by simila ID: 728727
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Slide1
Joseph Bertino, Joshua Malone, Kaitlyn Menefee, Ryan PipanApril 14, 2012
Daoism in the West: Art and ArchitectureSlide2
"If our youth seriously listen to such unworthy representation of gods, instead of laughing at them as they ought, hardly willing of them deem that he himself, being but a man, can be dishonored by similar actions- and instead of having any shame or self-control, he will always be whining and lamenting on slight occasions." (Republic 388d)Homer: A Bad InfluenceSlide3
The Painter is therefore three times removed from the truth"The art of imitation is a far cry from the truth. the reason it(the painter) can make everything, apparently, is that it grasps just a little of each thing- and only an image at that... paint us a carpenter, he knows nothing of the man's skill and yet he is a good painter, from a distance his picture of the carpenter can fool children and people with no judgement because it looks like a carpenter" (598b-c).
"All in all, then, what people in this situation would take for the truth would be nothing more than the shadows of the manufactured objects" (515c).
The Painter Follows HomerSlide4
"Well I imagine that audiences and spectators can take pleasure in beautiful sounds and colors and shapes, and in everything which is created from these elements but that their minds are incapable of seeing and taking pleasure in, the nature of beauty itself" (476b).Uneducated and easily swayed led astrayThe Influenced: Children and GullibleSlide5
Europa and the BullSlide6
Art should be used for education of great citizens“…to imitate is natural to humans from childhood, so also it is natural for everyone to take pleasure in imitations” (On Poetics 1448b5-10)
Aristotle
: Agrees to DisagreeSlide7
Joachim Beuckelaer“Women selling Vegetables”Slide8
Kitsch Art: Far From the TruthSlide9
Often made solely for profit; an ends to a meansVoid of truth, or underlying meaning Simulacrum Mostly copies, with no originalsOnly valued for entertainment video games, movies, cartoons
What’s Wrong with Contemporary Western Art?Slide10
To explain or reveal something deeper about the relationship between mankind and the environment Not about profit or utility Illustrate an ultimate truth (the Dao), the secrets of naturePrimary goal capture nature’s spirit, rather than imitate its physical characteristics
What is the purpose of art in Daoism?Slide11
Truly great artists reveal the subject’s inner qualities Energy, movement, essence, spirit qi （the manifestation of Dao)
Woodworker
Ching’s
Bellstand
From the
Zhuang
Zi
, “
For
there to be life, a necessary prerequisite is that it not be separated from the physical
form”
Daoism Applied to Chinese PaintingSlide12
Blank spaces indicate wu 无 nonactionFocus attention on main subject
Allow the viewers mind to wander
Often black and white presence, absence
Seeing largeness in smallness
Man not the center, unlike Old Testament
Rivers bend, weave
symbol of water
Daoist
Principles Within Chinese PaintingSlide13
Wang Fu (1362-1416): A Gathering of Literati in A Mountain BowerSlide14
Shan Shui “mountain-water”Style of painting emphasizes nature, uses 5 elements, in proper pairs
山水
Chinese
Element
Color
Direction
木
mu
Wood
Green
East
火
huo
Fire
Red
South
土
tu
Earth
Tan/Yellow
NE/SW
金
jin
Metal
White/Gold
West/NW
水
shui
Water
Blue/Black
NorthSlide15
Tang Yin (1470 – 1523): Hermit Fisherman in Streams and MountainsSlide16
Too big! Imposes on landscape, susceptible to natural disasters Dominates the environmentDepends upon many foreign materials
What’s Wrong With Contemporary Western Architecture?Slide17
In respect to Daoist principles pertaining to Chinese architecture, a structure is considered an artwork that is lived in Furthermore, the building should leave a place or clearing for truth to reveal itself to its inhabitantsPromote positive, orderly human relations This concept is absent in Western architecture due to Le Corbusier’s
“Machine Aesthetic Principle”
Differences between Western and Eastern Architecutre Slide18
19th Century Western Architecture
Charles-
Edouard
Jeannerette
“Le Corbusier”
Believed architecture had to keep up with the technological advancements of the time
Contemporary architects now needed to
1. incorporate industrial technology into buildings such as plumbing and heating systems
2. Have the building’s aesthetics resonate with contemporary technological
advancmentsSlide19
Abstract Universalism
The architect is now the artist
The artist is inspired by the universal laws of nature
Coincides with the philosophies of Plato and Aristotle in that there is an abstraction of forms
Forms are easily copied
Corbu
takes an abstraction of these forms into what he calls “the architectural plan” Slide20Slide21
Mass Production Spirit
In the 19
th
Century, businesses wished to maximize production
People held responsible for mass production, and are products of mass production
Unlike the
Daoist
conception of architecture, buildings are not necessarily artworks to be lived in.
Rather, they are like factories that house human productivity
The machine aesthetic of these buildings is easily copied and reproduced
Thus the shape and function of the building is replicated from city to citySlide22
The shape of a building should be based on the intended the purpose and function of the buildingCorbu believed the plan in drawing up a building is an austere abstractionForm should not be restricted to what form is supposed to do Because the plan is very abstract, the function of the building did not always work out
Example
the new science center
Form Follows FunctionSlide23
From the West to the East Slide24
The apparition of these faces in the crowd; Petals on a wet, black bough. -Ezra Pound
In a Station of the MetroSlide25
And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that
creepeth
upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
-Genesis 1:2
8
-
3
0
Architectural understandings: WestSlide26
Architectural understandings: EastHeaven and Earth are not humane.They regard all things as straw dogs.
The sage is not humane.
He regards all people as straw dogs….
-Dao De Jing, 5
Tao is empty (like a bowl),
It may be used but its capacity is never exhausted.
It is bottomless, perhaps the ancestor of all things.
It blunts sharpness,
It unties its tangles.
It softens its light.
It becomes one with the dusty world….
-Dao De Jing, 4 Slide27
Building merges with siteForm follows function…and natureNature as modelBorrowingYin/yang Interior/exteriorMan-made/natural
Space is filled with
qi
Fengshui
Daoist
ViewSlide28
Geography, Climate, AestheticsCities and HousesBalancing qi from nature with bodily qiHarmony and FlowSuperstitious?Practical!
(Exploited)
Fengshui
（风水）Slide29
Understanding the reciprocal relationships between nature and architecture:High and LowProtruding and RetreatingOpen and ClosedSunny and ShadyExterior and InteriorSouth and North
Scattered and Condensed
A and ~A
Fengshui
（风水）Slide30
When Man is born, he is tender and weak.At death, he is stiff and hard.
All things, the grass as well as trees, are tender and supple while alive.
When dead, they are withered and dried.
Therefore the stiff and the hard are companions of death.
The tender and the weak are companions of life. Therefore if the army is strong, it will not win.
If a tree is stiff, it will break.
The strong and the great are inferior, while the tender and the weak are superior.
-Dao De Jing , 76