Week 8-Industrialisation, Modernism and architecture.

Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao (1997) Frank Gehry

Eiffel Tower (1889) Gustave Eiffel

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The Eiffel Tower and the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao have both been described as significant

architectural constructions of their time. The Eiffel Tower has been described as;

 'a symbol of technological prowess' (www.tour- eiffel.com/)

and the Guggenheim museum has been 'hailed as the most important structure of its time'

( www. guggenheim.org/bilbao )

Research both architectural structures in order to comment on;

-the importance of the design and construction

Guggenheim Museum: Instantly hailed as the most important structure of its time. With close to ninety exhibitions and over ten million visitors to its credit, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao forever changed the way the world thinks about museums, and it continues to challenge our assumptions about the connections between art, architecture, and collecting.

Eiffel Tower: The Eiffel Tower was intended to be one of the tallest structures in the world. This explains its extraordinary design which was for wind resistance purposes. The structure was originally built in honor of the French Revolution. It was for the World Exhibition in 1889, in time for the 100th anniversary of the revolution. The exhibition was held to let the world know of the technological advancements in France.

-significance of the materials

Guggenheim Museum: The materials used in its construction were basically precast concrete blocks.

The white paint used on the internal walls makes the works of art stand out.

The skylight is supported by steel joints.

Eiffel Tower: The Eiffel Tower is built of riveted (2.5 million rivets!) wrought iron, a material that will last virtually forever if it is painted regularly. Since it was built (for the International Exhibition of Paris in 1889), the tower has been painted once every seven years. Maintenance on the tower includes applying 50 metric tons of three graded tones of paint every 7 years to protect the 200,000 square meters of iron lattice work from rust.

-significance of the designer

Guggenheim Museum: The career of Frank Lloyd Wright commenced after only a few months of college course work at the University of Wisconsin, when he apprenticed to Chicago architect, J. Lyman Silsbee. His first buildings, like those of Silsbee, were in the prevailing shingle style of Queen Anne architecture. Soon after, though, he found a position with Adler and Sullivan, one of Chicago's most important architectural firms. Louis Sullivan became for Wright the only other architect he consistently admired, always referring to him as "Lieber Meister." The two formed a design synergy that surpassed the usual employee hierarchy, and where Wright often felt he was "the pen in the master's hand." .

Eiffel Tower: Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, a French civil engineer and constructor, is famous for the Eiffel Tower in Paris. He studied at the École Central des Arts et Manufactures, where he demonstrated his interest in metal construction, graduated in Chemical Engineering and in 1866 founded his own company. He directed the building of an iron railway bridge at Bordeaux and the design of the movable dome of the observatory at Nice. He finished his greatest project, the Eiffel Tower, in 1889, in time for the Centennial Exposition, causing commotion and amazement among the artists of the period and the world in general. His next large-scale project was the Panama Canal.

-function for which each was built

Guggenheim Museum: An internationally renowned art museum and one of the most significant architectural icons of the 20th century, the Guggenheim Museum is at once a vital cultural center, an educational institution, and the heart of an international network of museums. Visitors can experience special exhibitions of modern and contemporary art, lectures by artists and critics, performances and film screenings, classes for teens and adults, and daily tours of the galleries led by experienced docents. Founded on a collection of early modern masterpieces, the Guggenheim Museum today is an ever-growing institution devoted to the art of the 20th century and beyond.

Eiffel Tower: It was mainly built for the World Exhibition (sometimes called Paris Exposition) of 1889. This date celebrates the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. The purpose of building this structure was to showcase to the world the advancement of technology and beauty in France.Another reason the tower was built was for scientific progress. Although few realized it, the Eiffel Tower would become a prominent structure in terms of science.

Many experiment with temperature, pressure and pendulums were performed atop the building. Moreover, the most important and still everlasting purpose of the Eiffel Tower was its use as a radio transmission tower. Many radio transmission experiments have been conducted atop the tower. In fact, without this use, the it may not be around today. It was proposed to be demolished but was spared because of its promising future as a radio tower.

-function now-has it changed?

Guggenheim Museum: The guggenheim museum is still used as a museum as it was when it was made.

Eiffel Tower:

The tower still has the same uses but also has a restaurant in it too.

Compare the two architectural structures, by noting their similarities and differences.

A huge difference between the Eiffel tower and the Guggenheim Museum is that the Eiffel tower is tall and pointy while the museum is rounded and no way near as tall as the Eiffel Tower.

They are similar in the way that they are both very famous buildings, and everyone has atleast heard of one of them.

http://www.guggenheim.org/bilbao

http://www.everydayguide.com/importance-of-the-eiffel-tower/

http://www.engology.com/articleeiffel.htm

http://www.architechgallery.com/arch_info/artists_pages/frank_lloyd_wright.html

http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/about

http://ezinearticles.com/?Eiffel-Tower---Why-Was-the-Eiffel-Tower-Built?&id=1434326

Week 6-Landscape and the Sublime

'Wanderer in the mists' (1818) Caspar David Friedrich

'Untitled #2" (2002) Richard Misrach

 'Untitled # 394-03' (2003) Richard Misrach 

Richard Misrach's photography reflects the concept of the Sublime, from the Enlightenment.

Research Misrach's work by reading about his intentions, and also by looking at the work. Then answer the following questions;

1. What and when was the Enlightenment?

The Enlightenment was an intellectual movement in 18th century Europe. The goal of the Enlightenment was to create an authoritative ethics, aesthetics, and knowledge based on an "enlightened" rationality. The movement's leaders viewed themselves as a courageous, elite body of intellectuals who were leading the world toward progress, out of a long period of irrationality, superstition, and tyranny which began during a historical period they called the Dark Ages. This movement provided a framework for the American and French Revolutions, as well as the rise of capitalism and the birth of socialism. It is matched by the high baroque era in music, and the neoclassical period in the arts.

2. Define the concept of the Sublime.

The sublime has been a predominate concept of aesthetic theory in Western art and philosophy, receiving its more explicit formulation in early eighteenth century philosophy. Its presence as a concept in Native American aesthetics is not as explicitly stated as it is in Western thought, but there are strong indications that the sublime as an aesthetic property of Native American culture has been in evidence for centuries. One only needs to examine, for example, the notions of ugliness, exaltation, greatness, beauty, and so on, in the comedy and tragedy in the rituals of the clowns and the dances of the modern Pueblos (See Louis Hieb, 1972). In Zuni art and culture, the notions of the sublime as appreciation through aesthetic non-verbal judgment is evident in the relationship of the beautiful (tso'ya) and the dangerous (attanni).

3. How did the concept of the Sublime come out of the Enlightenment thought?

During the 18th century, paintings weren't focused on the landscape,, it was only used as a background in a painting. But during the 19th century landscape paintings began to become more popular and accepted as art.

4. Discuss the subject matter, and aesthetic (look) of Misrach's work to identify the Sublime in his work. Add some more images of his work.

In Misrach's photos he's shown how big the ocean is compared to humans. In the pictures he has an image of a beach showing the ocean, and a person in the water, showing how small they are compared to it.

5. Identify some other artists or designers that work with ideas around the Sublime, from the Enlightenment era as well as contemporary artists.

Yves Klein.

Mark Rothko.

Rachel Ruysch .

6. How does Misrach's photography make you feel? Does it appeal to your imagination?

Looking at Misrach's paintings makes me realise how small we are and how big the world is compared to us. Like for example in the pictures of people in the ocean, it only shows a small portion of water, but still it is so much greater in size to us. I like how he shows this through his photos.

7. Add a Sublime image of your choice to your blog, which can be Art or just a Sublime photograph.

8. Reference your sources (books and websites).

http://www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/enlightenment_age.html

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Age_of_Enlightenment

http://www.amerindianarts.us/articles/concept_of_the_sublime_as_an_aesthetic_quality.shtml

http://history-world.org/age_of_enlightenment.htm