Reading composition 7

Steinway Ghosts, a painting by Claribel Cone, follows the principal and elements of design although it is abstract. Because it is abstract art it operates with a range of forms in order to portray “the many contemporary expressions of modernism” (Roth, pg. 612). This unique piece of art is about “Ghosts of music and adventures and memories…” says the artist who also states that “in this painting shape and windows and air and figures”.

The forms within this painting are brought together using no distinct lines but a series of repeated brush strokes. Everything seems unpredictable yet it fits together as if there is a purposed behind each abstracted piece in respect to another. The vibrant colors and irregular lines and forms come together in harmony with an emphasis on the painting as a whole. There is no one thing to be admired. All of the notes to this musical piece unite in order to create an abstract yet controlled representation of a person’s expression. Art is not the only thing that deals with form. It is very prominent in a lot of architecture, “architects use of forms that are widely and instantly recognizable, drawing on imagery that is comforting and reassuring in a destabilizing world”( Roth, pg. 584) is a way to create art that is not necessarily viewed as are to the average person. All of this also applies to Al Held’s painting the Giza Gate, he abstractly portrays a gate using form but using a different method compared to Caribel Cone. His lines are very distinct and the use of black and white is used to emphasize and unite the forms created. Although both paintings are completely different the design elements and principal are quite similar.
People are looking forward and backward and exploring ways in which to express themselves but they are also looking for inspiration for architecture through the form of art. Architecture is said to be “the art we cannot escape” (Roth, pg. 612). In one way this influenced the commodity of building. Generally buildings were meant to be functional for their purposes but when looking to art as inspiration this point of view changes. Art is mainly viewed for delight, therefore architectures purpose was skewed. Form becomes so important that the function no longer matters. For instance the Sydney Opera House, by Jorn Utzon, is meant to be sculptural and portray sales off of the ocean and it accomplishes this but as a concert hall it lack in some important areas. The interior is problematic when it comes to sounds and due to its end product being an opera house it is useless. This is considered satisfactory because it fulfills what the designer intended the building to look like and not what the building was supposed to be used for but it had to be done “ the image was simply too compelling not to build”.(Roth pg. 554)
“I believe that today there is a need for images, for emotion in architecture; a need for architecture to speak once again to people, to become “presence” once again, to become material, to reacquire a meaning that can sometimes be erotic; a need to reestablish a partnership with people, after decades in which architecture was so antiseptic, distant, after the international style ruined all possibility of communication.” These are the words of Mario Botta which depicts how explorations do not always turn out well because architecture must be intended for the use of all.