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While Europe and the world are entangled in their own
contradictions in celebrating economic growth and technical
progress as the salvation horizon of humanity, Filip Markiewicz
proposes to dive into a universe of signs and images that reflect
the emptiness of our current discourses. He imagines his
exhibitions as stages on which individuals are invited to watch the
decline of their own civilisation. The myth of the automobile ends
in desolate cemeteries of rusted engines and useless tires; giant
bank notes stand for the deceptive show of perverted politics and
media (self-)representation. As the artist stated in his theatre
performance Fake Fiction (Theater Basel, 2017): "Today, we have all
somehow turned into Bela Lugosi. The dance of the vampires of the
European image can begin. It's time to put on the masks and drink
the digital blood until our hard drive is formatted for eternity."
The fourth volume presents the main characteristics of the Bauhaus
concept of the stage. It was essentially shaped by Oskar Schlemmer,
who had taken over the stage department in 1923. Laszlo Moholy-Nagy
took an interest in abstract kinetic and luminary phenomena which
he examines in his essay "Theatre, Circus, Variete." Farkas Molnar
focused for his part on stage architecture, which he discusses in
detail in this volume.
Few creative movements have been more influential than the Bauhaus,
under the leadership of Walter Gropius. The art of the theater
commanded special attention. The text in this volume is a loose
collection of essays by Oskar Schlemmer, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, and
Farkas Molnar (who in an illustrated essay shares his vision of a
total theatre space), with an introduction by Bauhaus leader Walter
Gropius. Originally published in German in 1924, Die Buhne im
Bauhaus was translated by A. S. Wensinger and published by Wesleyan
in 1961. It was prepared with the full cooperation of Walter
Gropius and his introduction was written specially for this
edition. From Bauhaus experiments there emerged a new aesthetic of
stage design and presentation, a new concept of"total theater." Its
principles and practices, revolutionary in their time and far in
advance of all but the most experimental stagecraft today, were
largely the work of Oskar Schlemmer, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, and their
students. Profusely illustrated and startling in its typography
(the work of Moholy-Nagy), the 1924 volume quickly became a
collector's item and is now virtually unobtainable. Those
interested in the stage, the modern visual arts, or in the bold
steps of the men of genius who broadened the horizons of aesthetic
experience will appreciate that this translation is available
again.
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