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Joon Ockmqn Pqintin g, drqwiî9, thinking. Robert Slutzky's drqwings for pqintings

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Page 1: Joan Ockman

Joon OckmqnPqintin g, drqwiî9, thinking.Robert Slutzky's drqwings forpqint ings

Page 2: Joan Ockman

ARCHITECTURE AS A CRAFT

Joon Ockmon ret ired from Columbio University in2008 ofter direct ing the Temple Hoyne Buell Centerfor the Study of Americon Architecture there forfourteen yeors ond teoching in the Groduote Schoolof Architecture, Plonning ond Preservotion for overtwo decodes. She hos held visi t ing teoching oppoint-ments ot the Groduote School of Fine Arts of theUniversity of Pennsylvonio, the Centre de CulturoContemporòneo de Borcelono, the Groduote Cen-ter of the City University of New York, ond YoleUniversity School of Architecture. In 2002-2003 shewos o Center Fel low ot the Internotionol Centerfor Advonced Studies ot New York University. Sheis currently edit ing o book on the history of orchi-tecture educotion in North Americo, forthcomingfrom MIT Press in 2012. Ockmon hos worked in theoff ices of Richord Meier ond Peter Eisenmon. Sheis the outhor or editor of severol highly regordedbooks in her fìeld, omong them Out of Ground Zero.6ose Studies in Urbon Reinvention (Munich [Prestel]2002) ond Architecture Culture 1943-1968. A Documen-tory Anthology (New York [Rizzoli] 1993). Her essoysond reviews hove oppeored in Artforum, Journol ofthe Society of Architecturol Historions, Assemb/oge,ANY, Architecture, Metropolis, Arquitecturo Vivo, A+U,Arch+, Design Book Review, Wornenl Review of 8ooks,Horvord Design Magozine ond Oppositions, omongothers. They ore included in o number of ontholo-gies, including Autonomy ond ldeology. Positioning onArchitecturol Avont-Gorde in North Americo, fhe Sex ofArchitecture, Architecture ond Film, The Urbon Lifeworld,ond Architecture ofthe Everydoy.

110

Page 3: Joan Ockman

i r I l r r ( ) r l<rrrr t r r l l l i l r t r r rg. r l r r rwr i lL l , l l r l t r l . r l r :J l ( r r l r | t t " l r r t

r l 'y . ' l t ' rwrr t j ' l " r l ' r r r r r l r r r !

ln his more thon f i f ty yeors of pointing, in the

potient discovery ond evolution of his own

visuol longuoge, Robert Slutzky emPloyed

drowing in two dist inct woys. These cor-

respond to on ongoing diologue in his work

between concePt ond percept, orchitectonics

ond poetics. We moy chorocterize these woys

os diogrommotíc o nd calligrophic. I ncreosi ng ly

these two grophic impulses become one'

In sketches for o lorge eorly pointing'

Sourcehollondoys, first executed in oils in

1957 (no longer extont) ond then repointed

in ocrylics fifteen yeors loter, l it is possible

to observe how the diogrommotic drowing

functions os o succinct but highly sensit ive

instrument for working out the pointing's

bosic structure. Colors ore indicoted by o no-

totionol system, often obbrevioted to o letter

of the olphobet, with squores or neor-squores

morked with on X. In on init iol sketch l l

the ' topologicol ' concerns of the pointing

ore resolved: eoch primory color os well os

block touches onother once ond only once' ln

the more ossured second sketch,l l l the nine-

squore grid with i ts centrol hole or oculus

emerges decisively. This structure wos to

become one of Slutzky's privi leged comPo-

sitionol strotegies, invested with increosing

loyers of meoning over the yeors. lf the more

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I Sourcehollondovs, 195711973

il l

lll Sketch for SourcehollondoYsll Sketch for SourcehollondoYs

Page 4: Joan Ockman

nervous hondwriting of the first sketch inti-motes the ' j iggle-ioggle' sheors ond sl ippogesond ombiguous figure-fìeld relotions of thefinol pointing, the second sketch portends itsrototionol rhythm. Just os o musicol score iso scoffold for the future eruPtion of sound,so Slutzky's monochromotic ink drowingshold the promise of chromoticism within theirskeletol shorthond.

Of course the octuol pointing Possesseso physicolity ond presence thot for exceed thediogrom's onticipotory potentiol to conveyits reolity (not to mention the reproduction'sretrooctive one), ond olso incorporotes occi-dentol or evolutionory troits thot only comeinto being in the contingent Process of point-ing. Slutzky typicol ly begon eoch convos witho l ight pencil underdrowing - often o reinter-pretotion ond rescoling of the PoPer diogrom- on o freshly gessoed surfoce, then groduollyworked from woshy to defìnite form. Theoesthetics of flotness ond the unforgivingnoture of ocryl ic point, which he f irst begonto use in the second holf of the 1960s, wereinimicol to buil t up loyers of poínt. Yet herefused to 'point by number', ond reiectedthe ort of those who left nothing to the finolpointing but the tronsfer of o predeterminedimoge. In his view the diogrom wos on init io-tor or foci l i totor of the process of moking,not i ts destiny. In this sense, even ot his most

t t t r . t r tgr l ty ' . l r r t l r t t t , l r t ' t r l r t r t l , l t r ' 111rv1r1 1r11l l1 i r ly

r o l l t t r l t t l r l t t '11 1l1p plryr l r r t l l l y , t l t l t r ' l r r t t t r l ut

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Page 5: Joan Ockman

l r r t ( ) t l r t r r l t t r t l ( ) t ( ) l t l r r . 1r t i l r r . . , . . i l l i l r r t l , t r r r l ,

i l ( ) l r l . , r l r . . , t t t r / l r r t l r t . , . . r .n. . t . , t .vr . i l r r l l r r . , t r r i l . , t

r ì ìctoplrysrcul utr t l ccr cbr ol , l rc ncv(.r cnt r c ly

rel inquished the physicol i ty of the hond or

ruled out the vel le i t ies of the process.

For similor reosons - to ovoid l i terolond reductive reodings - Slutzky did not t i t lehis pointings. Most simply ond unsystemoti-colly they become Untitled 1, Untitled 2, ondso on. On occosion, however, he could notresist o poetic metophor or historicol ol lu-sion. f n Sourcehollondoys, the pointing's expost focto title wíttily conflotes polette ondpolote, the primory colors of De Sti j l ond theyolky luminosity of o souce hollondoise. As thepun mokes cleor, the pointing is o tr ibute toNeo-Plosticism, to whose orthodox principlesSlutzky dedicoted himself for the better portof o decode stort ing oround 1953-1954. Heemborked on this trojectory ofter leoving theortistic hothouse of New York City for NewHoven ond Yole University's School of Art.ln New York on older generotion of ort istswos sti l l pursuing the f igurotive reolism of the1930s while the vonguord wos being swept upin the postwor current of Abstroct Expres-sionism. As o beginning ort student, f irst otthe Art Students Leogue ond then ot CooperUnion, Slutzky dobbled in both these tenden-cies. Yet ot Yole, where he orrived in 1951,he found himself engoged by something morerigorous: Josef Albers's pedogogy of colorinteroction. A pointing morking o decisive

Untitled, 1968-1969

,11 . -

Vl Sketches for t ipped point ings similor to f ig. V

| i l | l ' t ' r )

Joon Ockmon Point ing, drowing, th inking. Robert Slutzky's drowings for point ings

Page 6: Joan Ockman

IVcrossroods in his creotive development is thesmoll but iconlike JA . . . HH (1952; Fig. lV),which records this init iol moment of nego-

t iot ion between Hons Hofmonn's push-pullgesturol ism ond Albers's'ret inol ' psychology.

For the next three decodes, Slutzkywould f ind his odopted discipl ine of hord-edge geometric obstroction suffìcientlyengrossing to dispel ony l ingering nostolgiofor the expressive freedoms of the hond, otleost overtly. Yet the pointerly diolectics ofmind-eye ond hond-body present in his eorl i-est work never oltogether vonished from hiswork. Upon groduoting from Yole in 1954,he took o f irst job teoching in the school oforchitecture ot the University of Texos inAustin. There, with pointings like GuodoloupeBoogie-Wooqie, he continued to pursue his or-t ist ic fì l iot ion to Mondrion, while olso enter-ing into o new world of orchitecturol ideos,developing close intel lectuol bonds withstimuloting colleogues l ike Colin Rowe ondJohn Hejduk. At the some time, his discoveryof the plostic volues of Cubist ond Corbusionoesthetics - which would inform the lrons-porency orticles he coouthored with Rowe in1955-1956 - ond his engogement with boththe teoching ond moking of col loge servedos o reminder of, ond compensotion for, thetocti le volues he hod foresworn in his point-i r r<;s. Roqordirrq col loqe-mol<inq os on csscn-

l l r t l f l t t t t l r f f l t t r l r t l t r r r r l l lq1r, l l t r I n l l l l l l t l l l l l r l

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vll untitled, 1972

5Vll l Sketch for Unti t led,1972

Page 7: Joan Ockman

( t ' . ( r t r .nr t r r r l r . t o l , r tn( l ( ont l ) r .nìr t l lotr lor , t l r r .l r t r t t l r . vr t lur . . , l r r . l r r t , l lot r . . .wor rr t r r l r t r l r r r l r ll r r l ì l l r . r l ( l r l t r r r ; r o l l r t r ; r . nrr t l (nr( l ( t \ (nr ( . \ \ ( . r l

t ro l lor ' r ì ì o l ' f i r rgcr cxcrosc' , l rc colr t r r rucd [opursue experiments with torn poper in thelote 1950s ofter leoving Texos. Throughouthis coreer he olso would continue to teochstudio courses to both ort ond orchitecturestudents on o subject he colled 'col loge-montoge', drowing o somewhot unorthodoxdistinction between these two terms on thebosis of their respectively nonrepresento-t ionol ond representotionol (or norrotive)chorocter.

Hoving worked through the problems ofthe red - bl ue-yel low- block-wh ite- g roy co nvosby the mid-1960s to his sotisfoction, or elseexhoustion, ot leost for the t ime being, heemborked on o series of composit ions withvert icol str ipes on orthogonol or t ippedfìelds. Among them were o lorge group ofdiomond-shoped pointings. This tronsit ionmorked o new ond permonent involvementwith primory-complementory color relo-t ionships, ond it wos occomponied by thepreviously mentioned shift to ocryl ic point,o medium thot hod recently come into cur-rency omong ort ists ond wos ideolly suited totoping off hord, crisp edges, i f ot the socrif iceof some luminosity. Like their predecessors,these stripe pointings were often kicked offby o rough diogrom scribbled on the bock ofon envelope or nopkin, olthough on occosionolso put down with greoter deliberoteness.

Vf f f " l , r . t r

l r lot l l t t t r th ' ,1, l ' l / )

f X Homoge to Boch,1973-1974

X Sketch for Homoge to Bochu

Joon Ockmon Point ing, drowing, thinking. Robert Slutzky's drowings for poinrings

Page 8: Joan Ockman

While exponded in their ronge of colorotion,they olso continued to plumb the geometriesof the squore ond the golden-section rec-tongle os well os the lotent i l lusionism of theflot surfoce. In the lotter respect his worktook o precísely opposite poth from thotpromoted ofter World Wor ll by the criticClement Greenberg (ond his disciple RosolindKrouss), who upheld f lotness os the holy groi lof obstroct ort. Slutzky's tipped pointings inport iculor - which hong ot vorious ongles offthe orthogonol, from 3 to 45 degrees - useobstroctioníst flotness to explore the impliedspotiol i t ies of perspectivol ond oxonometricprojection. In this regord his work reflectso rich seepoge of orchitecturol thinking, onoriginol vein he would mine further in onexhibit ion with John Hejduk entit led lheDiamond in Pointing and Architecture, presentedot the Architecturol Leogue in New York in1967.

As evident from o poir of diogroms fort ipped pointings contoining six ond sevenverticol s, respectively, of d ifferent th ickness,spocing, ond color, vl similor to the red point-ing of 1968-1969 reproduced here, V Slutzky'sintent wos to moke the picture plone reod oso folded sheet, or more precisely, to creoteon osci l lot ing ombiguity between the up-ond-down donce of the color str ipes on the point-ing's surfoce ond the i l lusionist ic possibi l i ty of

perceiving them os bors moving forword ondbock in spoce. The pointings in f igures 5 ond6 ore st i l l bosed on the primory polette, witheoch of the three colors doubled. But theirrrroduction of 'yel low- g reen', os indicotedr r r t l r t . k. f t l r t r r r r l r l i r t r ; t rut t i t t f i<; t t t ' t 'Vl , r ' i f fs t l re

ryr t€1i l . r€t t l i lo ol l r t t e l r t t lu l tu l ut t t t te l t r wl t l t l r

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Page 9: Joan Ockman

VI

I t rq ' r t r r r l r t r e orrr l tho l l l r r r ln l r l r t l r pnrr lh l l l ty of

l lor r c lv lnr l I l rorrr r t r l r r t t r r r rovlrrr ; f t r t wrtr r l urrr lbock rrr spocc. I l rc poirr t i r rgs rrr l igurcs 5 orrd6 ore st i l l bosed on the primory polette, witheoch of the three colors doubled. But theintroduction of 'yellow-green', os indicotedin the left-hond diogrom in figure Vl, riffs thesystem, setting off o relotionol gome in whichone of the primories reods os 'more primory'thon the other, or even implies its comple-mentory color. With their multiple yellows,blues, ond reds these pointings inevitoblypointed to the next step for Slutzky, whichwos to open his polette to the full spectrum.Indeed, he reosoned, Mondrion himself wouldl ikely hove mode o similor move hod he l ivedlonger: in his unfinished lost pointing, theVictory Boogie-Wooqie, which he worked on inhis New York studio from 1942 to 1944, theDutch pointer introduced subtle voriotionson the primory polette, suggesting thot hemoy hove been poised to embork on o rodi-colly new direction. (This intuition seems tobe confìrmed by o recent onolysis of the suc-cessive stoges in the pointing's long gestotioncorried out by scholors ot the Gemeentemu-seum in The Hogue.)

An orthogonol ond ostensibly morestroightforword convos thot Slutzky pointedo few yeors lqlsr vll consists simply of threestripes of pure primories on the left ondthree str ipes of pure complementories on the XIV Sketch for Untitled, 1978-1979

Joon ockmon Point ing, drowing, thinking. Robert slutzky's drowings for point ings

Xl | | Untitled (color wheel),'1978-1979

Page 10: Joan Ockman

vi l l

r ight set ogoinst o bockground thot is hol f groy

ond holf white. Yet the precisely col ibroted in-tervols between these elements ond the inser-t ion of three hoir l ine-thin white-groy vert icolsproduce the kinet ic effect of squore f ie lds sl id-ing lef t ond r ight, rendering ombiguous whotis f igure ond whot ground. These dynomics,resembling o curtoin moving bock ond forth,ore ont ic ipoted in the energet ic hondwri t ingof the diogrom for this point ing. vt t t l t is note-worthy, however, thot the order of the colorsprojected in the diogrom wos reversed in theoctuol point ing, indicot ing once ogoin theempir icol noture of the pointer ly process.

ln the eor ly 1970s the str iped, t ipped,ond diomond convoses gove woy to o newseries of point ings of increosing structurolcomplexi ty ond chromotic vor iobi l i ty. Thesecomposit ions of squores, rectongles, ond L-shopes, deployed in complementory poir ingsond chromot ic c lusters, tx xt poid homoge toCubism (most especiol ly Juon Gris, but o lsoLéger, Broque, ond Picosso) ond to musicolforms (most especiol ly Boch, but olso jozz).

Slutzky seized on the procl iv i ty in Gris 's lotest i l l - l i fes for ref lected or inverted symmetr iesobout o diogonol oxis, but set for h imsel f theproblem of ochieving with his obstroct formolrepertory relot ionships s imi lcr to those pro-r l r r r cr l I ry t l rc Cul l is t prr in l r . r ' 's p ipcs. c; t t i tc t t -s,r i l r r l r r ' | | t l " ' l , , l l ' .1r , . Ar t l r , ' . ' l lnI l l ln! l l l ' .

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IX XI

XV Untit led (The Tempest).1981+

Page 11: Joan Ockman

' , f , , ,1,r t = l r , , , l r r l , r t r . , l . , i l l r r rI r i l r r l I r r f . . r r | | i l | l l1. , , , l r . t r l t1r , , , .1, ; r t i t t l l i l r l . , r lt ' l l l l l tonul t t ' . . ( |1r1tr r , , , l r t (

r l . y ' . . r1 t l t 1 l r t l . .

91 ( l i l l l t ì ( | l t ( ( l t ( |wi l t ( r \ f t r r t l r t .st . l ) ( | i l t t i l t ( r . , r

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not orì ly s l row thcir- str .uctur.ol corìccpt ior ì butolso provide on inkl ing of the colorist ic ener_gies to be unleoshed in the f inol work.

Around the mid_1970s, Slutzky l i t upon onentirely originol composit ionol structups. Xil lAt f irst glonce his color_wheel pointingsrecoll the pulsoting f ields of Albers,s Ho^ogeto the Squore series. But Slutzky's oim wosfor less minimolist thon his ,"o.hur,r, no.just composit ionolly bur semonticol ly. Fus-ing perceptuol optics with both the iermeticpoetry of the Cubist st i l l_l i fe ond the con_ceptuol ormoture of Goetheon color theory,the_ color-wheel pointings ospired to be oself-sufficient world of obstroct color, srruc_ture, ond meoning, o totol synthesis of thepointerly universe. The twelve hues orbit_ing oround the series of concentric sguorefields in obedience to the sequence of thespectrum - red, red_violet, violet, blue_violet,blue, blue-green, green, yel low_green, yel low,yellow-oronge,oronge, red-oronge _lock in complementory relotionshìps thot

\

1XVI Sketch for point ing in the some series os nq. XV

vector ocross the convos, meonwhile beingtronsformed in volue ond size by the colorf ields through which they poss.

These intr icote pointings, on which

Joon ockmon point ing, drowing, thinking. Robert srutzky's drowings for porntings

Page 12: Joan Ockman

Slutzky worked from obout1976 to 1980,inevitobly led, with on inexoroble logic, totheir own l imit-point. Much os his stretch-ing of the boundories of the primory polettehod eorl ier opened the f loodgotes to the restof the spectrum, so in the color-wheel point-ings his experimentotion with extremely closevolue relotionships, which often resulted in onopticol dissolution of the boundories betweenfields, ultimotely spurred him to tronsgress thehord-edge oesthetic he hod embroced thirtyyeors eorl ier. With this opporently momen-tous move, the coll igrophic impulse Slutzkyhod long repressed begon to reoppeor. In o

xv extroordinori ly beoutiful pointing of 1984, xvwhich subliminolly recolls Giorgione's Iempestoin the Accodemio in Venice, mony of Slutzky'sprevious themes ore present - the centroloculus, the peripherol color wheel, the com-plementory color poir ings - but now in on oc-cluded, highly otmospheric form. The pointer'sbrushstrokes peek from behind the opoquecolor blocks l ike roi l ing weother ond the spec-trol sequence is ourorol. In o smoll drowing for

xvl o reloted pointing in this series, XVI ths use ofcross-hotching ond shoding suggesr Slutzkyseorching for o woy to invest his older systemof denototion with more connototive. ombi-crrt offccts.

I t t f , t r l . f l rc rntror l r r r l r r )n () f to( f r l r t r r . . , r r l ( )

l l r , , , l rvr t ' , tn f l r , , l ' r l l t l , . w, , r r l , l ' , r r ly | " t t ' , i l t r t t r .

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XVll Untitled (The Tempest),198/t

Page 13: Joan Ockman

' , r ,ur ( lun( l lot r t wrty l ( ) urv( . ' ,1 l t t ' , , r l r l r . t ' ,y ' , t ( .nrr l l r lcrr<-r( t r t ron wrt l r nrorc connototrvc. u l l ìbr-ent offects.

In foct, the introduction of tocti l i t ies incothe convos in the 1980s would only constitute

o port iol breok in Slutzky's trojectory. In hissubsequent work he never obondoned thehord edge entirely, but rother pursued o dio-logue between the hord ond the soft, f ìnishedond unfìnished, objectivity ond subjectivity. Att imes these opposit ions resulted in on uneosycoexistence or unresolved stote of tension.At the some time, especiol ly in retrospect,i t is possible to sense simi lor tensions inhis eorly geometric work - for exomple, incertoin of h is str ipe ond diomond point ings,with their ottenuoted or meondering l in-eorit ies ond grovity-sensit ive f ields; in thesecomposit ions l ines serve not just to demor-cote spotiol contours but olso os surrogotesfor dripping point or os metophors of thepointer's hond.

Yet i t is only in the lote work thot Slutz-ky permits octuol dr ips ond blurs ond smudg-es ond oreos of row convos ond of indecisionto persist into the f inished work, exposingthe privote, orcone process of pointing topublic view. Indeed, the lote pointings moy bereod os f ields for the octive working out ofthe ontologicol dif ferences between pointingond drowing. Not surprisingly, the nototionoldiogroms on scrops of poper become increos-ingly rore, ond presumobly unnecessory. Ino series of f ive block, somewhot impostopointings completed in the eorly 1990s, notlong ofter he hod moved out of his loft studio N

NJ

XVl l l Intermediote stote of Unt i t led, l995 ( f ig. XIX)

Joon Ockmon Point ing, drcwing, th inking. Robert Slutzky's drowings for point ings

Page 14: Joan Ockman

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XIX

in Monhotton into on old mi l l bui ld ing on theoutskirts of Philodelphio, Slutzky returned tothe nine-squore structure of his eorly Source-hollondoys, but now os o kind of col l igrophic,ond outobiogrophic, memory. The mi l l 's sol idstone mosonry become the inspirotion -unchorocterist ico I ly for this onti-notu rol ist icpointer - for his conception of these lorgepointings os excovotions of l ight ond colorout of opoque, moteriol substonce. In the lostpoint ing in the ser ies, f in ished in 1995, x lX 11is possible to troce through photogrophs ofsuccessive stoges of i ts development o port lysgroffìto process of erosure ond emendotionleoding to i ts ghostly fìnol s1s1s. XVll xvl l l

The pointing in f igure XX, on exomplefrom o more ebull ient series Slutzky under-took just ofter the block pointings ond neverexhibited, represents o more l i terol returnto his 'Dutch' per iod ond his eor ly preoccu-potion with primory colors ond ploid grids.There is on unmistokoble wink ot the severolRietveld choirs thot were scottered oroundhis studio in these yeors, not to mentiono bow to Von Doesburg. Von Doesburg'shereticol oct of introducing the diogonol intoMondrion's orthogonol universe in 1924 -going beyond the lozenge shope of the con-vos into the configurotive heort of the point-ing - become, for Slutzky, the provocotionfor yet onother consciously meditoted 'violo-

t ion' in his own lote work. But in resurrectingthis polemicol bott le between the diogonolond the orthogonol, Slutzky chorocterist icol lytronsformed it into o diolecticol disputotionwithin the pointing i tself. Apropos of thetheme of the mentol ond the monuol, th isc;cstrr rol rcd - blrrc-ycl low- blocl<-wh i tc poi rrt-r r ( l ( ( r r rot l r r ' l1r l r r r t , , r r r ; r ; r . . , t o purrr l l r . l to t l r r '

XVII XVII I

XX

XIX Finol stote of Unti t led, 1995

Page 15: Joan Ockman

l r is strrr l i<- l i r r t l rcsc ycct 's, not t ( ) t ì tc l t t iot lo bow to Von Doesburg. Von Doesburg'shereticol oct of introducing the diogonol intoMondrion's orthogonol universe in 1924 -going beyond the lozenge shope of the con-vos into the configurotive heort of the point-ing - become, for Slutzky, the provocotionfor yet onother consciously meditoted 'violo-

t ion' in his own lote work. But in resurrectingthis polemicol bott le between the diogonolond the orthogonol, Slutzky chorocterist icol lytronsformed it into o diolecticol disputotionwithin the pointing itself. Apropos of thetheme of the mentol ond the monuol, thisgestu rol red-bl ue-yel low-block-wh ite poi nt-ing connot help but suggest o porol lel to thehondicroft context within which the meto-physicol polemics of De Sti j l ployed out.

Slutzky's internol, ongoing diologueswith Neo-Plosticism ond Cubism reflect notjust his ocute consciousness of the history ofort but olso his oworeness of the implicotionsof his own beloted relotionship to the Mod-ern Movement. While modernist oestheticsremoined on unfinished ond vitol project forhim to the end of his l i fe, they did not implyo slovish repetit ion but rother demonded ogeneologicol ond increosingly questioning re-lot ionship. This often meont circl ing bock forthe soke of o rodicol reinterpretotion. In thiscontext, o very lote pointing, of 1999, xxlis exemplory. The syntheric world of thecolor-wheel pointing hos been completelyobondoned now in fovor of forms thot fly offthe convos into outer spoce, os i f the point-ing were no more thon o momentoneouscopturing of chonce, f lototionol frogmentsin on infinite goloxy. The pointing evokes yetonother iconic imoge of modernism - the

XIX Firrol stutc ol Urr t r t l t ' r / . 1995

XX Untitled. 1995

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XXI

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Joon ockmon Point ing, drowing, thinking. Robert Slutzky's drowings for point ings

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XXII

cerebrol , gegendstondlose universe of Supre-motism. Here, however, the utopios of Mo-levich ond Lissi tzky seem to meet the bloodond teors of eorthly existence. The pcinter lyf ield ond the grovi tot ionol f ìeld ore in conf l ict ;i t is indeterminoble whether the t runcotedred cruci form is in the oct of oscending orcroshing to eorth. Meonwhi le, wi th in th is cos-mic dromo, Slutzky's r igorous composit ionolstructur ing remoins unfoi l ing: three pr imoriesond three complementor ies focing off eochother in complementory poir ings.

Much of whot hos been suggested herewith regord to the intertwined physics ondmetophysics of Slutzky's point ings is summedup in his f inol work, now in the col lect ionof the Whitney Museum in New York, xxl l

At the t ime he pointed i t , ín 2002, he hodneor ly lost the use of h is honds to the mo-tor neuron diseose to which he succumbedthree yeors loter, ond i ts minimol ism moy beoscr ibed, ol though only in port , to the physi-col di f f icul ty of point ing. The levi tot ionol ploidgr id, on evonescent green-blue on blue, ispinioned by two thin yel low vert icols, eochdivided precisely in holf by o t iny red dot -

the lost permutot ions of the signoture oculus.Although Slutzky never t i t led this point ing,i ts colorot ion, which completely suffuses thef ield of v is ion, evokes Hólderl in 's frogmentorylost poem, ' ln Lovely Blue' :

In lovely blue the steep/e b/ossomsWith its metol roof. Around whichDrift swollow cries, oround whichLies most loving blue.

. . . poeticollyr r r r r r r r /wcl ls orr l l t rs cr t r l / t

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xxl untitled. 1999

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Page 17: Joan Ockman

grld, on cvonesccnt grcen-blue on blue, lspinioned by two thin yel low vert icols, eochdivided precisely in holf by o t iny red dot -the lost permutotions of the signoture oculus.Although Slutzky never titled this pointing,its colorotion, which completely suffuses thefield of vision, evokes Hólderlin's frogmentorylost poem, 'ln Lovely Blue':

ln lovely blue the steeple blossomsWith its metol roof, Around whichDrift swallow uies, oround whichlies most loving blue.

. . . poeticollyman dwells on this eorth . . .

Would I like to be o comet? I think so.They are swift os birds, they flowerWith fire, childlike in purity.Io desireMore thon this is beyond human meosure.l

1 ' ln l iebl icher Blóue . . . ' f rom Friedrich Hólderl in, Hymnsond Frogments. Tronsloted by Richord Sieburth, Princeton(Princeton University Press) 1984, pp.249,251. This somepoem inspired the essoy'. . . Poeticol ly Mon Dwells . . . 'by Mort in Heidegger, onorher of whose essoys, 'Bui ldingDwell ing Thinking', prompted the t i t le for the presenrref lect ions. N)

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xxl unt i t led.1999

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XXlf Untitled (ln Lovely Blue),2002

Joon Ockmon Point ing, drowing, thinking. Robert Slutzky's drowings for point ings