Can anyone offer any designers, architects, artists, writers or poets who use restrictions as a way to create? (restrictions being time, movement, materials, tools etc)
A few I've been looking at are Allan Wexler, Brice Marden and Sol Lewitt.
The first thing that pops into my mind is Dogme 95.
1. Filming must be done on location. Props and sets must not be brought in (if a particular prop is necessary for the story, a location must be chosen where this prop is to be found).
2. The sound must never be produced apart from the images or vice versa. (Music must not be used unless it occurs where the scene is being filmed).
3. The camera must be hand-held. Any movement or immobility attainable in the hand is permitted. (The film must not take place where the camera is standing; filming must take place where the action takes place.)
4. The film must be in colour. Special lighting is not acceptable. (If there is too little light for exposure the scene must be cut or a single lamp be attached to the camera).
5. Optical work and filters are forbidden.
6. The film must not contain superficial action. (Murders, weapons, etc. must not occur.)
7. Temporal and geographical alienation are forbidden. (That is to say that the film takes place here and now.)
8. Genre movies are not acceptable.
9. The final picture must be transferred to the Academy 35mm film, with an aspect ratio of 4:3, that is, not widescreen. (Originally, the requirement was that the film had to be filmed on Academy 35mm film, but the rule was relaxed to allow low-budget productions.)
10. The director must not be credited.
every creator has restrictions. qua architecture, every architect is confronted with restrictions on every job. there are three responses to restriction (words in negative/neutral/positive connotation order):
1.) to violate/to overcome/to defeat restriction
2.) to succumb to/to accept/to embrace restriction
3.) to neglect/to ignore restriction/to render restriction irrelevant
indeed, nothing occurs in a vacuum, nearly least of all architecture. architecture is formed and defined by so many restrictions as to render it almost inevitable and unchangeable when compared with the fewer restrictions faced by, say, choreographers or poets (just random examples).
and even the choreographer is limited/defined by his/her dancers and their abilities; the amount of physical and temporal space afforded to him/her; the music or lack thereof; the funding for his/her show; etc
and even the poet is limited/defined by his/her vocabulary, his/her command of poetic technique/theory...
(i'm feeling rather pedantic today)
i like the dogma 95 rules...honestly i'd never seen them printed before...but, as with all restrictions, they do create a certain kind of product
the dutch group Onix tried to translate Dogma 95 into Architecture, I don´t know if and where there´s english documentation on that... try www.onix.nl
i agree that nothing occurs in a vacuum. site, code, budget, etc are all restrictions architects face when designing buildings. i am looking for people who use 'self imposed restrictions'.
brice marden paints with a stick to limit the movement of his arm. he is forced to use his whole body when painting.
sol lewitt often writes out his work into instructions before actually creating it.
in some of allan wexler projects he restricts himself to a limited amount of materials and/or time.
without restrictions, the forces that drive the projects simply don't exist. check out the datascape theory by MVRDV. if there is one thing i have to remember from my days at the AA it's this theory by patrik Schumacher about 'turning design constraints into design engines', when the aesthetics and tectonics of the project are mostly the result of a set of constraints (often with beautifull results) rather than an arbitrary poetic and formalistic one. A bottom up process rather than a top to bottom figure ground collage. constraints should somehow be seen as a blessing rather than a hurdle.
This news item on Andrea Zittel speaks about how she uses restrictions - some pretty severe - to make her work. I think her work is amazing, and what I've seen in real life has been very strongly architectural.
It's a little odd, isn't it, to be making restrictions on yourself in a place that is so sensually/visually fertile as is Cranbrook? But perhaps that makes it even more appropriate. When possibilites are so endless you have to make at least a few rules just to get yourself started. You can always break those rules when the results of the project steer you that way.
In the movie Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, one of my favorite lines is spoken by Tim Roth (R or C? who knows): "One is free, for a time, on a boat". Being stuck against your will on a boat going to a place you can't guess, well, in that situation one could say you have all the freedom in the world - for a time.
It was great meeting you this weekend, BTW. I keep thinking about that skyline on your wall, it was cool. I just can't think of what else to say beyond that, though I know there is more.
As far as writing goes, check out Rosemary Mosco's "55 words" series. The object is to convey a whole story in just 55 words. This may not seem like a lot, however, Ernest Hemingway did it a lot more convincingly when he said he could write a story in six.
lb, i've been reading up on AZ. thanks! (it was great seeing you guys. i'm sorry the dogs were so nutty.)
quixotica, thank you for the link to rosemary's writings. i love the idea of the 55 word story. the many i've read have been delightful 'little' morsels.
mdler - macgyver was my childhood hero. if anyone wants to buy me an early christmas present, the dvds are for sale.
"I don't have any hands, so I talk to my computer to draw (even sometimes while I actually am taking a bath). And you thought I was old fashioned. Look at yourselves!"
Kind of makes you wonder where the real disabilities lie.
funny to hear about Zittel, i picked up a book the other day (some sort of journal i believe) and was, um... inspired perhaps? I particularly liked her assesment that objects and materials that hide dirt are in fact more useful than those that clean easily, because easy to clean materials seem to get dirty quickly (and who wants to clean, even if easily, every day?).
My first vehicle was a 1989 ford ranger, dirt brown inside and out. I washed it twice a year.
SuperHeavy, you gas guzzling corn husking bastard.
Mar 1, 06 12:37 pm ·
·
Ackerman, in The Architecture of Michelangelo, speaks of Michelangelo demonstrating his ingenuity best when dealing with architectural projects that involved many restrictions, restrictions mostly due to the projects already having been started by others and Michelangelo then having to work with many givens. The lesson I've taken away from this is to not deny the givens and then just maybe my own design ingenuity will come forth.
hehe, have you seen a ford ranger? not to mention it was a 4-banger, gas slurper at best. Though it did have 4 wheel drive and a lift kit, it was Nebraska after all.
You must keep some clothes on....but not all so view if your not a offended by some bare body parts. It is all in Portugese, but those
who want to see a true Carnival...well it is there for the looking.
1. Scribbled secret notebooks, and wild typewritten pages, for your
own joy
2. Submissive to everything, open, listening
3. Try never get drunk outside your own house
4. Be in love with your life
5. Something that you feel will find its own form
6. Be crazy dumbsaint of the mind
7. Blow as deep as you want to blow
8. Write what you want bottomless from bottom of the mind
9. The unspeakable visions of the individual
10. No time for poetry but exactly what is
11. Visionary tics shivering in the chest
12. In tranced fixation dreaming upon object before you
13. Remove literary, grammatical and syntactical inhibition
14. Like Proust be an old teahead of time
15. Telling the true story of the world in interior monologue
16. The jewel center of interest is the eye within the eye
17. Write in recollection and amazement for yourself
18. Work from pithy middle eye out, swimming in language sea
19. Accept loss forever
20. Believe in the holy contour of life
21. Struggle to sketch the flow that already exists intact in mind
22. Dont think of words when you stop but to see picture better
23. Keep track of every day the date emblazoned in your morning
24. No fear or shame in the dignity of your experience, language & knowledge
25. Write for the world to read and see your exact pictures of it
26. Bookmovie is the movie in words, the visual American form
27. In praise of Character in the Bleak inhuman Loneliness
28. Composing wild, undisciplined, pure, coming in from under, crazier the
better
29. You're a Genius all the time
30. Writer-Director of Earthly movies Sponsored & Angeled in Heaven
May 14, 06 1:13 pm ·
·
nice list adso. what inspired you today? No. 24 isn't all that sounds familiar.
Restrictions
Restrictions are a way to force ingenuity.
Can anyone offer any designers, architects, artists, writers or poets who use restrictions as a way to create? (restrictions being time, movement, materials, tools etc)
A few I've been looking at are Allan Wexler, Brice Marden and Sol Lewitt.
Thanks!
almost every project a person works on has restrictions: site, money, client's tastes, functions of a building, etc.
MATTHEW BARNEY'S DRAWING RESTRAINT SERIES...
The first thing that pops into my mind is Dogme 95.
1. Filming must be done on location. Props and sets must not be brought in (if a particular prop is necessary for the story, a location must be chosen where this prop is to be found).
2. The sound must never be produced apart from the images or vice versa. (Music must not be used unless it occurs where the scene is being filmed).
3. The camera must be hand-held. Any movement or immobility attainable in the hand is permitted. (The film must not take place where the camera is standing; filming must take place where the action takes place.)
4. The film must be in colour. Special lighting is not acceptable. (If there is too little light for exposure the scene must be cut or a single lamp be attached to the camera).
5. Optical work and filters are forbidden.
6. The film must not contain superficial action. (Murders, weapons, etc. must not occur.)
7. Temporal and geographical alienation are forbidden. (That is to say that the film takes place here and now.)
8. Genre movies are not acceptable.
9. The final picture must be transferred to the Academy 35mm film, with an aspect ratio of 4:3, that is, not widescreen. (Originally, the requirement was that the film had to be filmed on Academy 35mm film, but the rule was relaxed to allow low-budget productions.)
10. The director must not be credited.
'five obstructions' is a perfect example
oh, that is a really good example!
every creator has restrictions. qua architecture, every architect is confronted with restrictions on every job. there are three responses to restriction (words in negative/neutral/positive connotation order):
1.) to violate/to overcome/to defeat restriction
2.) to succumb to/to accept/to embrace restriction
3.) to neglect/to ignore restriction/to render restriction irrelevant
indeed, nothing occurs in a vacuum, nearly least of all architecture. architecture is formed and defined by so many restrictions as to render it almost inevitable and unchangeable when compared with the fewer restrictions faced by, say, choreographers or poets (just random examples).
and even the choreographer is limited/defined by his/her dancers and their abilities; the amount of physical and temporal space afforded to him/her; the music or lack thereof; the funding for his/her show; etc
and even the poet is limited/defined by his/her vocabulary, his/her command of poetic technique/theory...
(i'm feeling rather pedantic today)
i like the dogma 95 rules...honestly i'd never seen them printed before...but, as with all restrictions, they do create a certain kind of product
God...was the only one with out restrictions that I know of...and well we are a fricking mess aren't we.
the dutch group Onix tried to translate Dogma 95 into Architecture, I don´t know if and where there´s english documentation on that... try www.onix.nl
i agree that nothing occurs in a vacuum. site, code, budget, etc are all restrictions architects face when designing buildings. i am looking for people who use 'self imposed restrictions'.
brice marden paints with a stick to limit the movement of his arm. he is forced to use his whole body when painting.
sol lewitt often writes out his work into instructions before actually creating it.
in some of allan wexler projects he restricts himself to a limited amount of materials and/or time.
thanks for the resonses folks!
bump
and..
Piranesi
Incarceration in Architecture/Art
without restrictions, the forces that drive the projects simply don't exist. check out the datascape theory by MVRDV. if there is one thing i have to remember from my days at the AA it's this theory by patrik Schumacher about 'turning design constraints into design engines', when the aesthetics and tectonics of the project are mostly the result of a set of constraints (often with beautifull results) rather than an arbitrary poetic and formalistic one. A bottom up process rather than a top to bottom figure ground collage. constraints should somehow be seen as a blessing rather than a hurdle.
ether:
This news item on Andrea Zittel speaks about how she uses restrictions - some pretty severe - to make her work. I think her work is amazing, and what I've seen in real life has been very strongly architectural.
It's a little odd, isn't it, to be making restrictions on yourself in a place that is so sensually/visually fertile as is Cranbrook? But perhaps that makes it even more appropriate. When possibilites are so endless you have to make at least a few rules just to get yourself started. You can always break those rules when the results of the project steer you that way.
In the movie Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, one of my favorite lines is spoken by Tim Roth (R or C? who knows): "One is free, for a time, on a boat". Being stuck against your will on a boat going to a place you can't guess, well, in that situation one could say you have all the freedom in the world - for a time.
It was great meeting you this weekend, BTW. I keep thinking about that skyline on your wall, it was cool. I just can't think of what else to say beyond that, though I know there is more.
As far as writing goes, check out Rosemary Mosco's "55 words" series. The object is to convey a whole story in just 55 words. This may not seem like a lot, however, Ernest Hemingway did it a lot more convincingly when he said he could write a story in six.
He wrote:
"For sale: Baby shoes, never used."
MacGyver
lb, i've been reading up on AZ. thanks! (it was great seeing you guys. i'm sorry the dogs were so nutty.)
quixotica, thank you for the link to rosemary's writings. i love the idea of the 55 word story. the many i've read have been delightful 'little' morsels.
mdler - macgyver was my childhood hero. if anyone wants to buy me an early christmas present, the dvds are for sale.
bump
Wolfhilde von Schlittenfahrt once wrote here:
"I don't have any hands, so I talk to my computer to draw (even sometimes while I actually am taking a bath). And you thought I was old fashioned. Look at yourselves!"
Kind of makes you wonder where the real disabilities lie.
funny to hear about Zittel, i picked up a book the other day (some sort of journal i believe) and was, um... inspired perhaps? I particularly liked her assesment that objects and materials that hide dirt are in fact more useful than those that clean easily, because easy to clean materials seem to get dirty quickly (and who wants to clean, even if easily, every day?).
My first vehicle was a 1989 ford ranger, dirt brown inside and out. I washed it twice a year.
SuperHeavy, you gas guzzling corn husking bastard.
Ackerman, in The Architecture of Michelangelo, speaks of Michelangelo demonstrating his ingenuity best when dealing with architectural projects that involved many restrictions, restrictions mostly due to the projects already having been started by others and Michelangelo then having to work with many givens. The lesson I've taken away from this is to not deny the givens and then just maybe my own design ingenuity will come forth.
Black & White photography can be a nice restriction.
It's nice how it changes the way you look at the world....
hehe, have you seen a ford ranger? not to mention it was a 4-banger, gas slurper at best. Though it did have 4 wheel drive and a lift kit, it was Nebraska after all.
restriction can be a very freeing thing grasshopper
You must keep some clothes on....but not all so view if your not a offended by some bare body parts. It is all in Portugese, but those
who want to see a true Carnival...well it is there for the looking.
http://oglobo.globo.com/online/default.asp
You really need to take a look at the working methods of the Oulipo group.
BELIEF & TECHNIQUE FOR MODERN PROSE
Jack Kerouac
List of Essentials
1. Scribbled secret notebooks, and wild typewritten pages, for your
own joy
2. Submissive to everything, open, listening
3. Try never get drunk outside your own house
4. Be in love with your life
5. Something that you feel will find its own form
6. Be crazy dumbsaint of the mind
7. Blow as deep as you want to blow
8. Write what you want bottomless from bottom of the mind
9. The unspeakable visions of the individual
10. No time for poetry but exactly what is
11. Visionary tics shivering in the chest
12. In tranced fixation dreaming upon object before you
13. Remove literary, grammatical and syntactical inhibition
14. Like Proust be an old teahead of time
15. Telling the true story of the world in interior monologue
16. The jewel center of interest is the eye within the eye
17. Write in recollection and amazement for yourself
18. Work from pithy middle eye out, swimming in language sea
19. Accept loss forever
20. Believe in the holy contour of life
21. Struggle to sketch the flow that already exists intact in mind
22. Dont think of words when you stop but to see picture better
23. Keep track of every day the date emblazoned in your morning
24. No fear or shame in the dignity of your experience, language & knowledge
25. Write for the world to read and see your exact pictures of it
26. Bookmovie is the movie in words, the visual American form
27. In praise of Character in the Bleak inhuman Loneliness
28. Composing wild, undisciplined, pure, coming in from under, crazier the
better
29. You're a Genius all the time
30. Writer-Director of Earthly movies Sponsored & Angeled in Heaven
nice list adso. what inspired you today? No. 24 isn't all that sounds familiar.
emblazoned
http://www.quondam.com/50/4937.htm
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