Final Semester: Jumping Right In
Columbia Spring 2017 is already off and running at an incredibly fast pace. The work I presented at the completion of my Architecture Studio course was selected for inclusion in the Barnard-Columbia Architecture School’s 2017 New Year Show – a nice honor considering I knew neither what a lead holder was nor how to use it at the beginning of last semester.
Confessions, Jane Schwartz, Architectural Model for redesign of Paley Park, 53rd Street and Fifth Avenue, New York, NY (2016).
Confessions, Jane Schwartz, Axonometric Drawing for redesign of Paley Park, 53rd Street and Fifth Avenue, New York, NY (2016).
This semester has already put me in direct dialogue with the likes of Panofsky, Nietzsche, Riegl, Worringer, Wölfflin, Gombrich and Shapiro, to name only a few. These grandfathers upon whose backs the discipline of art historical theory has been built have much to say (and make me regret that I never studied German), as concepts like kunstwollen (loosely translated as artistic intent) and geist (spirit) would probably have much more meaning in their native language. Aspects of aesthetics, cultural history, style, authorship, iconography, semiotics, vision, technology, gender and medium as they apply to the study of art from the Indus Valley through modern time is a lot to cover in one semester; we’ll be delving into these and other topics over the ensuing 12 weeks. What is glaringly missing from the bulk of expert treatises are contributions from women scholars – with a few exceptions, it seems the discipline truly is about “old white men teaching young white women about religion” (my (white, male) professor’s tongue-in-cheek words, not mine).
Balancing out the rather heavy metaphysical aspects of art theory is a class covering Early Modern Architecture from the Fifteenth to Eighteenth Centuries. Taught by my Intro to Architecture professor from last semester (+ a visiting professor from Venice), it serves as a well-needed mental intermezzo after literally contemplating Nietzsche’s thoughts regarding the meaning of life and whether it’s worth living (short answer to that question is “no,” but the contemplation of art makes it bearable – read Nietzsche’s The Birth of Tragedy and Other Writings (1872/86) for the long answer). Although this class too is subject to the scholarly prejudice of the afore-mentioned “grandfathers” (it focuses exclusively on the Western arts from the Italian Renaissance and French/Italian “Baroque” periods), I have to admit that Nietzsche is right - losing myself in the geometric perfection of Brunelleschi’s design for the Old Sacristy and San Lorenzo in Florence is the best part of my day. Forget "it's good to be the king...;" in Fifteenth-century Florence, it was much better to be a Medici.
Old Sacristy, Filippo Brunelleschi (Cosimo di Medici, patron), San Lorenzo, Florence, Italy (1421-28). Photo courtesy of Michael Waters.
Ceiling of Chancel Dome, Old Sacristy, Filippo Brunelleschi, (Cosimo di Medici, patron), San Lorenzo, Florence, Italy (1421-28). Photo courtesy of Michael Waters.
San Lorenzo, Filippo Brunelleschi (followed by Michelozzo di Bartolomeo; Cosimo di Medici, patron), Florence, Italy (1421-29; 1441-60s). Photo courtesy of Michael Waters.