In my experience, if you're an artist from a catholic background it's very hard to get away from ritual, symbolism and the kind of notions of transubstantiation that might be considered a 'gateway philosophy'
That might lead to alchemy. Not only Gaudi but contemporary Body practices and much performance art is, I feel, quietly resulting from the cultural influence of Catholicism.
Best
Justin
Sent from my iPhone
On 17 May 2012, at 07:20, Nicholas Campion <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Hi Margaret,
>
> Interesting.
>
> I think the use of the 4-element motif in itself is not controversial,
> though. After all, it was a standard part of pre-modern natural philosophy
> and not at all pagan, if that was your implication.
>
> But this does remind me of Gaudi, a devout Catholic who was deepy influenced
> by alchemy,
>
> Cheers,
>
> Nick
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Society for The Academic Study of Magic
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Margaret Gouin
> Sent: 17 May 2012 07:00
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] One last try: charles rennie mackintosh
>
> I've followed this thread with interest although it's not a subject I've
> been much involved in. In the general area of art deco, though, I've just
> come back from a visit to the UK during which I visited the church of St
> Thomas the Martyr in Winchelsea (Kent, I believe). It has huge, glorious art
> deco windows--three of which are devoted to the four elements (earth and
> water each have their own window; air and fire share one--pictures here,
> although not the best quality:
> http://www.roughwood.net/ChurchAlbum/EastSussex/Winchelsea/WinchelseaStThoma
> s2004.htm). I thought it was strange that the elemental motif was used in a
> Christian church--it reminds me a bit of how masons in times of old would
> put Green Men high in the rafters. Or am I just being romantic?
>
> Best wishes,
> Margaret
> ----------------------------------------
> Margaret Gouin, PhD (Bristol)
> Honorary Research Fellow
> School of Theology, Religious Studies and Islamic Studies
> University of Wales Trinity Saint David
> ________________________________________
> From: Society for The Academic Study of Magic
> [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Nicholas Campion
> [[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: 17 May 2012 07:12
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] One last try: charles rennie mackintosh
>
> Hi Mikhelle,
>
> Many thanks for this.
>
> I got interested in Lethaby because he designed Avon Tyrrell House. This is
> described as a 'calendar house' with 365 windows for days of the week, 52
> rooms for weeks, 12 chimneys for months and 7 entrances for days.
>
> I'm interested in whether Lethaby thought this was just romantic symbolism
> with no deeper resonance, or whether the house is an agency for practical
> magic, actively harmonizing with time and space. I will tackle the reading
> you suggest but I am particularly interested in whether Lethaby might have
> had links with practicing magical groups, or whether he was more of a
> hands-off student of esotericism.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Nick
>
> From: Society for The Academic Study of Magic
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Mikhelle Taylor
> Sent: 03 May 2012 18:43
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] One last try: charles rennie mackintosh
>
> Hello, Nick,
>
> Actually, Lethaby is one of the key people I've been investigating recently.
> What kind of info are you looking for? I have been looking at his place
> within the 18/19th century art/architecture world and the Arts & Crafts and
> Socialist circles, focusing on the influence of his earlier works,
> Architecture, Mysticism, and Myth (1891) and Architecture: An Introduction
> to the History and Theory of the Art of Building (1912).
>
> Deborah van der Plaat's work has been essential, provideing some very
> critical insights into his theories and their relationship to the Late
> Romantic mind (these are just a few):
>
> "'Would you know the new, you must search the old': William Lethaby's
> Architecture, Mysticism and Myth (1891) and the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili
> (1499)." Fabrications: The Journal of the Society of Architectural
> Historians, Australia and New Zealand. 12 No. 1(June 2006), pp. 1-22.
>
> "Seeking a 'Symbolism Comprehensible' to 'the Great Majority of Spectators':
> William Lethaby's Architecture, Mysticism and Myth and Its Debt to Victorian
> Mythography", Architectural History , Vol. 45, (2002), pp. 363-385.
>
> "Seeking a Practical Aesthetic: The Reconciliation of Art and Science in the
> Architectural Writings of William Richard Lethaby (1857-1931)" (available
> here:
> http://www.tu-cottbus.de/theoriederarchitektur/wolke/eng/Subjects/011/Plaat/
> vanderplaat.htm).
>
>
> All the best,
>
> Mikhelle
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