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Tribute to Bach (1956): Approximation to the Oteizian Mural Emptiness as a Silent Music Score

Received: 1 May 2020     Accepted: 9 June 2020     Published: 29 June 2020
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Abstract

The artist Jorge Oteiza (Orio, Spain, 1908-2003) is considered one of the main sculptors of the 20th century. Jorge Oteiza won the International Sculpture Prize at the IV São Paulo Biennial, held in 1957, which elevated him internationally. Oteiza's conceptual evolution as a sculptor moves him towards a special relationship with the unoccupied space, the void, seeking a metaphysics of space through absence or negativity, where light also plays a prominent role, being incorporated into the sculptural process. These ideas are concretized in the negative relief mural that he calls Direct Relief / Homage to Bach (1956). This exceptional work from the limited production of his mural works provides an interesting field of study that helps complete the understanding of his thinking and the keys to his aesthetics. Nevertheless, this work is not only close to a plastic-spatial dimension. The work also conveys the special relationship of the Oriotarra sculptor with music in general and Baroque in particular and his concern for serialist avant-garde music and its possibility of plastic representation. The present article tries to make an approach to the interpretation of this work, studying in an analytical and synthetic way the artistic, musical and plastic thought of the artist.

Published in American Journal of Art and Design (Volume 5, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajad.20200502.11
Page(s) 17-27
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Contemporary Art, Wall, Musical Intelligence, Synaesthesia, Oteiza

References
[1] Miguéliz, I. (2019), La familia Huarte y Oteiza, Génesis de la abstracción en los murales de Jorge Oteiza, Cuadernos coleccionables del Museo, 29. Pamplona: Museo Universidad de Navarra.
[2] Ortiz-Echagüe, J. (2014), “Jorge Oteiza,” in: S. Olmo, (ed.), Colección Mª Josefa Huarte. Abstracción y modernidad. Pamplona: Museo Universidad de Navarra, p. 75, p. 70.
[3] Roldán, J. F. and Martín, M. E. (2016), “Procesos de desmontaje, traslado e instalación de dos relieves de gran formato de Jorge Oteiza,” in Conservación de Arte Contemporáneo. Madrid, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía: Departamento de conservación, pp. 196-206.
[4] Oteiza, J. (1963), Quousque tandem…!, Ensayo de interpretación estética del alma vasca, 1ª ed. Donostia/San Sebastián: Auñamendi, p. 330, p. 9.
[5] Oteiza, J. (2011), Ejercicios espirituales en un túnel. En busca y encuentro de nuestra identidad perdida. Alzuza: Fundación Museo Oteiza /Fundazio Museoa, p. 424.
[6] Martín, E. (2019), Jorge Oteiza y el espacio mural. Génesis de la abstracción en los murales de Jorge Oteiza, Cuadernos coleccionables del Museo, 29. Pamplona: Museo Universidad de Navarra, p. 5, p. 4, p. 13.
[7] López-Bahut, E. (2014), Oteiza arquitectónico. Alzuza: Fundación Museo Jorge Oteiza, p. 42, p. 44, p. 164.
[8] Oteiza, J. (2007), Propósito experimental 1956-1957. Reedición facsímil del original Escultura de Oteiza. Catálogo. IV Bienal de São Paulo, 1957. Alzuza: Fundación Museo Oteiza /Fundazio Museoa.
[9] Lizasoáin, J. (2019), El muro de Jorge Oteiza. Un sistema para proyectar en el espacio. Alzuza: Fundación Museo Oteiza /Fundazio Museoa, p. 269.
[10] Pelay Orozco, M. (1978), OTEIZA su vida, su obra, su pensamiento, su palabra. Bilbao: La Gran Enciclopedia Vasca, p. 177, p. 418.
[11] Badiola, T. (2015), Oteiza. Catálogo razonado de escultura. vol II. Alzuza: Fundación Jorge Oteiza/Fundazio Museoa, p. 460.
[12] Etxebeste, E. (2014), Oteiza y la música. Alzuza: Fundación Museo Jorge Oteiza, p. 58, p. 24, p. 201, p. 13, p. 163, p. 36, p. 39, p. 151, p. 71, p. 188, p. 22, p. 53, p. 165, p. 162, p. 186, p. 172, p. 173, p. 180, p. 190, p. 192, p. 23, p. 171, p. 138, p. 166, p. 168, p. 189, p. 54, p. 52, p. 64, p. 193.
[13] Fubini, E. (1999), La Estética Musical desde la Antigüedad hasta el Siglo XX, Madrid: Alianza, p. 429.
[14] AFMO (Archive of the Jorge Oteiza Museum Foundation, Alzuza, Navarra, Spain), FD-5214, FD 16566, FD9939, FD-5272, F-11224, FD-9939, FD-5172, FD-16975.
[15] Oteiza, J. (1952), Interpretación estética de la estatuaria megalítica americana. Madrid: Cultura Hispánica. In: Muñoz, M. T. (ed.) (2007): Interpretación estética de la estatuaria megalítica americana. Carta a los artistas de América. Sobre el arte nuevo en la postguerra. Alzuza: Fundación Museo Jorge Oteiza, p. 283, p. 284.
[16] Albano de Lima, S. (2016), Las relaciones de la música con la cosmología, Epistemus, 4 (1), pp. 83-110, DOI: 10.21932/4.3057.1.
[17] Fubini, E. (2004), El siglo XX: entre música y filosofía. Collecció estètica & critica, 19. Valencia: Guada, p. 88.
[18] Rowell, L. (2005), Introducción a la Filosofía de la Música. Antecedentes Históricos y Problemas Estéticos, Barcelona: Gedisa.
[19] Oteiza, J. (1995), Estética del huevo. Huevo y Laberinto. Mentalidad Vasca y Laberinto. Pamplona: Pamiela, p. 47.
[20] Wedekind, G. (2019), “Un art peut en cacher un autre. Pierre Boulez beim Betrachten eines Aquarells von Paul Klee,” in: Zenck, M., Oy-Marra, E., Pietschmann, K. and Wedekind, G. Intermedialität von Bild und Musik, pp. 394-412. DOI: https://doi.org/10.30965/9783846755594_028
[21] Von Maur, K. (1999), The Sound of Painting. Munich, London: Prestel.
[22] Monika, F. (2017). Polyphony in image and sound. Music in Art: International Journal for Music Iconography. Vol. 42 Issue 1/2, pp. 367-374.
[23] Johnson, S. (2011), The New York Schools of Music and the Visual Arts (Studies in Contemporary Music & Culture). New York: Routledge, p. 1
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Fernando Echarri, Emilio Varela. (2020). Tribute to Bach (1956): Approximation to the Oteizian Mural Emptiness as a Silent Music Score. American Journal of Art and Design, 5(2), 17-27. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajad.20200502.11

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    ACS Style

    Fernando Echarri; Emilio Varela. Tribute to Bach (1956): Approximation to the Oteizian Mural Emptiness as a Silent Music Score. Am. J. Art Des. 2020, 5(2), 17-27. doi: 10.11648/j.ajad.20200502.11

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    AMA Style

    Fernando Echarri, Emilio Varela. Tribute to Bach (1956): Approximation to the Oteizian Mural Emptiness as a Silent Music Score. Am J Art Des. 2020;5(2):17-27. doi: 10.11648/j.ajad.20200502.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajad.20200502.11,
      author = {Fernando Echarri and Emilio Varela},
      title = {Tribute to Bach (1956): Approximation to the Oteizian Mural Emptiness as a Silent Music Score},
      journal = {American Journal of Art and Design},
      volume = {5},
      number = {2},
      pages = {17-27},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajad.20200502.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajad.20200502.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajad.20200502.11},
      abstract = {The artist Jorge Oteiza (Orio, Spain, 1908-2003) is considered one of the main sculptors of the 20th century. Jorge Oteiza won the International Sculpture Prize at the IV São Paulo Biennial, held in 1957, which elevated him internationally. Oteiza's conceptual evolution as a sculptor moves him towards a special relationship with the unoccupied space, the void, seeking a metaphysics of space through absence or negativity, where light also plays a prominent role, being incorporated into the sculptural process. These ideas are concretized in the negative relief mural that he calls Direct Relief / Homage to Bach (1956). This exceptional work from the limited production of his mural works provides an interesting field of study that helps complete the understanding of his thinking and the keys to his aesthetics. Nevertheless, this work is not only close to a plastic-spatial dimension. The work also conveys the special relationship of the Oriotarra sculptor with music in general and Baroque in particular and his concern for serialist avant-garde music and its possibility of plastic representation. The present article tries to make an approach to the interpretation of this work, studying in an analytical and synthetic way the artistic, musical and plastic thought of the artist.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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    AB  - The artist Jorge Oteiza (Orio, Spain, 1908-2003) is considered one of the main sculptors of the 20th century. Jorge Oteiza won the International Sculpture Prize at the IV São Paulo Biennial, held in 1957, which elevated him internationally. Oteiza's conceptual evolution as a sculptor moves him towards a special relationship with the unoccupied space, the void, seeking a metaphysics of space through absence or negativity, where light also plays a prominent role, being incorporated into the sculptural process. These ideas are concretized in the negative relief mural that he calls Direct Relief / Homage to Bach (1956). This exceptional work from the limited production of his mural works provides an interesting field of study that helps complete the understanding of his thinking and the keys to his aesthetics. Nevertheless, this work is not only close to a plastic-spatial dimension. The work also conveys the special relationship of the Oriotarra sculptor with music in general and Baroque in particular and his concern for serialist avant-garde music and its possibility of plastic representation. The present article tries to make an approach to the interpretation of this work, studying in an analytical and synthetic way the artistic, musical and plastic thought of the artist.
    VL  - 5
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Author Information
  • University of Navarra Museum, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain

  • Varela Architecture Studio, Official School of Architects Vasco Navarro, Gipuzkoa, Spain

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