Introduction
What does it mean in our time to be 100% Bauhaus 100 years after its foundation?
We believe that to be 100% Bauhaus is not enough to apply some of the well-known principles theorised by this “school”: projecting/designing an object taking into account its functionality, efficiency, and easy manufacturability on a large scale.
To be 100% Bauhaus, especially in our time, it’s also necessary to apply these principles with the aim of reaching the higher goal: the good for humanity
The paradigm and the methods identified by the Bauhaus are the tools, and it’s our duty to use them for humanity, and not against the mankind.
In more details, to represent this content we will use unusual objects: two T-34 tanks at the Soviet War Memorial and an installation called: the “Bauhaus House”.
We call the project the Bauhaus Think Tank to deliver to large international and multigenerational audience the principles and philosophy of the Bauhaus, the school we can proudly call the think-tank of the XX century, as it continues to impact the following generations
The high impact “objects” we will use to reach the target and stop the attention of media and public are:
– The Tank T-34
– “The Bauhaus House”: a sort of “magic box” built with the symbols of the Bauhaus: square, circle and triangle
The Tank is real T-34 and has not been chosen randomly
1) T-34 was designed and produced by applying the principles of the Bauhaus: functionality, efficiency, and easy industrialisation on a large scale
2) T-34 is the proof that for any object designed the final goal is to make the difference. In this case, T-34 is:
– Good, when it’s used to fight an absolute evil. T-34 tank is considered by historians as one of the key instruments for the victory against the Nazism, which closed the Bauhaus in 1933
– Bad, when it’s used against human principles. Tank T-34 was used to suppress freedom in Prague in 1968 (Prague Spring)
3) We’ve also chosen tank T-34 because this “object” is capable of stopping the attention of all:
– those unfamiliar with the Bauhaus (especially young people)
– those who know the Bauhaus well (designers, architects, professors, experts), which after initial intriguing interest will agree that this tank is the application of the principles of the Bauhaus
– International press and television
“The Bauhaus House” is a cube topped by a pyramid. Inside the cube there will be tailored round screen showing a video made with the purpose of representing the philosophical, spiritual and esoteric side of the Bauhaus, delivered through the language of dance
Brief explanation of the content shown in the installation:
The first still image of the video is a dancer wearing a suit made of coloured triangles, like the costume of Harlequin, in order to represent at the same time the different races that make up the humanity and the colour table of Itten
The initial position of the dancer is the man in Vitruvius position shown in the drawing of Leonardo da Vinci – a man with open arms and open legs, as a triangle, inside a circle and a square. In our case the suit of the dancer hides his gender because the dancer represents all of the humanity.
In the initial movement, inspired and accompanied by music remix of Stravinsky’s the Rite of Spring, the dancer moves surrounded by a myriad of small signs, which may seem like spring butterflies. However, look more attentively and you will find two kinds of symbols:
– the symbols composing the dance notation system invented by Rudolph Laban called Labanotation that is still used as one of the primary movement notation systems in a dance;
– the Kandisky drawings representing the dance movement of Gret Palucca.
In practice, the dancer reflects in his dance the signs and the symbols that surround and wrap him, which are “the matrix” of his movement
Then the dancer, following the growing rhythm of the music, begins to spin around as a dervish, turning different coloured triangles of his suit into one colour – the white colour of glowing light. This light represents the ultimate goal of humanity – the union in peace. This concept is also explained more clearly by written text and a voice over the video.
Locations and Project Realisation
For the installation we would like to use the real T-34 Tanks exposed in the center of Berlin at the Soviet War Memorial (Tiergarten) from the 1st of April 2019 for a month.
– One of T-34 tanks will symbolise the ingenuity of a man through the application of the Bauhaus method in creation of an object primarily used for human freedom and human good.
This version of the tank is 100% Bauhaus because it was used to save the mankind and protect the freedom of humanity, fighting the evil of Nazism during the World War II
This tank will be covered with coloured plastic film with graphics inspired by three Bauhaus colours (yellow, blue and red) and three Bauhaus geometrical shapes (triangle, circle and square)
Furthermore some wheels will be covered with the Yin & Yang symbols in order to always remember that every object and, in particular, every weapon, can be a tool used to fight the evil or to produce the evil.
We created 3D rendering showing the design of T-34 Tank: https://skfb.ly/Mq6w (the password is: Alt-g )
– The other T-34 tank will represent the evil created by a man. It will be covered with black plastic film. This tank will represent the application of man’s capacity for evil actions, the absence of light and the lack of spiritual enlightenment. Here we talk particularly about the harm caused by political and economic doctrines applied to annihilate humans (eg, nazism, communism or even the fordism/capitalism taken to the extreme).
For this reason, under the tracks of the tank we will put reproductions of spring flowers in the memory of the Prague Spring and all other war events, which caused destruction of human spirit and freedom.
Between the tanks on a pedestal we will put the structure “The Bauhaus House” consisting of integrated square, triangle and circle, and will project inside this structure the video with dancing human inside.
“The Bauhaus house” represents the human in a matrix of space, as part of the universe, who always makes the choice between good and evil and determines the future for humanity as a whole.
“The Bauhaus House” is a cube topped by a pyramid. Inside the cube there will be tailored round screen showing a video made with the purpose of representing the philosophical, spiritual and esoteric side of the Bauhaus, delivered through the language of dance
The first still image of the video is a dancer wearing a suit made of coloured triangles, like the costume of Harlequin, in order to represent at the same time the different races that make up the humanity and the colour table of Itten
The initial position of the dancer is the man in Vitruvius position shown in the drawing of Leonardo da Vinci – a man with open arms and open legs, as a triangle, inside a circle and a square. In our case the suit of the dancer hides his gender because the dancer represents all of the humanity.
In the initial movement, inspired and accompanied by music remix of Stravinsky’s the Rite of Spring, the dancer moves surrounded by a myriad of small signs, which may seem like spring butterflies. However, look more attentively and you will find two kinds of symbols:
– the symbols composing the dance notation system invented by Rudolph Laban called Labanotation that is still used as one of the primary movement notation systems in a dance;
– the Kandisky drawings representing the dance movement of Gret Palucca.
In practice, the dancer reflects in his dance the signs and the symbols that surround and wrap him, which are “the matrix” of his movement
Then the dancer, following the growing rhythm of the music, begins to spin around as a dervish, turning different coloured triangles of his suit into one colour – the white colour of glowing light. This light represents the ultimate goal of humanity – the union in peace. This concept is also explained more clearly by written text and a voice over the video.
As the human dance comes to its end, the dancer turns into the glowing light, returning to where it all started, the source – the universal light.
This is the link to 3D rendering of “The Bauhaus House” : https://skfb.ly/ZvoE (the password is: Alt-g)
We believe, the audience will be attracted by colourful Bauhaus tank, and will see its black counter-part, further on this journey discovering the video installation with deep message for humanity.
We believe this will trigger immediate interest, desire to learn more about the Bauhaus school and its concepts for those new to the school, and for those familiar with the Bauhaus school – possibility to look from new angle on philosophy of the Bauhaus and its application by humanity through time.
*We’ve already contacted the BAUHAUS ASSOCIATION 2019 in April 2016 to have their support in order to obtain the necessary authorisations.
In the first week of January 2017 the Association has informed us that it is working on our request, however will not be able to give us its final approval within 31 January 2017, suggesting however to send you the application for funding.
Objectives of the project
We strongly believe – to be 100% Bauhaus it’s not enough just to apply some of the well-known principles of the Bauhaus school (e.g.: to design an object taking into account its functionality, efficiency, and possibility of easy industrialisation)
To be 100% Bauhaus, especially in our time, it is also necessary to apply these principles with the aim of reaching the higher goal: the good for humanity
This “good for humanity” principle can be:
– Material – e.g. creation of functional tools for improving the quality of life or the environment
– Intangible – e.g opening the mind and the heart of people liberating them from the stereotypes or conventional categories, promoting the exchange of knowledge and interdisciplinarity
Therefore we believe that:
– Designing and industrialisation of functional and effective object which doesn’t produce any positive direct or at least side effect for humanity or, even worse, takes advantage of vulnerable workers or damages the environment and the population, is not Bauhaus
For us Bauhaus means to be concrete and effective dreamers, a little bit Gropius and a little bit Itten
Therefore, the main object of the project is to switch on the light on two complementary sides of the Bauhaus:
– the theoretical and practical principles taught by the Bauhaus
– the immaterial and spiritual goals taught by the Bauhaus
To do this we want to be pop and esoteric at the same time, because we want to reach everyone: from the kids to the most important experts of the Bauhaus
For this reason our project consists of several layers: some are easily understandable, others are deeper and more complex
Alternative project realisation
We understand that Tiergarten Soviet Memorial is a historic monument, and City of Berlin authorisation is required. If the process of authorisation proves to be difficult for any reason, we considered the alternative (Plan B) The Bauhaus Think Tank project realisation.
We already contacted several providers with request on possibility of creating 3D-printed 1:1 scale replica of T-34 tank, which could be placed near Neue Nationalgalerie.
In this case we will be using just one tank, dividing it visually by red thread in the middle. The right part will be coloured in Bauhaus colours and forms, representing the ingenuity of human, and the left part will be coloured in black, representing the evil side.
Here again we will represent the choice between good and evil, enlightenment and darkness, which always stands before the human.
“The Bauhaus House” with projection of dancing human inside will be placed near the tank, linked to it visually by the same red thread, which divides the tank to 2 parts, further visually and with the help of dance explaining the concept of the project “The Bauhaus Think Tank”.
Furthermore we also considered that such 3D printed art object can be presented in key museums around the world, eg Tate Gallery, Design Museum in London, MoMA in New York, etc.
