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The Photographic Application of Piet Mondrian's Neo-Plastic Principles

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THE PHOTOGRAPHIC APPLICATION OF PIET MONDRIAN’S NEO-PLASTIC PRINCIPLES by William Adam Sawalich A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Photography. Brooks Institute of Photography Santa Barbara, California June 2001 © 2001 William Adam Sawalich ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Plates iii List of Figures vi Acknowledgments vii Abstract viii Preface ix Chapter One: The Need For Neo-Plasticism 1 Chapter Two: Mondrian And De Stijl 5 Chapter Three: Photography 19 Chapter Four: A Historical Perspective 31 Chapter Five: Contemporary Photography 42 Chapter Six: Application Of The Neo-Plastic Method 56 Chapter Seven: Interpreting Results 61 Chapter Eight: The New Plastic In Photography 78 Works Cited 85 Appendices 88 iii PLATES 1. Unknown. Piet Mondrian in a Theosophic meditational pose. 5, 100 2. Arnold Newman. Piet Mondrian in his studio. 5, 36, 101 3. Piet Mondrian. Composition With Red, Yellow And Blue (1921). 6, 102 4. Piet Mondrian. Composition. 6, 103 5. Piet Mondrian. Composition In A Square. 6, 104 6. Piet Mondrian. Composition With Red, Yellow And Blue (1932). 6, 105 7. Piet Mondrian. Trafalgar Square. 6, 106 8. Piet Mondrian. Mill At Evening. 7, 107 9. Piet Mondrian. Composition In Blue, Grey And Pink. 9, 108 10. Piet Mondrian. Composition Number 9 (Blue Façade). 9, 109 11. Edward Weston. Pepper. 32, 110 12. Edward Weston. Cabbage Leaf. 32, 111 13. Harry Callahan. Weeds Against Sky, Detroit. 33, 112 14. Harry Callahan. Chicago. 33, 113 15. Aaron Siskind. New York No. 6. 34, 114 16. Minor White. Moencopi Strata, Capitol Reef, Utah. 35, 115 17. Andre Kertesz. Esztergom, Hungary, Swimmer. 35, 116 18. Andre Kertesz. Distortion. 35, 117 19. Peter Keetman. Volkswagen Plant. 36, 118 20. Man Ray. Untitled Rayograph. 38, 119 21. Man Ray. Untitled Rayograph. 38, 120 22. Laszlo Moholy-Nagy. Photogram. 39, 121 23. Laszlo Moholy-Nagy. Photogram. 39, 122 24. Christian Schad. Schadograph 20. 40, 123 25. Francis Bruguiere. Light Abstraction. 40, 124 26. Carlotta Corpron. Mardi Gras. 40, 125 27. Lotte Jacobi. Photogenic. 40, 126 28. Chargesheimer. Musical Reflection. 40, 127 29. Frederick Sommer. Cut Paper. 40, 128 iv 30. William Wegman. 3=5. 46, 129 31. Richard Avedon. The Dalai Lama. 46, 130 32. David Hockney. Kasmin Los Angeles 28th March 1982. 49, 131 33. David Hockney. The Desk, July 1st, 1984. 49, 132 34. Adam Fuss. Untitled. 49, 133 35. Adam Fuss. Love. 49, 134 36. Andreas Gursky. Paris-Montparnasse (detail). 50, 135 37. Duane Michals. Paradise Regained. 51, 136 38. Cindy Sherman. Untitled Film Still #21. 27, 51, 137 39. Cindy Sherman. Untitled #153. 51, 138 40. Zeke Berman. Gate. 52, 139 41. Gerd Bonfert. D 84-3 (Still Life). 52, 140 42. Barbara Kasten. Architecture Site #8. 52, 141 43. Erich Spahn. Mixco Viejo. 53, 142 44. Floris Michael Neususs. Artificial Landscape. 53, 143 45. William Sawalich. Natural Abstraction One. 62, 144 46. William Sawalich. Natural Abstraction Two. 62, 145 47. William Sawalich. Natural Abstraction Five. 62, 146 48. William Sawalich. Vertical Lines. 63, 147 49. William Sawalich. Blue With Lines. 63, 148 50. William Sawalich. Orange Hinge. 63, 149 51. William Sawalich. Window, Corner. 63, 150 52. William Sawalich. Window, Wall. 63, 151 53. William Sawalich. Wood Door. 63, 152 54. William Sawalich. Vertical Façade (2417). 63, 153 55. William Sawalich. Blue Collage. 64, 154 56. William Sawalich. Blur #1. 65, 155 57. William Sawalich. Blur #3. 65, 156 58. William Sawalich. Blur #5. 65, 157 59. Mark Rothko. Red, Orange, Tan And Purple. 66, 158 60. William Sawalich. No Focus, Eleven. 66, 159 v 61. William Sawalich. No Focus, Two. 66, 160 62. William Sawalich. No Focus, Four. 66, 161 63. William Sawalich. No Focus, One. 66, 162 64. William Sawalich. No Focus, Round. 66, 163 65. William Sawalich. Lensless Composition Ten. 67, 164 66. William Sawalich. Lensless Composition Eleven. 67, 165 67. William Sawalich. Lensless Composition Two. 67, 166 68. William Sawalich. Thrift (Multi-Lens Image). 68, 167 69. William Sawalich. D’s Car (Multi-Lens Image). 68, 168 70. William Sawalich. Driving (Multi-Lens Image). 68, 169 71. William Sawalich. Gel Construction 1. 70, 170 72. William Sawalich. Gel Construction 2. 70, 171 73. William Sawalich. Gel Construction 5. 70, 172 74. William Sawalich. Pixel Composition 10. 71, 173 75. William Sawalich. Pixel Composition 11. 71, 174 76. William Sawalich. Pixel Composition 7. 71, 175 77. Piet Mondrian. Checkerboard with Light Colors. 71, 176 78. William Sawalich. Digital Mondrian 2. 72, 177 79. William Sawalich. Digital Mondrian 14. 72, 178 80. William Sawalich. Digital Mondrian 12. 72, 179 81. William Sawalich. M. 73, 180 82. William Sawalich. Pam. 73, 181 83. William Sawalich. Photogram I. 74, 182 84. William Sawalich. Photogram III. 74, 183 85. William Sawalich. Photogram VII. 74, 184 86. William Sawalich. Photogram VI. 74, 185 87. William Sawalich. Light Painting 12. 75, 186 88. William Sawalich. Light Painting 11. 75, 187 89. William Sawalich. Rigid Photogram 2. 76, 188 90. William Sawalich. Rigid Photogram 3. 76, 189 vi FIGURES 1. Chart of Modern Art 8 2. Diagram of Multiple-Lens Apparatus. 69 vii For my parents. viii ABSTRACT Piet Mondrian created elemental geometric paintings that revolutionized the perception of art in the 20th century. Though non-figurative, these works were not abstract in the typical sense; his pure creations resulted from a series of self-imposed guidelines for creating non-representational art that was to be universally appreciated, and that could ultimately elevate the understanding of art—and life—for all humanity. Far-removed from photography and our conventional understanding of it as a representational medium, these Neo-Plastic paintings illustrate principles that, when diligently implemented by the photographer, can help re-order methods of creating and understanding the photographic image. Through intense scrutiny of Neo-Plastic theory, and its adaptation and application in photographic experiments, this project offers a new understanding of the medium’s overlooked nature as an abstract means of pure creation. ix PREFACE “Beauty always justifies itself. Ultimately, that’s all [something] has to have.” –Kurt Elling, Jazz Musician. “All photographs are accurate. None of them is the truth.” –Richard Avedon, Photographer. To advance as an artistic medium photography must be freed from its characterization, by artists and viewers alike, as a craft suited only to represent what others have created. It must become an art that does not portray, but rather creates purely. Neo-Plastic photography is an approach to creation that will ultimately advance understanding of the medium. Perhaps a good way to think of Neo-Plastic photography is “Painting with light.” It’s the difference between abstract representation and pure creation. It simply seeks to create an abstract beauty universally appreciable without relying on symbol or representation. Mondrian’s work is not abstraction. It is pure creation. The experimental photographs in this project are not intended to look like Mondrian’s paintings. They are meant to further the cause of photography as a plastic medium. Photographing a real object in an abstract way—which begs the question, “What is it?”—is simply abstraction. Though the photograph may in fact be non-representational, it isn’t necessarily a pure creation. It may achieve a look similar to a Mondrian painting, and may adhere to some of the tenets of his philosophy, but it is not Neo-Plastically purified. Pure refinement of Neo- Plasticism’s universal ideal, and ultimately the achievement of pure creation through photography, is the principle pursuit of this project. x CHAPTER ONE: THE NEED FOR NEO-PLASTICISM Through exploration of the abstract principles of modernist painter Piet Mondrian, this project will attempt to produce non-representational photographic art and in so doing free the medium from commonly held beliefs or misbeliefs regarding its facility. Its creative potential, as well as our understanding of it, may be redefined with a closer association to more typically plastic media. The straight line and right angle of Mondrian’s Neo-Plasticism has the potential to be an ideal vehicle for a non-representational approach to photography because these visual structures accentuate the manmade and artist-made while de-emphasizing the idea of a photograph’s particular subject. They signal creation over abstraction, the overriding feeling of looking at an image somehow removed from a subject rather than a primordial “subject” of its own. What these photographs will attempt to tell the viewer is that the creation of a pure and universal structure is a means to visual beauty, and that visual beauty is as noble a pursuit of truth in art as any other reason for its creation. Each resulting Neo-Plastic photograph strives therefore to be the sum of all that photography is: the contradictions of truth and falsity, pure creation and representation. These contrasts are the epitome of photography. The Neo-Plastic image should be about truth, as universal beauty, in the only actual important product of any photograph: the photograph itself. I hope to further legitimize non-representational photography and cast it in a new light— one that gives it importance on the same level as other arts, while at the same time maintaining independence from them. The surface appearance and visual style of a photograph are the valuable and predominant means of content, and therefore a worthwhile fundamental pursuit. As these Neo-Plastic methods relate to style, they remove the importance from the subject as content and reframe it on surface appearance. In many ways, this is the photograph’s essence. That is not to say that “technique” is vital to this new type of image making—the end result is paramount.
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