Review of Jan Švankmajer: Dimensions of Dialogue Between Film and Art Reviews
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Christian M. Billing Review of Jan Švankmajer: Dimensions of Dialogue Between Film and Art Reviews František DRYJE and Bertrand SCHMITT, with Ivo PURŠ. Jan Švankmajer: Dimensions of Dialogue Between Film and Art. Praha: Arbor vitae, 2013. 508pp. ISBN 978-80-7467-016-9.* This volume is a welcome addition to the of the auteur’s work). The volume is beau- bibliography on Jan Švankmajer from tifully illustrated throughout, with many a trio of authors who are experts in their colour plates depicting stills from the films field. The collection aims to fill a gap in and original two-dimensional and three- scholarship by providing a broadly chron- dimensional artworks by Švankmajer – as ologically structured critical biography, well as a number of historical documents together with several essays that scruti- (such as photographs of the artist in his nise hitherto under-examined elements various historical milieux, and other per- of the artist’s work; these aims are amply sonal and social ephemera). The volume is fulfilled – the volume is a well-researched, principally written by Schmitt and Dryje, well-written and extremely pleasingly de- with the additional contribution of one signed publication. Structurally the book chapter: ‘Kunstkamera as Švankmajer’s Mi- can be broken down as follows: (i) five crocosm’, which is written by Purš. interesting and originally focused essays Throughout, the volume is highly suc- on precise aspects of Švankmajer’s work; cessful; the theoretical stances adopted (ii) a detailed biography of Švankmajer, by the authors represent intelligent ap- with critical and analytical commentary proaches to the artist’s work and vary in (this major part of the book is helpfully their intent from precise studies of indi- broken into three chronological sections vidual productions and/or moments in and interspersed amongst the chapters); Švankmajer’s career written large (such as 02 (iii) a well-chosen but brief anthology of Chapter 1: ‘Return to Origins – The Setting 2015 Švankmajer’s own writings; and (iv) a list of The Stag King’ (about Švankmajer’s grad- of exhibitions in relation to Švankmajer’s uation project and its influence on his art and of his theatre and film work. There later work); or Chapter 2: ‘Jan Švankmajer is also (v) a useful bibliography (which is and Johannes Doktor Faust by Emil Ra- equally helpfully broken down into: works dok – From Primitive Myth to the Crisis by Švankmajer, illustrated books about his of Civilisation’). Other chapters provide works, academic monographs about him as consideration of Švankmajer’s develop- an artist and filmmaker, and a selection of ing oeuvre by means of full analysis of shorter articles and chapter-length studies defined periods of time (such as Chapter * Also published in Czech as: Jan Švankmajer: Možnosti dialogu: mezi filmem a volnou tvorbou. Praha: Arbor vitae, 2012. 508pp. ISBN 978-80-7467-015-2. 477 4: ‘The Artworks of 1958–1968). In such ulation of alienatingly juxtaposed famil- an ‘epochs’ or ‘sections of time’ vein also iar objects and his obsession over certain fall the highly illuminating three sections themes (such as marionettes as an indi- Reviews of the ‘Detailed Biography with Com- cator of sovereignty) are well considered mentary’, which are all chronologically in a fluent and convincing analysis of the orientated, and broken into periods of significance of this formative period and 36, 18 and 22 years respectively. These earliest major work. Chapter 2 deals with inter-chapter narratives (they are placed Švankmajer’s input into a medium-length between the more theoretically inclined film by Emil Radok (the younger brother sections of the book) map onto phases of of the renowned theatre director Alfréd), Švankmajer’s life and works; but they also which was itself based on a Central Euro- correlate quite obviously to significant pe- pean puppet play variant of the Faustus riods of Czech social and cultural history myth. Schmitt makes much of the rooted- (i.e. pre-WWII (a short section covering ness of the puppet tradition and the Faust Švankmajer’s childhood) to the period legend in Prague and therefore his open- of so-called ‘Normalisation’; the years of ing sections segue well into the signifi- so-called ‘Normalisation’ to the Velvet cance of the puppet manipulation role that Revolution; and the post-Velvet Revolu- Švankmajer took in this film. Throughout tion period). Lastly, there are two more the chapter, Schmidt analyses the film from wide-angle theoretical studies, which at- the perspective of theatricality, the devel- tempt either to place Švankmajer within oping aesthetic of stop-frame animation of an artistic genre, such as Surrealism (in archaic-looking two dimensional images this approach Chapter 7: ‘Jan Švankmajer, (‘olden-day books’), of live action, puppet Surrealist’) or to undertake analysis of manipulation, extreme close- -ups, dis- a characteristic technique or attribute solves and other techniques that were later of the auteur’s work (such as Chapter 6, to be come Švankmajer’s stock in trade. the abovementioned: ‘Kunstkamera’ as Again the analysis is first-rate and inform- 02 Švankmajer’s Microcosm’). ative. 2015 To assess each aspect of the volume, Turning the page, one sees a cute lit- then, according to its merits: Chapter 1, on tle sepia photograph of Švankmajer as Švankmajer’s graduation project of 1958, a baby – and the first section of the biog- Carlo Gozzi’s The Stag King, is a fantastic raphy begins as Chapter 4. This section, exercise in historiographical analysis. The for obvious reasons, only begins to get form and content of Švankmajer’s radi- going in the 1950s; but it is a joy to read. cal reinterpretation of his sources in this It is (like all of the biographical interven- early work is used as a touchstone to reflect tions) crammed with useful insights into upon his later works, including major films the artist’s development and is intelligently like Don Juan, Faust, Little Otik and Lunacy illustrated with works from the relevant and an analysis of how Švankmajer’s de- years that speak to the narrative of the velopment of metaphor, surrealist manip- section’s pages. Both the photographs and 478 the narrative text capture wonderfully the create instead a new realm of art in which explosive, anarchic, hopeful spirit of the ‘[a]lthough the artist draws from a vari- 1960s – and theatre and film work is set ety of sources, his creative synthesis is not against sculptural and other artistic works eclecticism nor does it reveal a priori con- Reviews in ways that illuminate the subjects well. cepts’ but rather it ‘exists as pure self-fulfil- Chapter 4 is a brilliantly defined study of ment through creativity, in which the art- artworks: graphic pieces, watercolours, pen- ist is part of his work, and the work stands -and-ink sketches, mixed-media collages as a completion, one that is constantly and objects; here both Švankmajer’s tech- evolving, of his personality’. Purš’ thesis niques (set in art-historical contexts) and is persuasive and is used to argue for an the abstract or Surrealist impact of the understanding of all of Švankmajer’s art: works is well accounted for. A particular film, graphic, painterly, sculptural… as an strength of the chapter is the way in which extension of one man’s imagination and Schmidt articulates Švankmajer’s quest for a way of conceptualising a world [but the ‘soul’ of objects, his knack of finding maybe not the world] around him, drawn ways for the material to signify something from the peculiarities of his own imagi- of an inner depth that allows the work nation. Thus we have explained for us in to connect with and communicate to the a new and exciting way Švankmajer’s human spirit, in both intellectual and vis- Arcimboldo-inspired portraits and sculp- ceral ways. Chapter 5 – a continuation of tures and his pastiches and parodies of the biography, dealing with the period of nineteenth- and early-twentieth century Normalisation to the Velvet Revolution anatomies and worlds of natural history – is masterful. The section is of immense as exercises in mind-mapping and Surre- interest for its detailed account of the suc- alist fantasy, pushing at the boundaries of cesses, frustrations and creative problems perception and the limits of philosophy. of such a politically difficult but artistically Such a chapter bridges well into Chapter charged period. With revelations about se- 7, by František Dryje, on ‘Švankmajer as cret samizdat volumes of Surrealist poetry, a Surrealist’. The essay is the longest in 02 to detailed analysis of his widely acclaimed the book (104 pages) and bridges the gap 2015 film Alice the section is a masterclass in from Mannerism to Surrealism, with very documentary presentation. good detail on the relevant art-historical Chapter 6 is the sole contribution to and philosophical contexts of both forms the volume by Ivo Purš, but it does not and, working with many similar objects disappoint. Taking as its framing device to the previous chapter, providing new the notion of the Kunstkammer (the Ren- critical insights and interpretations that aissance and Baroque ‘room of wonders’, add to the depth of analysis (and breadth) as popularised in the art of Rudolfine that is achieved throughout the volume. and Mannerist Prague) – Purš analyses Starting with graphic works, moving to Švankmajer’s departure from that visually sculpture and then progressing to film, complex but intellectually simple form to before returning once again to sculpture 479 and printmaking in ‘tactile poems’ and following page illustrations of the mari- cartographic fantasies, Dryje provides onette used for the film Little Otik and an commentary on the works that ranges ‘African Marionette’ art object on the sub- Reviews from psychological investigation, through sequent leaf.