MATERIALITY AND MEDIALITY: DISPLAY STRATEGIES IN WEIMAR EXHIBITION ENVIRONMENTS (1923-1930) Sandra Karina Löschke A thesis in fulfilment Of the requirements fOr the degree Of DoctOr Of PhilOsOphy UNSW School of Architecture Faculty of the Built Environment May 2014 } PLEASE TYPE THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES Thesis/Dissertation Sheet Surname or Family name: Loschke First name: Sandra Other name/s: Karina Abbreviation for degree as given in the University calendar: PhD School: Architecture Faculty: FBE Title: Materiality and Mediality: Display Strategies in Weimar Exhibition Environments (1923-1930) Abstract 350 words maximum: The recent probing of display conventions and audience interrelations in contemporary exhibition venues prompted a renewed interest in the history of avant-garde exhibition design. Within this field of study, this thesis identifies a very narrow thematic and historic area of interest. It proposes that the rise of experimental exhibition models in 1920s Weimar Germany was intimately linked to a changed understanding of materiality inspired by the scientific and technological innovations of the time - a fact that has been disregarded in current exhibition scholarship. It demonstrates how ideas about materiality - the calculated layering of materials, colour, light, and text - informed display and engaged audiences. The exhibition environment, previously conceived as a representational backdrop, was not only foregrounded but assigned a central mediating role. These endeavours, I propose, capture the historic moment when traditional nineteenth century exhibition typologies began to be transfigured through novel experimental practices that reveal and develop vital links between material aesthetics and mediation. My original contribution to knowledge consists in the detailed analysis of a series of display models which emerged in Weimar Germany in 1923-30 and which are examined through the lenses of materiality and mediality. The selected display models are: Aby Warburg's Kulturwissenschaftliche Bibliothek (Library of Cultural Sciences) in Hamburg; Alexander Domer's Provinzialmuseum in Hannover; El Lissitzky's Dresden and Hannover Demonstration Rooms; and Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer, Herbert Bayer, and L!1szl6 Moholy-Nagy's 1930 Werkbund Exhibition in Paris. Together, these case studies offer a series of alternative concepts that represent a paradigmatic shift from representation to mediation, from formal display typologies to material experimentation, and from display spaces based on art historical principles to environments organised on th~ basis of the visitor's experience. The investigation draws upon archival,-material including photographs, drawings, reviews, and official and personal documents. It uses case studies as a prime method of investigation, developing its central arguments from a detailed analysis of the particulars of each case. Declaration relating to disposition of project thesis/dissertation I hereby grant to the University of New South Wales or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or in part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or here after known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I retain all property rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation. I also authorise University Microfilms to use the 350-word abstract of my thesis in Dissertation Abstracts International (this is applicable to doctoral t; ses only). ~ /_._· s;;;w;;; ~ ........................ w~ ... ~......- ..... --.... ............. J.~ .. :.. .l..Q.:.. l.~ .... ..... .. Date The University recognises that there may be exceptional circumsl nces requiring restrictions on copying or conditions on use. Requests for restriction for a period of up to 2 years must be made in writing. Requests for a longer period of restriction may be considered in exceptional circumstances and require the approval of the Dean of Graduate Research. FOR OFFICE USE ONLY Date of completion ofrequirements for Award: COPYRIGHT STATEMENT ‘I hereby grant the University of New South Wales or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or here after known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I retain all proprietary rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation. I also authorise University Microfilms to use the 350 word abstract of my thesis in Dissertation Abstract International (this is applicable to doctoral theses only). I have either used no substantial portions of copyright material in my thesis or I have obtained permission to use copyright material; where permission has not been granted I have applied/will apply for a partial restriction of the digital copy of my thesis or dissertation.' Signed Date: 03/10/2014 AUTHENTICITY STATEMENT "I certify that the library deposit digital copy is a direct equivalent of the final officially approved version of my thesis. No emendation of content has occurred and if there are any minor variations in formatting, they are the result of the conversion to digital format.” Signed Date: 03/10/2014 ORIGINALITY STATEMENT "I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person, or substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at UNSW or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in the thesis. Any contribution made to the research by others, with whom I have worked at UNSW or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis. I also declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project's design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged." Signed Date: 03/10/2014 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABSTRACT INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER EXHIBITION, MATERIALITY, AUDIENCE 1 Thematic Matrix: Exhibition, Materiality, Audience 1 Theoretical Framework: Material Aesthetics and Psycho-physiology 3 Practice Context: Material Experimentation 8 Historical Context: Exhibitions and Audiences 14 Rationale for the Selection of Case Studies and their Interrelatedness 21 Object of Dissertation 22 Contemporary Relevance and Research Context 23 Aims and Significance of the Research 25 Methodological Approach: Indiciary Paradigm, Case Study, Interdisciplinarity 25 The Indiciary Paradigm 27 The Case Study 29 Interdisciplinary Approach 30 Description of the Chapters 32 CHAPTER 1 ABY WARBURG'S LIBRARY AS EXHIBITION AND LABORATORY 37 Materialising Knowledge: Libraries and Museums 37 Contemporary Context 39 The Library as a Collection of Evidence and Research Instrument 40 Scientific Inspiration 41 Affective Space and Reflective Space 42 A Question of Method 44 Systemization for a Wider Audience 45 The Central Reading Room: Spatial Experience, Collaboration and Demonstration 48 The Book Magazines: Vertical Organization by Topic 52 Colour Signification 54 Activating the audience 56 The Library as Laboratory 58 Conclusion: Audience and Mediation 61 CHAPTER 2 PARTICIPATORY AESTHETICS: ALEXANDER DORNER’S REORGANISATION OF THE PROVINZIALMUSEUM HANNOVER (1923-26) 65 The State of German Museums in the Weimar Republic 67 Dorner’s Raumbild Theory 72 Activating Exhibitions for the Public: Atmosphere Room and Information Material 75 Unframing Artworks: Dorner’s Reanimation of Historic Raumbilder 77 The Concept of Atmosphere 82 Colour as Activator 84 Back and forth: Atmospheric Experience and Intellectual Prompts 91 Presence of another, of self, and of material 95 A Transformative Mode of Art Reception 97 Dorner’s Curatorial Ethos 99 Dorner’s Reception 101 CHAPTER 3 IMMATERIAL MATERIALITY: EL LISSITZKY'S DEMONSTRATION ROOMS 107 The Adaption of Avant-garde Exhibition Models in Contemporary Curatorial Practice 109 Nicolas Bourriaud: The Exhibition as a "place like any other place" 112 Liam Gillick: The Exhibition as Material Reference or Decorative Backdrop 116 Faktura: The Constructivist’s Re-conceptualisation of Materiality 120 Utilitarian and Psychological Aspects of Faktura 123 Proun: A Material Vocabulary for a Techno-Aesthetic Paradigm 125 Lissitzky's Demonstration Rooms: Proun and Irrational Space 133 Lissitzky's Demonstrationrooms: Immaterial materiality and Imaginary Space 135 The Demonstration Rooms: Various Perspectives 138 The Demonstration Room: A New Standard for Exhibition Architecture 140 Constructing with Light: The Tectonic Illumination Object 144 Immaterialising Architecture: The Iridescent Wall 150 Conclusion: Material Strategies for Exhibitions 161 CHAPTER 4 165 COMMUNICATION MATERIAL: EXPERIMENTS WITH GERMAN CULTURE IN THE 1930 WERKBUND EXHIBITION 165 The Werkbund Exhibition in Paris 1930: Background 166 Theoretical positions: Material Logic and Material Imagination 169 Innovative Materials 173 Visiting the Future: Gropius and Breuer’s Prototypes for Modern Living 177 The Capture of the Eye: Bayer’s Materialisation of the Spectacular 182 Multi-medial Distractions: Moholy-Nagy’s concept of materiality as medium 186 A guided tour of the future 189 The Purpose of Exhibitions: Staging