ideal vs real

using simulation in computer games to extract information that can be used in the real world.

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Initial analysis of Giedion

"every generation has to find its own solution to the same problem: how to bridge the gap between inner and outer reality by reestablishing the dynamic equilibrium that governs their relationships."

"The question which at present comes everywhere to the fore and which cuts increasingly deeper into the marrow of this century, is the relation between constancy and change. In other words - as a result of bitter experiences - we are concerned to know what can be changed and what cannot be changed in human nature without disturbing its equipoise."

[equipoise: an equal distribution of weight; even balance; equilibrium.]

-Sigfried Giedion. Space, Time and Architecture. Forward to the 13th printing (4th Ed.), from Zurich, Doldertal, Dec 1961. p 10.

"The presentation of objects from several points of view introduces a principle which is intimately bound up with modern life - simultaneity."

-Sigfried Giedion. Space, Time and Architecture. p 436.

Analysis

Upon reading Giedion's analysis of cubism being the movement to explore the new construct of the time, that is spacetime; the obvious observation is that this multi-sided representation of objects, if it did seek to push the language of art (namely painting in this case), could be seen as just an encapsulation of 4 dimensions back into 2. (it is now flat and static).

That is the same kind of process that computer gaming will conduct, but back into 3. (it is now flat and constantly moving).
Whether this can become a process to transform it into 4 is important. (can it be spatial and constantly moving?).
Whether this can become a process to transform it into 5 is also important. (can it be spatial and dynamically moving?).

Another thought that comes to mind regarding Giedion's analysis of cubism is the restriction of the art medium. In some ways the cubist research and development movement was setting up rules for themselves, and attempting to move about freely within such rules. Why represent 3D on a 2D canvas? why not just jump to sculpture? That way there is no need to see from below, above, within and without. It may be because through their "establish to escape" process, they may actually discover some importance about basic elements. It may also be because they are helping people to see; by taking the large amount of information and representing it as a manageable amount of information.

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Initial analysis of Michelis

Compared to Giedion, Michelis's view of art is somewhat condescending. He gives even smaller appreciation for art critics. He also acknoledges a conceptual understanding, but concedes a technical understanding of spacetime.

"the acceptance of the idea of the absolute infinite from Newton has brought to modern thought contradictions which I am not competent to explain. Nevertheless, the attempt to define the terms gives me the opportunity to remark that they stem from an abstraction that the scientific mind draws from real life in order to understand it." p 76.

Michelis's strength lies in his overall analysis and taxonomy.

"The artistic feeling of space. Three things must be distinguished: the physiological perception of space; the philosophical conception of space, and the artistic feeling of space." p 76.

"Thus the Egyptians allegedly had a conception of one-dimensional space, the Greeks of two-dimensional, and the Gothic period of three-dimensional space, but only in the interior of their buildings, whereas the Renaissance conception was three-dimensional both for the interior and the exterior. To us finally today is attributed a four-dimensional conception. I do not know whether for future generations a five-dimensional space is predicted." p 72.

The immediate question which comes to mind from this include the contradictory nature of a developing dimensional conception of space coninciding with the reduction/simplification of architectural history (classics to modern), esp with ornament. Is some kind of relationship present? Is a transference from one to the other defined by scientific development? Is it just coincidence?

Space-Time and Contemporary Architecture
P. A. Michelis
The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Vol. 8, No. 2 (Dec., 1949), pp. 71-86

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