Bern, Univ., Diss., 2001.

Inaug.-Diss. Philos.-hist. Bern, 2001. / Literaturverz.

Texte traduit de: Dissertation--Amsterdam--Vrije universiteit, 2002. Titre de soutenance : Een nieuwe vormentaal der gemeenschap. Joost Baljeu en het tijdschrift "Structure" : een kunstenaarsdebat. / Bibliogr. p. 447-466.

Playsam in Kalmar AB are world famous for their design of the toys they sell. Together with their CEO Carl Zedig the goal was to find a new product for the company.  The process has far from been linear, I started off in one direction, got rejected, turned another way and we finally decided to create a rocking horse in a De Stijl style. At the same time taking consideration of the demands from Playsam and myself.Playsam’s products are archetypes of ordinary objects around us such as the car or the aeroplane. The company mainly produces its toys in wood and the stylized shape together with the blank painted surface has become a hallmark for them.De Stijl, the Dutch art movement containing artists, designers and architects such as Piet Mondrian, Theo van Doesburg and Gerrit Rietveld. Given inspiration for the rocking horse was Rietveld’s chair Red-Blue.I, Niklas Bonnevier, have a technical background and I am shaped by that. I rather draw with a ruler than by free hand, I often think mathematically instead of in free shapes. In my projects I often work with humour and playfulness, but with great seriousity as a base.The challenge in the project was to take in consideration the factors that would affect the shape and make decisions of what was the most essential to reach the goal. Compromises had to be done since all factors could not get the space they demanded. To renounce the thoughts of Rietveld in the making of the chair Red-Blue hurt in the designer soul but the main thing is that the product works for what it is meant to. Playsam also have to be allowed to say theirs if the result is supposed to be a commercial product in their range of products.

<p>Playsam in Kalmar AB are world famous for their design of the toys they sell. Together with their CEO Carl Zedig the goal was to find a new product for the company.  The process has far from been linear, I started off in one direction, got rejected, turned another way and we finally decided to create a rocking horse in a De Stijl style. At the same time taking consideration of the demands from Playsam and myself.Playsam’s products are archetypes of ordinary objects around us such as the car or the aeroplane. The company mainly produces its toys in wood and the stylized shape together with the blank painted surface has become a hallmark for them.De Stijl, the Dutch art movement containing artists, designers and architects such as Piet Mondrian, Theo van Doesburg and Gerrit Rietveld. Given inspiration for the rocking horse was Rietveld’s chair Red-Blue.I, Niklas Bonnevier, have a technical background and I am shaped by that. I rather draw with a ruler than by free hand, I often think mathematically instead of in free shapes. In my projects I often work with humour and playfulness, but with great seriousity as a base.The challenge in the project was to take in consideration the factors that would affect the shape and make decisions of what was the most essential to reach the goal. Compromises had to be done since all factors could not get the space they demanded. To renounce the thoughts of Rietveld in the making of the chair Red-Blue hurt in the designer soul but the main thing is that the product works for what it is meant to. Playsam also have to be allowed to say theirs if the result is supposed to be a commercial product in their range of products.</p>

The diploma thesis De Stijl and Czech Avant-Garde Art of the 1920's and 1930's focuses on the Dutch art movement De Stijl (1917-1931) and the relationship of its protagonists to the Czech avant-garde scene of the inter-war era; both on the practical as well as theoretical level. The work aims to examine the as yet rather insufficiently mapped interconnection between the creative output of De Stijl's artists, led by the movement founder Theo van Doesburg, and the body of work of Czech artists active in the First Czechoslovak Republic period. The crucial part of the text is grounded in the works of Theo van Doesburg and Karel Teige, leading personalities of the inter-war art scene of the aforementioned countries. The thesis concentrates on selected thematic areas of their wide scope of interests: typography, film, Bauhaus and architecture.

The diploma thesis De Stijl and Avant-Garde Art in the Czechoslovakian Interwar Period focuses on the Dutch art movement De Stijl (1917-1931) and the relationship of its protagonists to the Czech avant-garde scene of the interwar era; both on the practical as well as theoretical level. The work aims to examine the yet rather insufficiently mapped interconnection between the creative output of De Stijl's artists, led by the movement founder Theo van Doesburg, and the body of work of Czech artists active in the First Czechoslovak Republic period. The figures of Theo van Doesburg and Karel Teige are prominent throughout the whole thesis. These two artists were considered as leading personalities and ambassadors of the avant-garde movements in their respective countries. The thesis focuses especially on architecture as the relations between the Dutch and Czech artists were the most salient and most intensive in this area.

<p>Målet är att få en bättre förståelse för hur det abstrakta måleriet uppkommit och för att göra detta möjligt har jag valt att utgå ifrån en av de abstrakta pionjärerna, Piet Mondrian. I undersökningen finns ett fokus på att ta reda på vilka hans inspirationskällor var och hur de återspeglar sig i hans konst. En diskussion och bildanalys förs kring ett antal av Mondrians målningar samt ett par jämförelser görs med konstnären Toorop. Det finns en kortare förklaring av neoplasticismen, teosofin och en sammanfattning av teosofins roll för de abstrakta pionjärerna.</p><p>Det jag kommit fram till är att teosofin hade en stor betydelse för Mondrian, men inte lika stor betydelse som personerna som förmedlade den och som kom att bli inspirationskällor för honom. Enligt mig är den mest betydande målningen Evolution från tidigt 1900-tal. Under denna tid sker mycket i Mondrians privata och professionella liv. I målningen kan vi utläsa både inspirationskällor och teknik. Det som betydde mest för Mondrian var färgen (före formen) samt de delar ur teosofin som han plockade efter att ha låtit sig inspireras av Toorop, Steiner och Schoenmaeker.</p>

Målet är att få en bättre förståelse för hur det abstrakta måleriet uppkommit och för att göra detta möjligt har jag valt att utgå ifrån en av de abstrakta pionjärerna, Piet Mondrian. I undersökningen finns ett fokus på att ta reda på vilka hans inspirationskällor var och hur de återspeglar sig i hans konst. En diskussion och bildanalys förs kring ett antal av Mondrians målningar samt ett par jämförelser görs med konstnären Toorop. Det finns en kortare förklaring av neoplasticismen, teosofin och en sammanfattning av teosofins roll för de abstrakta pionjärerna. Det jag kommit fram till är att teosofin hade en stor betydelse för Mondrian, men inte lika stor betydelse som personerna som förmedlade den och som kom att bli inspirationskällor för honom. Enligt mig är den mest betydande målningen Evolution från tidigt 1900-tal. Under denna tid sker mycket i Mondrians privata och professionella liv. I målningen kan vi utläsa både inspirationskällor och teknik. Det som betydde mest för Mondrian var färgen (före formen) samt de delar ur teosofin som han plockade efter att ha låtit sig inspireras av Toorop, Steiner och Schoenmaeker.

From 1922-1942, the Austrian-American architect and designer Frederick Jacob Kiesler (1890-1965) designed architecture based on the idea that it must complement the physiological and psychological processes of the human body. In order to reconcile the technological changes wrought by industrialized production with the need for structures that promoted human health, he developed an inspired model for interactive design. His formative experiences in Europe working with De Stijl and the G-Group, along with his exposure to Central European examples of architecture, art, and science set the agenda for his later works. Yet he never stopped experimenting with new concepts that would bolster his essential philosophy of body-generated space. After he immigrated to the United States in 1926, Kiesler’s pursued his ideas about physiological and psychological architecture within a new cultural milieu and a network of encouraging personal connections. He forged relationships with a sympathetic community of émigré industrial designers and architects who promoted his efforts to integrate modern technology with new design idioms. During his first fifteen years in New York City, Kiesler looked to contemporary science as a way to advance a model of flexible architectural design. He also worked at the cutting edge of industrial design research and was an early protagonist of human factors engineering methods. His body-centered methodology stood in opposition to aesthetic and reductive approaches toward modernism and functionalism. Instead of designing according to a priori determinations of what was functional and what was not, Kiesler’s functionalism was based on an iterative design practice that would reveal progressively more useful and universally applicable forms. / text