"MEDIA IN A NEW LIGHT: SHAPE"

      While this "Media Matters" blog has been in existence for nearly four years, the term "media" is temporarily changing course by extending  its dimensions. In the past, 

the word has meant traditional "mass" media, including print and electronic approaches. Yet the term has other denotations as well.  In the visual arts, particularly, media means the materials/tools out of which a work is created. ( Acrylics is one example applied to painting. ) For our purposes here, however, media will go a step further, assuming a specific design element: notably shape. No doubt, such a component may present contradictory characteristics: for example, curves ( round / circular ) vs. linear lines ( straight edges / right angles). This critic's favorite samples derive from Washington, D.C.: The Capitol and the Washington Monument, respectively.

     Obviously, such a particular media focus is far-reaching. Yet when opposing shapes help define an urban landscape, they become even more significant and provocative, especially in three European locations: London, Bilbao and Barcelona. ( To be clear, we don't necessarily mean London's Big Ben and Westminster Abby. ) What we do mean is contrasting shapes which co-exist in close proximity to each other. This co-existence can delineate separate entities or appear in one individual work. 

     First, we have opposing curves/ linear forms in distinct works within sight of each other. Consider London: St. Paul's circular dome across the river from Tate Modern ( a former power station with rectangular lines). On Tate Modern's bankside, we see an artist blowing huge rounded bubbles into the air, as children frolic while trying to catch the floating froth. (Remarkably, the bubbles themselves also seem to play tag like the children.) These circular shapes are juxtaposed with the nearby horizontal, rectangularly- formed Millennium Bridge. 

     Most fantastic and easily-missed, however, is one neighboring skyscraper presenting both shapes: a linear steel tower with a curve planted midway in its structure. We can only wonder the purpose for such an unusual design and the meaning attributed to it.

     The juxtaposition of contrasting shapes occupying the same space also exists at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. First, there is the Museum's exterior itself, with its linear formations, which are often slanted and forming a puzzle-like placement of constructed parts. Surrounding the structure are other buildings in the background, presenting varied designs which are not necessarily linear. While most photographs of the Guggenheim depict it as an individual building with no nearby setting, in reality its landscape is an intriguing and complex collection of design elements.

     Inside the Museum itself, a current exhibit of Richard Serra's large- scale sculptures is essentially all curves, which is to be expected. However, in the large open space upstairs, it's a different view, where the collision of horizontal and vertical lines makes up the design pattern. An abstract work, featuring rounded balls floating in a pond, is seen outside the widows, thus delineating a mixture of curves (outside ) and hard-edged lines ( inside). 

     No such contrasting combination of shapes exists in Barcelona where architect Antoni Gaudi's extraordinary buildings predominate. Strictly curves define his architectural feats, a primary trait of the style he discovered: Catalan Modernism. Sharing elements with Art Nouveau, Gaudi's buildings are also decorative in nature, contain ornamental details, and combine varied materials including iron, woodwork, and ceramics. 

     Regardless of these particular traits, it is the circular configurations that we remember most, long after we have left Gaudi's sites.  For example, there's "La  Sagrada Familia," the iconic church Gaudi never completed before his death in 1926. While the church's rounded shapes are not as obvious as in Gaudi's other work, its defining spirals can be seen from far-away rising into the sky. Conversely, there are no straight lines in his "Casa Mila," ( 1906-1912 ) a building which still houses some residents. Looking at the structure from across the street, it seems like it was made from ordinary clay ( actually the material is stone from a quarry). But there is also a "magical" component to the "Casa Mila" as well: it appears to be moving from side-to-side and then resuming its original position again. Is this a "trick of the eye" planned by Gaudi or perhaps a spectator's personal delusion?

     Finally, there's the exquisite "Casa Batllo," a remodel of a previously built building  ( redesigned by Gaudi in 1904 ) which is now used for cultural activities. It is certainly another "magical place" featuring fanciful blue-green patterns and curvy lines which separate the floors and encircle both the balconies and windows. 

     What a story this building could tell about its inhabitants through the years. If only we could have been one of these residents.