Slippage

1895--St. Louis, Missouri
 

Ernest Hogan

Black musicians playing in big bands performing the music of the Great John Philip Sousa and his ilk, on their off hours, for fun and personal expression, begin "ragging" on the strict compositions. They infuse the standards with rhythms derived from their West African roots. This gives rise to Ragtime, a genre named by Ernest Hogan from Bowling Green, Kentucky, who puts some of the new style down on paper. In 1897, Scott Joplin composes "The Maple Leaf Rag," which will become one of the most treasured songs of the style. Ragtime will go on to take ample advantage of a new technology, the player piano. Its structural base is the flat, barren (though often bombastic) composed melodies of the marches, behind and underneath which swirling, jumping African rhythms are set free to rearrange the expressive interpretation of the notes.


Circa 1910--Paris, France

Portrait of Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler

Pablo Picasso sets the gaze of the artist free to roam around its subject, depicting it from numerous different vantages at once, rather than remaining fixed in place as it had been for thousands of years, bound as it was to the shackles of a motionless observer and classical perspective. He, along with many other concurrent artists, invents Cubism. Its foundation is the flat, static picture plane, these are still traditional paintings, after all. But beyond it, the unmoored eye swirls and floats freely around the depicted subject. 


 

1912--Paris and Milan

Unique Forms...

Marcel Duchamp and the Futurists disengage the depicted scene in an artwork from a singular moment in time. Instead, they portray the passage of time as it occurs in the movement of their subject. Duchamp's Nude Descending a Staircase becomes a controversial sensation. Umberto Boccioni's Unique Forms of Continuity in Space becomes a quasi-manifesto of sculptural form to rival the one on paper written by his compatriot, Marinetti. Their foundation is the flat, static, singular art object. Beyond this, the experience of time slips back and forth fluidly and freely.

1917--New Orleans, Louisiana

Although what we would come to know as Jazz had been evolving for at least a century or more, its emergence into popular, universal consciousness is difficult to pinpoint. I mean that to say, not just among white audiences, but also among people of Central and South America, Europe, perhaps even Eastern Europe and Asia, and elsewhere outside the Black Diaspora of North America. I am not a Jazz historian, and I'd never pretend to be. Nevertheless, Black musicians incorporate a very important feature into their performance style: improvisation. One musician at a time in a troupe is set free to express his or her own interpretation of the recognized melody. Above the flat, consistent, foundation of the song structure, as the remaining musicians hold steady, an individual performer is set free to express his or her individual interpretation in a fluid and unconstrained manner.

 
1921--Vienna, Austria

Schoenberg

Arnold Schoenberg abandons the tenets of western classical music and adopts the 12-tone scale often found in Eastern musical history. Igor Stravinsky and many other incredible composers will eventually follow his lead. Its foundation is the basic, flat structure of composed, orchestrated music. Beyond this, the arrangements of notes in a phrase become free and unconstrained by the regulations of keys or traditional chords.

 






1927--Garches, France

Villa Stein

Le Corbusier creates the Villa Stein, for Gertrude Stein's sister-in-law and her husband. Aside from a few sculptural protuberances from the front facade, it is an unapologetic plane. The window sashes are nearly flush with the wall, which appears to dematerialize into a paper-thin sheet of construction. Meanwhile, Corbu invents a "machine for living," whereby he disengages the elements of the house from their traditional moorings. A fireplace, for instance, was normally rooted to a masonry chimney, and for its support therefore rooted to a structural wall. Walls are no longer necessary structurally, which means that all the other elements of the building can be cast adrift. For Corbu, the static foundation is the relentlessly flat facade, beyond which the elements of a living space can swirl around, unencumbered, free to find their natural location.


1929--Barcelona, Spain

Barcelona Pavilion

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe designs a pavilion for the International Exposition in Barcelona. He disengages the building from its reliance on gravity, something that could only occur to an architect working in the Industrial Age. Disengaged from gravity, wall planes and structure--which had heretofore been synonymous--can be discrete elements of the building. Wall planes and structural elements are now separated from each other. Ignoring gravity, he can also turn architectural composition on its side; there is no longer any vertical symmetry as it was for hundreds of years, but horizontal symmetry abounds. The book-matched marble has seams at about five-feet from the floor, exactly at eye-level. Reflecting pools mirror the surfaces above. His base is the flat ground plane. Above and from this base, the arrangement of architectural space is free to swirl around, unencumbered, to find its place in the free expression of structure and enclosure.


©2017, Ryan Witte

The Rockets' Red Glare

I'd like to talk about something a little unusual, but something with which I've been fascinated and curious for a while now. It's the language used by commercial catalogues to describe large grade fireworks. Aside from the Fourth of July displays sponsored by huge companies, it seems to be a singularly redneck pastime, and driving through states like Oklahoma, it was pretty remarkable how very many fireworks outlets there are as compared to anywhere else in the country. They're enormous warehouses with every imaginable combustible that if lit on fire could probably blow out a crater a mile wide.

Fireworks, the big ones anyway, are also fairly expensive. A somewhat impressive "cake," as they're called, can be as much as $200, for an event that lasts no more than about a minute and a half at the most.

Personally, the idea of setting off a dangerous explosive scares me to death, but I suppose that's part of the appeal: the adrenaline rush. What's interesting about the terminology used is that it's the exact language that might be used by someone who was enraptured by the art of warfare (such as it is). The Italian Futurists thought warfare was the ultimate art form, presumably because it was doing exactly what so many artists (like the Dadaists) were at the time, destroying the idea of a visual, art historical culture. Modernist architecture was doing the same thing.

Here's what F. T. Marinetti wrote in their manifesto in 1909:

We want to glorify war--the only cure for the world--militarism, patriotism, the destructive gesture of the anarchists, the beautiful ideas which kill, and contempt for woman...We want to demolish museums and libraries...It is in Italy that we are issuing this manifesto of ruinous and incendiary violence, by which we today are founding Futurism.

Now, of course I find the misogyny utterly disgusting, and the implications this has of foretelling fascist states is a bit disturbing at best. But they were in their twenties, the most insufferably arrogant age group in any generation, and obviously inexperienced and naive, if not uneducated. Plus, Italy has long been a bastion of anti-feminism. It also makes some sense with the redneck connection.

It's also interesting to note our national anthem:

And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air

Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.

Every time it's heard, the beauty of warfare is being celebrated. It was a noble fight, to be sure, against an oppressive monarchy. But truly, it's no wonder so many young people think signing up to go off and murder innocent people in foreign lands is the best way to prove their patriotism.

As far as I'm concerned, Nature puts on the best shows, and she has in great abundance in recent years: thunderstorms. Spectacular, unpredictable, beautiful, exciting, scary (the thought always occurs to me when I'm sitting watching a storm blow in on my fire escape, which is metal of course, is this ladder up there to the roof the highest thing in the sky around here trying to attract a lightning bolt and fry me alive?). Thunder so loud it sets off car alarms. One of the things I love about Queens is the great expanse of the skyline. I can see storms in their totality here. I can watch storm systems approach over Manhattan and engulf my neighborhood with their fury. It's completely majestic.

I've decided to look at the language used to describe fireworks in terms of the metaphoric categories employed, I think it's somewhat telling. Most of these are pooled from the site for Phantom, a major distributor to be sure, and a few others.

Culture, Symbolic

Cross, Latin Cross

Crossette (technically an architectural term, but used predominantly to refer to fireworks)

Diamond

Heart

Culture, Technology

Helicopter

Plane

Rocket

Strobe, Strobelight

UFO

Culture, Textiles/ Adornments

Bowtie

Brocade

Cincture

Crown

Diadem

Fan

Fluff

Glitter

Kamuro (a boy's style of haircut)

Ring

Culture, Warfare, Artillery

Battery

Bomb

Machine Gun

Mine

Missile

Mortar

Pistol

Revolver

Shell

Culture, Warfare, Tactical

Barrage

Battle

Bombardment

Parachute

Report

Salute

Shot

Volley

Nature, Astronomical

Comet, Comet Tail

Star

Nature, Biology, Fauna

Head

Tail

Mythological

Dragon, Dragon Egg

Real

Bee, Swarm

Fish, Flying Fish, Liquid Fish

Frog, Tadpole

Horse, Horse Tail

Oyster, Pearl

Peacock

Serpent

Spider

Swallow

Tiger, Tiger Tail

Nature, Biology, Flora

Branch

Leaf, Falling Leaf

Flowers, Bouquet

Chrysanthemum

Dahlia

Lotus

Peony
Popcorn
Trees

Palm Tree, Palm, Ti, Coconut

Pine, Snow Pine

Willow

Nature, Meteorology

Rain, Time(d) Rain

Rainbow

Snowflake

Storm, Thunderstorm

Thunder

Nature, Optics, Colors

White, Silver, Platinum (Titanium, Aluminum)

Red (Strontium, Lithium), Pink

Orange, Neon Orange (Calcium)

Yellow, Primrose, Lemon (Sodium), Gold, Golden (Charcoal, Iron)

Green (Barium)

Blue, Sea-Blue (Copper)

Purple (Potassium), Violet (Rubidium)

Nature, Optics, Qualities

Flare

Kaleidoscope

Sparkle

Twinkle

Nature, Physics/ Dynamics

Flitter

Shuttle

Spark

Spin

Spray

Waterfall

Wave

Whirl

Here are a few of the luscious descriptions of the "repeaters" and "fountains." The names of these products are also interesting in their own right.

"Da Bomb"
The nine mega-bursts, including: gold willow to red; gold willow to green; silver twinkling willow to green; brocade to crackle; green to crackle; gold willow--green glitter; primrose-silver glitter; red dahlia--silver chrysanthemums; and silver peony to red.

"Komodo 3000 Repeater"

(Click links for video) Plenty of gold comets, mixed in with some silver and blue peonies with beautiful bursts of red, green, and silver heads, as well as blue stars and flying fish.

"Orbiters Launch Sequence"
The first twenty shots alternate between high-breaking red and green palm trees, crackle breaks, and multi-color chrysanthemums. The final two shots are spinning shots that fly screaming with a high pitch whistle out of the center of the cake, with big breaks of red and green.

"Supercell Storm"
...the Supercell Storm has a spectacular whirling-firing pattern that has falling leaves, color comets, and an awesome willow finale. Several shots of crackle to multi-color breaks with fast-paced crackling willow finale that fills the sky.

And last but not least:
"Pyro Pulverizer"
...professionally designed effects featuring brocade, crackles, fish, and red chrysanthemums. The first five shots are fired in sequence, ending in large gold willow breaks sparkling along their branches as they spread out. The next five shots end in green breaks with crackle. The next five are all-crackle breaks. The next group of five ends in a mixture of green stars, silver flying fish, and crackle. Finally, three large shots are fired all at once with bright silver comets that end in a nice large dahlia breaks of red stars with silver trails.

One thing I find quite interesting is that these fireworks displays can be subject to copyright. But it's almost baffling to consider the chemistry that goes into one of these. The designer has to pack all the right explosives and in the right measure into one box. He or she controls how high into the air it will go, in what direction, whether it will rise with a streak or invisibly, whether or not it will make noise and if so, how loud. Then when it gets to the right point in the sky, what it will do, how it will explode and how big the explosion will be, what color(s) it will be, whether it will crackle at the end or be "fishy." And that's just one shot, these "repeaters" can have forty of them in one box which, ideally, are timed out in just such a way that they combine in pleasing patterns in the night sky.

When you put all this together, especially if we want to talk about a big city Fourth of July display, I don't think an analogy to composing symphonic music is that difficult to pick out. Without question there is choreography to this. I'd like to suggest that for Independence Day coming up this weekend, we each pause for a moment, in between our "oohhs," "aahhs," and "wooows" to consider the fireworks displays for their aesthetic qualities. At the very least, the no doubt huge teams of people risking their lives lighting fires on a barge full of, essentially, bombs deserve that much.

©2010, Ryan Witte