The Power of Ornament - exhibition at the belvedere museum

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• Description : http://www.castyourart.com/en (engl...(more)ish version) http://www.castyourart.com (german version) In 1908, Adolf Loos published a polemic modern architecture pamphlet titled Ornament and Crime. Ornamentation, he argues, is redundant, cost-intensive kitschy decoration, and an expression of the cultural backwardness which can be found in primitive cultures, and which is not representative of modern man. The barbarian era, the architect concludes, is finally past. In the work of artists such as Adriana Czernin, Brigitte Kowanz, Sarah Morris, Raqib Shaw, Aisha Khalid, Mona Hatoum or Parastou Forouhar, ornamentation is given a voice on different levels, such as physicality, eros, violence, cultural differences, and the rhythms of modern and traditional life, and reveals its seductive power to touch upon deeper layers that lie behind the wall of the abstract beauty of the ornament. What these artists all share is their approach of use this seductive power of ornamental beauty with a very clear intention in mind. In this exhibition, ornamentation emerges not as a hollow decoration, but rather as an allegory of the collective modern existence within mass society, and the artists use the ornament as a powerful tool for critique and rebellion. Its beauty attracts the attention of the viewers. It encourages them to look closer, in order to expose collective patterns of social standardization, brutality, and suppression of otherness in its details. According to Kracauer, People who are separated from the community, who consider themselves singular personalities with their own distinctive souls, do not fit in to these patterns. The Power of Ornament, at the Orangery, Lower Belvedere demands that one looks closer, and not to look away. (wh/jn) (less)