Art Encounter II : The Dark Side of Romanticism

CARCERI
The Architecture of Imaginary Prisons

Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Carceri d'Invenzione, Plate XIV, 1750

http://www.wikigallery.org/wiki/painting_263013/Giovanni-Battista-Piranesi/Carceri-d%27Invenzione%2C-Plate-XIV

Giovanni Battista Piranesi's created a series of 16 etchings/prints named Carceri.  Many of the images within Carceri are haunting and menacing, as they depict imaginary prisons. The image above (Plate XIV) is part of the series and measures at approximately 16"x21". It is currently housed in Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. This piece was created quite early in the era of Romanticism, and is representative of Dark Romanticism.  Carceri d'Invenzione, Plate XIV is a great example of Dark Romanticism as it is a rather grim, menacing and suffocating image. One of the elements of this image which  is so interesting, is the complicated architecture within. Although architecture is depicted in this image, my main focus is on the feeling evoked by the etching.  After all, Romanticism was mainly interested in feeling and intuition.  

*ETCHING*

Carceri is an etching, displaying dark tones in gray scale and blacks.  Etching is quite an extra-ordinary process.  The video below demonstrates the etching process and print-making, and highlights the remarkable works of Blake as well. 

*FORM AND COMPOSITION*

Carceri's Plate XIV is full of lines: vertical, horizontal and diagonal.  Endless series of stairways, railings, arches and columns extend throughout the image.  Although the staircases appear to cover a lot of ground and extend to all directions, the observer can feel quite claustrophobic and almost suffocated because there is no visible exit to the viewer.  Furthermore, the heavy use of dark tones contribute to the feeling of being closed in.  The movement within the etching is chaotic, as it is unsystematic and unorganized.  The stairways move in all different directions at the same time and there is no apparent order or structure within the structure. Because of this, the eye is constantly in motion.  It if difficult to find a center point.

Almost every line in the etching is sharp including the arches near the top and in the background of the image.  The only soft lines are used in the representation of small shadowy images scattered throughout on the various stairways or walkways.  The viewer can assume that these images are human, although there is nothing detailed about them. They are nameless, faceless and androgynous. They are essentially, black blobs wandering throughout the structure.  

*SUBJECT AND INTERPRETATION*

 The series of prints from etching represent imaginary prisons, possibly within the human psyche which speak to the darker side of human nature. These works have been described as images which could illustrate Edmund Burke's theory of the sublime outlined in [sic]  "A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and the Beautiful."   Carceri would be representative of the sublime, as the sublime has the power to compel and destroy.

"The passions which concern self-preservation turn mostly on pain or danger.  The ideas of pain, sickness and death fill the mind with strong emotions of horror; but life and health, though they put us in capacity of being affected with pleasure., they make no such impression... Whatever excites this delight, I call sublime."  -Burke

Psychologically, Carceri d'Invenzione, Plate XIV seems to speak to both the complexity and darker depths within the human mind. It seems to represent the endless possibilities, directions, thoughts, memories and limitations we have as individuals.  Perhaps he is demonstrating that our minds are our prisons, in many ways.  Humans have always been afflicted, on some level, with internal and psychological pain whether through memories, nightmares, traumas, abuse and forms of injustice. When we ruminate and become fixated on these things, we lock ourselves into an invisible and imaginary prison of sorts.

*THE ARTIST*

 Portrait of Giovanni by Labruzzi

Piranesi largely considered himself an architect.  He was the son of a stone-mason and master builder and was largely influenced by his father.  Even though Piranesi encountered great difficulty in obtaining architectural commissions, his architecture found its way into his art and ultimately made him one of the most revered print-makers of his time. He spent the bulk of of his life in Venice and Rome.  His etchings and prints awarded him a lucrative living, an outlet for artistic and architectural passion, and even a platform with which to argue his views and perspectives on art at the time.  He was a master at etching and print-making, and pushed the limits in imagination.  Many of the structures in his etchings were impossible and dream-like.

Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Self Portrait

"I need to produce great ideas, and I believe that if I were commissioned to design
a new universe, I would be mad enough to undertake it." -Piranesi

Source: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/pira/hd_pira.htm

*CONNECTIONS*

IN FILM...

“I GUESS I THOUGHT THAT THE DREAM SPACE WOULD BE ALL ABOUT THE VISUAL, BUT IT’S MORE ABOUT THE FEEL OF IT.  MY QUESTION IS, WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU START MESSING WITH THE PHYSICS OF IT ALL?” - From the film "Inception"

Within the last year, a major film was released called Inception.  It deals a lot with both dreams and architecture.  In fact, one of the main characters was sought out in the film, become a dream architect.  Also, one of the main themes within the film is about the prisons within the mind - internal and invisible prisons tied to loss, grief, pain and suffering. This scene (and the film at large) ties in so closely to the concepts that Piranesi was demonstrating centuries ago.  Please follow the link as there were complications when inserting the video. 

Dark Romanticism is alive and well, have no doubt about it.  

IN MUSIC w/ ART...

The following is a video by a group named, interestingly enough, Atrium Carceri.  Many dark images are displayed while the band's music plays.  Both the images and the music are quite dark, haunting, with an element of terror.  This is a perfect example of how Dark Romanticism is used in modern times and culture.  The same feelings are explored and evoked. 

IN OTHER ART...

   When I first saw Piranesi's Caceri, specifically the image above, I was blown away at the uncanny similarities to a work of art created by MC Escher.

MC Escher, Relativity, 1953, lithograph.

Though Escher's Relativity is more uniform, clean and tight in appearance, there are many similarities to Piranesi's image above.  Both have paradoxical architecture with straight and sharp lines revealing stairways in all directions.  Both are in dark tones and gray scale as well.  It is also important to acknowledge that like Carceri, there appears to be no exit point.  The observer's eye has a difficult time staying still because of the movement within the image.  Even though Escher's human figures are much more defined and pronounced, they still appear as nameless, faceless and androgynous.  This contributes to a feeling of being disconnected and alone.

Clearly, Escher's work(s) have more of a mathematical component, but the aforementioned similarities are undeniable.  Years after Escher's Relativity was created, teams of people work together to attempt the construction of his ideas and concepts in real 3D form.