Acropolis 2020-2021: Transformations

ACROPOLIS

2020-2021: TRANSFORMATIONS

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ACROPOLIS: Transformations Editor: Emma Capaldi Staff: Chandler Rawson K’Vahzsa Roberts Madeline Dort

Cover Art: The Light at the End is You, Taylor Moorman ‘24, photography

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from the Editor

In light of the unprecedented circumstances we have faced in the last year, we felt there was no theme more fit than transformations to encapsulate the obstacles we have experienced. We have encountered adjustments to many facets of our lives including the ways in which we learn in an academic setting and interact in a social environment. As an organization, we have dealt with the challenge of maintaining the collaborative nature of crafting an issue while operating in a virtual setting, and as college aged students, already in the midst of a pivotal time in our lives growing into our independent adult selves and finding our own unique identities, these new circumstances have only intensified this time of change.

With such a broad theme, we have refined our look at transformations focusing on four categories: light, landscape, material, and internal & external. We hope that in viewing William and Mary students’ conceptions of transformations as well as our own interpretations of famous works you will be prompted to reflect on the transformations, both big and small, in your own life.

Emma

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LIGHT

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The Light at the End is You, Taylor Moorman ‘24, photography

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Outside-In, Taylor Moorman ‘24, photography

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Ecstasy of St. Teresa, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, 1652

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After working on the sculpture for seven years, in 1652 Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) completed the Ecstasy of St. Teresa. Commissioned by Cardinal Federico Cornaro (1579–1653) Bernini sculpted the then newly canonized Catholic figure of Theresa of Avila (15151582) while she experiences a divinely inspired vision. Situated within the Cornaro Chapel, Bernini utilized architectural stratagem and fresco painting techniques alongside his sculptural expertise to light the divine synthesis of St. Teresa’s spiritual experience. Bernini’s use of light not only highlights the sculpture’s technical feats, but acts as a near tactile force representing the communion between the spiritual and material realms.

According to St. Teresa, during her visions she was able to interact with divine figures “in bodily form.” This communion of the material and divine is represented by Bernini in not just St. Teresa’s interaction with an angel, but through the attribution of a white dove as the source of light within the chapel. Within Catholic lore, the white dove acts as the materialized embodiment of the Holy Spirit, as within all four gospels

of the Catholic bible the Holy Spirit is described as descending upon the figure of Jesus in the bodily form of the dove. Bernini, in painting a white dove emanating light on the ceiling of the Cornaro Chapel, seemingly attributes the light which flows below the dove’s image as originating from the Holy Spirit. Bernini in sculpting St. Teresa in the midst of her divinely inspired vision while being bathed in light which he attributes as originating from the Catholic embodiment of the Holy Spirit, solidifies the connection between divine and material interactment within the Ecstasy of St. Teresa.

Beyond biblical allusions, Bernini utilized light as a technical component within his sculpture- hidden behind the pediment directly above the Ecstasy of St. Teresa, Bernini constructed a window which allows light to flow into the chapel’s dark alcove. The clandestine light streaming into the chapel from the concealed window directly above the portrayal of St. Teresa throws the sculpture into bright relief. The miraculous brightening of the sculpture as light dawns through the hidden window is emphasised by the golden rays constructed by Bernini out of stucco: The rays situated directly behind the Ecstasy of St. Teresa when hit with sunlight, cast a bright golden light upon the white marble figures in the otherwise dimly lit chapel. The miraculous nature of St. Teresa’s spiritual visions parallels the spontaneous lighting of the golden rays and the sculpture it foregrounds as the sun rises and sets each day.

Bernini’s use of light within the chapel also acts to dramatize the fluidity of form he is able to impart upon the static marble figures. More specifically, the light which cascades from the above window acts to emphasise the fluidic rising and falling of the fabric which adorns Bernini’s Angel and St. Teresa. The rises of the Angel’s and St. Teresa’s clothing are brightly highlighted by a golden light, while the fabric’s folding recesses are contrastingly thrown into shadow. This active fluctuation from light to shadow as the sun rises and sets, imparts upon the viewer the belief that

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the fabric is a free-flowing piece of cloth blowing in the wind rather than a stationary piece of marble. Not only does the fabric itself seem weightless as it freely flows, but the sculpture is architecturally constructed so that it appears to be floating. By utilizing the areas of the sculpture not touched by the above window’s light, Bernini is able to hide the sculpture’s supports. With the supports hidden in shadow the 11 foot marble sculpture astonishingly appears to be unimpeded by gravity’s limitations, further enforcing the divine mysticism associated with St. Teresa’s miraculous visions. With hidden windows, weightless marble and gilt rays Bernini utilizes light within Ecstasy of St. Teresa to highlight his mastery of the sculptural mode, while simultaneously representing the convergence between the miraculously divine and material aspects of St. Teresa’s visions.

St. Teresa’s account of her divinely inspired vision:

“Beside me, on the left, appeared an angel in bodily form. . . . He was not tall but short, and very beautiful; and his face was so aflame that he appeared to be one of the highest rank of angels, who seem to be all on fire. . . . In his hands I saw a great golden spear, and at the iron tip there appeared to be a point of fire. This he plunged into my heart several times so that it penetrated to my entrails. When he pulled it out I felt that he took them with it, and left me utterly consumed by the great love of God. The pain was so severe that it made me utter several moans. The sweetness caused by this intense pain is so extreme that one cannot possibly wish it to cease, nor is one’s soul content with anything but God. This is not a physical but a spiritual pain, though the body has some share in it— even a considerable share.”

Chandler Rawson ‘23

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Stained Glass, Faith Ronquest ‘24, acrylic on canvas

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L A N DS C APE

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View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm—The Oxbow, Thomas Cole, 1836

At seventeen-years old, Thomas Cole and his family escaped the smog and urbanism of London, England for the United States in 1818 - settling in Ohio. By the time Cole had discovered his absolute passion for the American scenery, the progress of civilization and subsequent industrialization had begun its destruction on the land. In his masterpiece, View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm—The Oxbow, Cole displays this tension between the grand unruliness of the natural landscape and the magnificence of human civilization and development. Either the land shall be domesticated and transformed into pastoral grounds or the land shall be untamed, wild, powerful.

Madeline Dort ‘23

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Apollo’s Bath Grove, designed by Hubert Robert, 1778-1781

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In creating his elaborate palace, French monarch Louis XIV greatly altered the rural village of Versailles into the French de facto capital. Originally a hunting lodge, Louis XIV expanded the lodge into a palace transferring the government and Court to Versailles in 1678. The complex remained in use as a seat of power and was continually embellished by successors until the French Revolution. This monumental architectural structure is complemented by a perfectly manicured complex of gardens complete with hedges trimmed into intricate designs and fountains creating magnificent water displays.

Apollo’s Bath Grove, one of many groves in the Palace of Versailles gardens, is a prime example of how this entire palatial complex resulted in the transformation of Versailles’ original and natural landscape. This grove has undergone multiple phases of

modification over the course of several reigns with the current version dating between 1778 and 1781, during the reign of Louis XVI. Apollo’s Bath Grove consists of a large artificial rock overlooking a central pool with caves dug into the rock, waterfalls flowing into the pool, and three statue groups displayed on the rock. The central statue group depicts Nymphs of Thetis attending to the god Apollo while he sits half dressed in heavy draped cloth. The other two statue groups are on either side of the central group and both depict the Horses of the Sun, a pair of horses being tended to by two individuals. The choice to have a grove featuring Apollo as the main subject was an intentional choice as it reinforces the association between King Louis XIV, the Sun King and founder of the Palace at Versailles, and Apollo, Greek and Roman god of the sun.

As an entirely man-made grotto, creation of this beautiful oasis on the palace grounds required a complete transformation of the natural landscape. The architects carved into the existing land to construct the central pool and brought in a massive artificial rock to frame the grove and provide housing for the statue groups.

Apollo’s Bath Grove completely altered the original topography to fit the desires of the kings’ in enhancing their expansive estate.

Emma Capaldi ‘23

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A Line Made By Walking, Richard Long, 1967

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During his 1967 journey from St. Martin’s to his hometown of Bristol, Richard Long (1945 - present), a student at the time, stopped upon a seemingly untouched field in Wiltshire. Within this preserved Wiltshire field Long began to walk back and forth, carving a singular line through the landscape. After sufficiently trodding a path through the field, Long photographed the result, which he thereafter titled, A Line Made By Walking. Long chronicles his 1967 piece as “a sculpture made by walking,” expounding upon this, Long describes the act of walking as an art in and of itself. Within A Line Made By Walking, Long sculpts the landscape in a modest way, in that the piece is produced by taking a fairly short solitary walk which in its wake produces little to no physical imprint left upon the landscape. The limited material impact of A Line Made By Walking, is further emphasized by the ephemerality of the piece; without one to constantly rewalk Long’s path, the line is lost as the grass grows back to repopulate the downtrodden areas.

The transience of Long’s piece is contrasted by popular Earth art pieces such as the 1969-70 piece Double Negative by Michael Heizer (1944 - present), which involved the creation of an artificial cannon through the mechanical extraction of 240,000 tons of rhyolite and sandstone. Where the landscape of Long’s A Line Made By Walking has since returned to its previous state, Heizer’s Double Negative, contemporarily prevails upon the landscape within the eastern edge of the Mormon Mesa in Nevada. According to Ruth Borgan, the transitory life of Long’s piece acts as a critique to the hyper-consumerism prevalent in the art market: A Line Made By Walking’s inevitable disappearance, as the path is naturalistically reincorporated into the fields landscape, “circumvents the art market,” in that the piece is effectively lost, and thus unable to be commoditized. Long’s solitary immersion into a quiet and small domestic field to create minimally destructive art represents a breakthrough in his artistic journey- the performance of A Line Made By Walking, foregrounds the “walking art” pieces Long continues to produce to this day.

Chandler Rawson ‘23

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MAT ERIA L

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Dusasa II, El Anatsui, 2007

Ghanaian sculptor El Anatsui combines the lifestyle of the modern world with West African textile traditions to create striking works of art such as Dusasa II pictured above. These wall hanging sculptures from a distance appear as woven textiles reminiscent of African kente cloth with their vibrant colors and palpable texture, yet they are not made of fibers. Instead, he utilizes everyday found materials of metal caps and seals from liquor bottles strung together by copper wire. In using liquor bottle caps as a medium, El Anatsui is making a conscious reference to the importance of alcohol as a significant trade item in the Transatlantic Slave trade which alludes to the Translatlantic slave trade’s cultural impact on Africa. He also makes reference to the colonial past of his home country Ghana with the use of gold colors alluding to Ghana’s history as the Gold Coast, a British colony exploited for its gold mines. With their fluid, textile-like form, they are dynamic works, taking on a different shape with new folds and curves everytime they are hung.

Although these are modern works of art, they preserve elements of deeply rooted African culture and history through the transformation of everyday found material into aesthetic objects.

Emma Capaldi ‘23

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Object, Meret Oppenheim, 1936

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The story begins in 1936 with Dora Maar, Pablo Picasso, and Meret Oppenheim eating together in a Parisian cafe. As Picasso reached over to examine the Elsa Schiaparelli fur-covered bracelet Dora was styling, he suggested that really anything could be covered with fur. Oppenheim reportedly exclaimed: “Even this cup and saucer,” and shouted “Waiter, a little more fur!”

Oppenheim is one of many proclaimed “Surrealists” - individuals that used their materials to simulate the unconscious mind by absurd depictions and the juxtaposition of separate imagery (or, in this case, the jarring combination of different materials.) After being invited to the first Surrealist exhibition by leader André Breton, Oppenheim decided to build on her luncheon conversation and head to the department store to buy supplies: a saucer, spoon, teacup. Oppenheim transformed domestic ordinary objects into shocking sexualized artworks with her simple application of Chinese gazelle fur. Two distinct materials combined created a variety of reactions, from disgust to intrigue, and in that lies the genius of the iconic artwork.

Madeline Dort ‘23

Atmospheres, Judy Chicago, 1970

Taking place from 1968 to 1974, Judy Chicago (1939-present) in her 24 part site specific performance pieces titled Atmospheres, implemented the infrequently used materials of flares, pyrotechnics, LED lights and dry ice to reconceptualize landscape aesthetics. In the 1960s the “Southern California art scene was almost entirely male dominated-” to counteract the male-centricism prevalent within the Californian artistic scene, Chicago implemented materials which “feminize[d] the atmosphere,” in her performance pieces. In introducing materials which are soft in their coloring, formless and fluid in their shaping and of a wide variation in their respective opacities, Chicago transforms static landscapes governed by masuline energy, into soft environments which, in her words, are evocative of a “feminizing energy.”

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Looking at her piece Multicolor Atmosphere from 1970, Chicago introduces the pastel-colored gaseous forms emitting from the flares into an environment dominated by stoically colored brutalist architecture. The billowing plumes of colors emitted from the flares are made all the more grandiose by the mirrored projection of their presence upon the water.

This projection further imparts the dynamic presence of color onto the otherwise mutley colored space. There exists a polarizing juxtaposition between the buildings and the flares, as elementally the flares contradict the presence of the buildings: Where the flares’ colors are gaseous, the buildings are solid. Where the flares’ coloring is varied and warm, the surrounding architecture is near monochromatic and cold. Where the flares’ clouds are rounded, the buildings are rectangular. The dichotomy exemplified by the flares and architecture epitomizes Chicago’s perception of masculine and femine energies. In Multicolor Atmosphere, Chicago’s utilized the materiality of a flare to incorporate tonally soft and fluid forms representative of a “feminie energy,” into a space predominated by mutley colored static brutalist architecture which she saw as representative of “male energy.”

When asked about using the material of flares in her Atmosphere performances pieces, Chicago stated, “[t]here was a moment when the smoke began to clear, but a haze lingered. And the whole world was feminized—if only for a moment.” As Chicago saw it, the material of the smoke operated as a feminizing agent, which transformed the energy of the space the material was introduced to. Yet the Multicolor Atmosphere with its utilization of flares is just one of 24 performance pieces by Chicago that utilized uncommon materials “intended to transform and soften the landscape, introducing a feminine impulse into the environment.”

All 24 performance pieces are uniquely transformative in their ability to “soften and feminize the often harsh, patriarchal world around us.”

Chandler Rawson ‘23

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Williams Chapel AME Church, Orangeburg, SC, Beverly Buchanan, 1990

Beverly Buchanan was an American artist. Born in North Carolina, the South had a major influence on her art. She is known for her “shack” sculptures, in which Buchanan uses found materials to recreate the facade of southern houses. Using an organic composition, the artist aimed to capture the essence of the homes, and the people who lived within them.

In her piece titled, Williams Chapel AME Church, Orangeburg, SC (1990), Buchanan constructs something that is poignant and beautiful.

It seems to point to a different kind of home, celebrating the congregation belonging to this church. The sculpture consists of wood, bottle caps, and even a license plate, all to emphasize this sense of being lived in. A figure, seemingly a woman, stands by the door of the church, suggesting that people are being welcomed. Buchanan uses the unconventional materials of this piece and her own dilapidated aesthetic to convey a very specific history of religion and its importance to Black people in the American South.

K’Vahzsa Roberts ‘23

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INTERNAL & EXTERNAL

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M34, Joshua Miner ‘24, photography

“Holistically, these three images represent my own journey into college life, by hallmarking pivotal moments over equidistant intervals. The first one was taken days before moving onto campus, the second was taken two weeks into school, and the third was taken two weeks after that. Following this theme, M34 represents my last day trip with my brother, to Great Falls, M45 represents my first day trip with my dormmates, to Jamestown, and M47 represents my first day trip with my friends from class to Lake Matoaka. In this way, it shows me becoming accustomed to university life, and the friendships I built along the way. But this also comes at a cost of the time I’m away from my brother and our adventures together that I miss. There is beauty in all three places, just as there is beauty to all three experiences. Yet, you can’t experience them all at the same time, and so you have to learn to live in the moment, enjoying what you have then and there, for as long as you get to experience it. You might never get back what you once had, but that’s okay; people and lifestyles are meant to change. We simply have to be willing to change with them and not long for what was.”

Joshua Miner ‘24

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M43, Joshua Miner ‘24, photography

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M47, Joshua Miner ‘24, photography

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The False Mirror, René Magritte, 1929

René Magritte’s The False Mirror (1929) quite literally straddles the line between the internal and external world. As an artist, Magrittes’s interpretation of the human eye is anything but surprising. He manipulates the surrealist technique of abstraction to create an extremely meditative piece that proposes questions about the validity of the human soul. By isolating the eye from the rest of the body, Magritte is creating a passage to the mind. However, this passage acts as more of a window, using the pupil to display an array of clouds.

The implementation of the sky could be a scenic expression of internal beauty, or worth, which would explain Magritte’s intentional cropping of the eye. Or, it could point towards a void. In truth, the human mind is vast, bottomless, and unsettled. Through this play of anatomy and landscape, Magritte makes us question the basis of our reality. He contorts our impression of what it means to have humanity, and whether or not our understanding is dismissive of its ever-changing nature. There is no end to our depth, which ultimately subverts the idea of our corporeality.

K’Vahzsa Roberts ‘23

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Index Ecstasy of St. Teresa, Gian Lorenzo Bernini “Art: The Ecstasy of St. Teresa.” Art Through Time: A Global View. Annenberg Learner , September 24, 2019.https://www.learner.org/series/art-through-time-aglobal-view/dreams-and-visions/the-ecstasy-of-st-teresa/.

Harris, Beth, and Steven Zucker. “Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, Gian Lorenzo Bernini.”

History and Appreciation of Art II. Khan Academy, April 21, 2012.https://sites. google.com/site/adairarthistory/iii-early-europe-and-colonial-americas/89-ecstasy-of-saint-teresa-gian-lorenzo-bernini.

Poundstone, Tom. “The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa,” July 1, 2006.https://www.stmarys-ca.edu/the-ecstasy-of-saint-teresa.

View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm—The Oxbow, Thomas Cole Cole, Thomas. Essay on American Scenery. Catskill, NY: Thomas Cole National Historic Site, 2018.

Apollo’s Bath Groves, Hubert Robert “The Groves.” Palace of Versailles, August 31 2020, en.chateauversailles.fr/discover/estate/gardens/groves#obelisk-grove.

A Line Made By Walking, Richard Long Hashmi, Zarina. “A Line Made by Walking,” Richard Long, 1967.” Tate Gallery of Art, January 1, 1967. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/long-a-line-made-bywalking-p07149.

Ruth Burgon, Ruth. “A Line Made by Walking’, Richard Long, 1967.” Tate Gallery of Art, January 1, 1967. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/long-a-line-madeby-walking-ar00142.

The Art Story ed. “Michael Heizer Biography, Life & Quotes.” The Art Story. The Art Story Foundation. Accessed March 25, 2021. https://www.theartstory.org/ artist/heizer-michael/life-and-legacy/.

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Index The Art Story ed. “Richard Long Biography, Life & Quotes.” The Art Story.

The Art Story Foundation.https://www.theartstory.org/artist/long-richard/ life-and-legacy/.

Tufnell, Ben ed. Richard Long: Selected Statements & Interviews, London 2007, p.39.

Object, Meret Oppenheim Josephine Withers, “The Famous Fur-Lined Teacup and the Anonymous Meret Oppenheim” (New York: Arts Magazine, Vol. 52, November 1977), 88–93.

Atmospheres, Judy Chicago Chicago, Judy. “Atmospheres.” Judy Chicago. Woodman LLC.https://www.judychicago.com/gallery/atmospheresfireworks/artwork/.

Danz, Barbara Tad, Danz. “Judy Chicago: Dry Ice, Smoke, and Fireworks Archive,” January 25, 2021. https://www.nevadaart.org/art/exhibitions/judy-chicago/.

Waddoups, Ryan. “Judy Chicago’s Atmospheres.” SURFACE, November 11, 2020. https://www.surfacemag.com/articles/judy-chicago-atmospheres-app/.

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