Book entitled “Abstract Reproductive as Productive Art”

by | Jul 3, 2020 | Blog-En

Book ”Abstract reproductive as productive art”

Photo from the book promotion at the Zagreb Academy of Music

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Preface →Buy the book
Mirna Rudan Lisak author

By Mirna Rudan Lisak, PhD

PhD from the Zagreb Academy of Fine Arts, Advisor at the Zagreb City Office for Culture, Fellow of the French Government, author of three books and numerous essays on culture and arts (published in Forum, The Wreath, Words, The Evening Paper, and Telegram), some of which have been translated and published abroad. Member of the Editorial Board of ”Words,” and Honorary Member and Chief Editor of the Croatian Society “Alexander Scriabin.”

The first original book on Scriabin in Croatia

The book of essays entitled Abstract Reproductive as Productive Art: Chromatic Fantasies of the Composer Alexander Scriabin, Painter Alexej Jawlensky and Pianist Ivo Pogorelich is the result of interdisciplinary research of previously unrelated artists in order to create a dialogue between two branches of art—painting and music, but also productive and reproductive artistic practice. Abstract reproductive art is a novelty in artistic terminology: it is an artistic reproduction that renders the original work completely unrecognizable, despite keeping it completely unchanged. The term arose from the search for an answer to the question of whether and when reproductive art can be considered as productive art, about which I wrote in the introduction: “Two modern productive artists and a contemporary reproductive one—at first glance there do not seem to be any common characteristics in the work of the composer Alexander Scriabin, painter Alexej Jawlensky and pianist Ivo Pogorelich. However, when the chosen subject matter is approached in a multidisciplinary fashion, perception is no longer conditioned by a single absolute focus and all perspectives suddenly open up, offering many possibilities where new relations and connections are not only the result of observation but of imagination as well. That is the moment when the past, the present and the future intermingle and no obstacles stand in the way of synthesizing diverse epochs and branches of art undertaken to establish an analytical counterpoint among the three seemingly independent but nevertheless deeply connected essays, aiming to identify contemporary tendencies in art in order to find the answer to the question as to whether and when the reproductive art may be regarded as productive art.“

PROF. LJUBOMIR GAŠPAROVIĆ, PIANIST: “I read Mirna Rudan Lisak's book with great interest. Today, there are very few people who have an original idea, and although doctors of science or art should have original ideas for their theses, they are mostly taken from others, and then refined with new researches. The idea of Dr. Rudan Lisak is completely original and very interesting.”

Promotion at the Music Academy of the University of Zagreb

The book was presented at the Zagreb Academy of Music by editor Andrija Tunjić, Prof. Zlatko Kauzlarić Atač (painter) and Prof. Ljubomir Gašparović (musician), while Mrs. Đurđica Vuković, president of Matica hrvatska Sisak, greeted the audience. The speech of Prof. Atač was published in the magazine Riječi (Words), and as I wanted to prove that reproductive artists, like productive artists, can achieve the unrecognizability of the original, Prof. Gašparović played Scriabin’s composition Feuillet d’album Op 58 twice—at the beginning and at the end of the promotion—to show that the same composition can be played so originally that the impression of completely different works were played would be created. Along with Scriabin’s music, electronic music was composed for the promotion by Robert Selimović, and we listened to it upon entering the hall and as an accompaniment to my video-work Music iconostasis of the painter Alexej Jawlensky.

Years of work and effort led to the publication of the book

Prof. Gašparović plays Scriabin’s composition Feuillet d’album Op. 58

Editor Andrija Tunjić presents my work

Prof. Zlatko Kauzlarić Atač was the reviewer of the art section, while the reviewer of the music section was prof. Bogdan Gagić

I compare Pogorelich’s music interpretations with Picasso’s painting

Prof. Gašparović played and spoke equally interestingly

I present my work

Prof. Gašparović plays the same Scriabin’s composition in a completely different manner

Thank you all for coming!

Dedication to friends and business associates

Acknowledgments to the people and institutions that supported me, and I dedicated the book to my mother, Tatjana Valić Rudan, who was a concert pianist

There is no real joy without family and friends—my book in the hand of Robert Selimović, author of the premiered electronic music

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From the book to the founding of the Scriabin Society

Our famous pianist, Ivo Pogorelić was the first to buy the book, and it is featured on the official website of Alexej von Jawlensky Archiv S.A. from Locarno (Switzerland). It is kept in the Zagreb Libraries, the Library of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Alexej von Jawlensky-Archive S.A. in Locarno (Switzerland), Memorial Museum of A. N. Scriabin in Moscow (Russia), Museum Wiesbaden (Germany) and Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena (USA). After the book was noticed by Alexander Serafimovich Scriabin, a descendant of the famous composer’s family, I responded to the invitation of the Memorial Museum of A. N. Scriabin and presented my work in Moscow in 2018, as part of the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Museum’s foundation. Then my essay on the mystic chord was translated and published in Russian, and the networking of professionals from the two countries led to the foundation of the Croatian Society Alexander Scriabin.

The famous Croatian pianist Ivo Pogorelich was the first to buy the book

Buy the book
Blog-Promocija-plakat

The famous Croatian pianist Ivo Pogorelich was the first to buy the book

From the book to the founding of the Scriabin Society

Our famous pianist, Ivo Pogorelić was the first to buy the book, and it is featured on the official website of Alexej von Jawlensky Archiv S.A. from Locarno (Switzerland). It is kept in the Zagreb Libraries, the Library of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Alexej von Jawlensky-Archive S.A. in Locarno (Switzerland), Memorial Museum of A. N. Scriabin in Moscow (Russia), Museum Wiesbaden (Germany) and Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena (USA). After the book was noticed by Alexander Serafimovich Scriabin, a descendant of the famous composer’s family, I responded to the invitation of the Memorial Museum of A. N. Scriabin and presented my work in Moscow in 2018, as part of the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Museum’s foundation. Then my essay on the mystic chord was translated and published in Russian, and the networking of professionals from the two countries led to the foundation of the Croatian Society Alexander Scriabin.

Buy the book

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Travelogue: Conference in Moscow (2)

by | Dec 31, 2018 | Blog-En

Travelogue: Conference in Moscow (Part 2)

Mirna Rudan Lisak author

By Mirna Rudan Lisak, PhD

PhD from the Zagreb Academy of Fine Arts, Advisor at the Zagreb City Office for Culture, Fellow of the French Government, author of three books and numerous essays on culture and arts (published in Forum, The Wreath, Words, The Evening Paper, and Telegram), some of which have been translated and published abroad. Member of the Editorial Board of ”Words,” and Honorary Member and Chief Editor of the Croatian Society “Alexander Scriabin.”

Trip to Moscow to attend a conference organized to mark the 100th anniversary of establishing the Scriabin Museum

It is New Year’s Eve and it is the last moment to say goodbye—can it be done better than by remembering the highlights of 2018? Of course, for me it was the participation in a conference organized to mark the 100th anniversary of founding the Memorial Museum of Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin, the famous Russian composer and pianist. Since I devoted to his mystic chord the entire first chapter of my book Abstract Reproductive as Productive Art: Chromatic fantasies of the Composer Alexander Scriabin, Painter Alexej Jawlensky and Pianist Ivo Pogorelich, the Scriabin Museum has invited me to Moscow to present the results of my work, and to listen to what other artists and researchers have to say about Scriabin’s art. The title of the chapter is Alexander Scriabin’s Mystic Chord as a Marionette by Heinrich von Kleist, because in the mystic chord I discerned a figure in motion that comes to life the moment Scriabin, like a puppeteer, from the center of his spiritual creation, manages the world of sounds.

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Walking around Moscow at night is a wonderful experience due to the unusual warmth radiated by this often freezing city

Vers la flamme like the flaming form of Saint Basil’s Cathedral

After visiting Moscow, it seems to me that the mobility of the mystic chord, besides in the urban structure of this city, may even more likely have its origin in the blazing form of Saint Basil’s Cathedral. Thus, the decision to project fire during my elaboration of Scriabin’s composition Vers la flamme (Toward the Flame) and Prometheus: The Poem of Fire, in this context, also proved to be appropriate. Obviously, neither Stravinsky was far from the same idea when he composed his world-known masterpiece Firebird. It seems to me that in this picturesque church many Russian artists found a spiritual drive for their artistic concepts, and as it is located at the very origin of Moscow, I cannot escape the impression that it is precisely this church that is the eternal hearth of all Russians, having the power to thaw even the coldest hearts during the endless winter nights. However, I noticed the greatest interest of the audience when I presented the last picture—Sir James Fraser’s spiral illusion, and only now I realize that long before my trip to Moscow, by choosing this pictorial example, I had anticipated my future experience of the rhythm, harmony and melody of the city in which numerous Russian artists had been creating their greatest works (read more in Part 1 of this travelogue).

“During the conference it was wonderful to exchange opinions with numerous Scriabinist artists and researchers, staff of the Scriabin Museum and professors from the Moscow and St. Petersburg Conservatories.”

New acquaintances and friendships

Let’s get back to the conference—it was wonderful to exchange ideas with the museum staff and professors from Moscow and St. Petersburg Conservatories. On top of that, the place in the conference schedule reserved for my lecture was indeed a great honour: on the second day, the first lecture was given by Mo. Atanas Kurtev—Fellow of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and Arts, and world-known pianist who teaches at numerous francophone European Conservatories. After his lecture, I was the one to present my work on the mystic chord, and then the podium was reserved for Mr. Alexander Serafimovich Scriabin, PhD—descendant of the Scriabin family, a President of the Scriabin Fund in Moscow, and an Honorary President of the UK-based Scriabin Association. As I do not speak Russian, I prepared my lecture in English and sent the text to the Scriabin Museum, so that colleague Areg Mekhakyan, who—in addition to preparing an extremely interesting lecture on the connection between Scriabin’s music and Eastern philosophy—was kind to translate it into Russian to be able to simultaneously read part by part during my presentation. This is why everyone expected me to speak English, not knowing that, as an expression of respect and gratitude, I prepared the first few sentences in fluent Russian (I practiced proper accents for a week). I will never forget the spontaneous smile of the audience as a reaction to that surprise. Everyone was very friendly during the conference: Mr. Vladimir Popkov, the Head of the Scientific Research Department, made sure that everything developed smoothly from the first invitation letter until the departure from Moscow, and one of the most fascinating people I had a chance to meet was Mrs. Valentina Vassilyevna Rubtsova, the Editor-in-Chief of the famous publishing house and magazine Music.

Everything is ready for the beginning of the conference

A. Kurtev, N. Kurtev and A. S. Scriabin—Scriabin’s Descendant

Maestro Kurtev and me during the break

Areg Mekhakyan and me taking care of the last details

I present my book below the picture of my favorite composer

Talking about Scriabin’s longing for cosmic perfection

Architecture as dialectical opposite to Scriabin’s dynamic structures

Discussing the analogy of mystic chord
and Kleist’s marionette

Analogy between the body in motion and flame

Spiral illusion by Sir James Fraser showing analogy between the end and the beginning

Plaster cast of Scriabin’s hands in the multimedia section of the museum

The multimedia space of the museum

Before departure one more walk along Arbat Street

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Real life stories are often like fairytales

Every story that resembles a fairytale always has an unexpected epilogue, thus this one is no different. When I returned to Zagreb, colleagues from the Scriabin Museum contacted me to inform me that on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of establishing the Museum they would like to publish my entire essay on the mystic chord in Russian! Since translating into a foreign language is the greatest dream of all authors, I immediately started working. Eighty pages urgently needed to be translated into English so that the Museum would have enough time to translate it into Russian and publish it next year. The indication that the New Year could be as good as the past one was the best possible ending of 2018, so in Scriabin’s spirit I wish you to fulfill all of your chromatic fantasies and all the best in 2019!

“Translation into a foreign language is every author’s dream.”

Blog-Moscow-2-Fairytale

“Translation into a foreign language is every author’s dream.”

Real life stories are often like fairytales

Every story that resembles a fairytale always has an unexpected epilogue, thus this one is no different. When I returned to Zagreb, colleagues from the Scriabin Museum contacted me to inform me that on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of establishing the Museum they would like to publish my entire essay on the mystic chord in Russian! Since translating into a foreign language is the greatest dream of all authors, I immediately started working. Eighty pages urgently needed to be translated into English so that the Museum would have enough time to translate it into Russian and publish it next year. The indication that the New Year could be as good as the past one was the best possible ending of 2018, so in Scriabin’s spirit I wish you to fulfill all of your chromatic fantasies and all the best in 2019!

You may also like our other publications…

Travelogue: Conference in Moscow (1)

by | Oct 13, 2018 | Blog-En

Travelogue: Conference in Moscow (Part 1)

Red Square, Moscow (photo: © Mirna Rudan Lisak)

Mirna Rudan Lisak author

By Mirna Rudan Lisak, PhD

PhD from the Zagreb Academy of Fine Arts, Advisor at the Zagreb City Office for Culture, Fellow of the French Government, author of three books and numerous essays on culture and arts (published in Forum, The Wreath, Words, The Evening Paper, and Telegram), some of which have been translated and published abroad. Member of the Editorial Board of ”Words,” and Honorary Member and Chief Editor of the Croatian Society “Alexander Scriabin.”

Trip to Moscow to attend a conference organized to mark the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Scriabin Museum

It is October and I am finally in Moscow, a city that I have always wanted to visit, because this is where my favorite composer, Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin, lived and worked (Moscow, January 6, 1872—Moscow, April 27, 1915). His apartment is located right next to Arbat Street, which is described in numerous Russian literary works, and since Bulgakov in his mystical novel The Master and Margarita even evoked a flight over it, I decided that the chosen hotel would have to be in it, or at least in the nearest possible neighborhood (I still hoped that, unlike the poet Homeless and editor Berlioz, I would avoid a sudden encounter with the devil). Realizing that the hotel I liked was located in Composer’s Street, there was no longer any doubt about where to stay, and the Google Maps showed that Scriabin’s and Pushkin’s museums were only a two- or three-minute walk away.

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The famous Arbat Street, where the main protagonists of numerous Russian literary works spent unforgettable moments

Synesthesia-based interdisciplinary approach to music

The building in which Scriabin lived has been completely transformed into his Memorial Museum. On the ground floor there is a hall for chamber concerts, exhibitions, lectures, etc., while on the first floor one can enjoy the original preserved Scriabin’s apartment and his Bechstein piano, which was later played by numerous famous pianists (Sofronitsky, Neuhaus, Horowitz, Van Cliburn, Pletnev, etc.). The adjacent building has also recently been refurbished to create a bigger concert hall (one has to pass the courtyard to get there), and it is worth mentioning that the hall is enriched with light effects, reminding me that Scriabin was a visionary far ahead of his time, laying the foundations of the modern light-show. It is commonly believed that Scriabin, influenced by synaesthesia—a phenomenon characterised by the interaction of the senses, became aware that each musical tonality corresponds to a certain colour. Following this idea, in his famous composition Prometheus: The Poem of Fire, he composed a section for light organ to translate musical harmonies into color structures (more on the matter in my book Abstract Reproductive as Productive Art). Consequently, his colour system, grounded in Newton’s optics, is in harmony with the circle of quints (a five tone span), which is demonstrated on a light device from the early 20th century (see the picture with colorful light bulbs).

“Scriabin's flexible melody structures, rich in chromatics and thus challenging for the performer's memory, may have its origins in the urban structure of his city.”

Moscow as a huge Fibonacci spiral

This trip once again confirmed that it is highly desirable to travel to the city where an artist lived and worked. Just like in Prague, where it becomes clear that Kafka’s The Metamorphosis could not have been written anywhere else, in Moscow it becomes clear that Scriabin’s flexible melody structures, rich in chromatics and thus challenging for the performer’s memory, may have its origins in the urban structure of his city. It was really difficult to develop a sense of space, i.e. to determine the north and the south; in fact, in Moscow it is almost impossible to orient at first. Therefore, if I had to describe Moscow in one word, it would be the word “maelstrom.” The moment you immerse yourself in the spirit and essence of this city, you feel that—not even knowing how—you have suddenly found yourself in a huge Fibonacci spiral, and in that particular moment the only thing you can do is to close circle by circle step by step, in the rhythm of Shostakovich’s Waltz No. 2, until you reach the very point of its origin, where you suddenly get overwhelmed with the shine of the flaming and picturesque beauty of Saint Basil’s Cathedral. It must be that Ivan the Terrible was not so terrible after all, leaving such a fabulous building behind. Nevertheless, the moment you reluctantly decide to leave, you realize that Shostakovich’s elegant waltz has turned into Khachaturian’s fateful three-fourths tact, and in this masked acceleration, to me it is still not clear how, after Red Square, I found myself in front of the Bolshoi Theater because I was sure it was on the opposite side.

Entrance to the Memorial Museum of A. N. Scriabin

The hall on the ground floor of the Scriabin Museum

Staircase leading to Scriabin’s first floor apartment

Scriabin’s famous Bechstein

Scriabin’s colour system taking as base the Optics of Isaac Newton and circle of quints

This is how it looks when the light bulbs are on

On the left side of the closet is a small cabinet with a tail coat and white gloves

Another Scriabin’s piano and his picture above

Living room

Plaster cast of Scriabin’s hands

Scriabin’s bedroom

The courtyard leading to the concert hall

Climbing to the gallery

Concert Hall—gallery view

Concert hall under the glow of light effects

Walk to Red Square—on the left the statue of General Zhukov, who defeated Hitler

The Cathedral of Vasily the Blessed peers out the opposite side of Red Square

In front of Saint Basil’s Cathedral

The Red Square dimensions are perfect for claustrophobic people

The fairy-tale interior of St. Basil’s Cathedral

At the top of the dome a spiral analogy with the urban structure of Moscow

A little more of the fairy-tale interior of the cathedral

View from the first floor of the cathedral

Impressive building of the Bolshoi Theater

Giselle on the repertoire

View from the Bolshoi Theater towards Red Square

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Transience of fame

The story is already too long for today, and the goal was not to document every single detail of the trip (much less in chronological order), but to convey a breath of atmosphere, and inspire other people to travel to Moscow and get acquainted with the character and work of this artist, known for unusual destiny because just a few were so famous like Scriabin during their lifetimes, and so quickly forgotten after death.

“This trip once again confirmed that it is highly desirable to travel to the city where researched artist has lived and worked.”

Blog Moscow Aerodrom

“This trip once again confirmed that it is highly desirable to travel to the city where researched artist has lived and worked.”

Transience of fame

The story is already too long for today, and the goal was not to document every single detail of the trip (much less in chronological order), but to convey a breath of atmosphere, and inspire other people to travel to Moscow and get acquainted with the character and work of this artist, known for unusual destiny because just a few were so famous like Scriabin during their lifetimes, and so quickly forgotten after death.

You may also like our other publications…

Multidisciplinary Virtual Installation

by | Oct 10, 2014 | Blog-En

MULTIDISCIPLINARY VIRTUAL INSTALLATION

Mirna kvadrat

By Mirna Rudan Lisak, PhD

PhD from the Zagreb Academy of Fine Arts, Advisor at the Zagreb City Office for Culture, Fellow of the French Government, author of three books and numerous essays on culture and arts (published in Forum, The Wreath, Words, The Evening Paper, and Telegram), some of which have been translated and published abroad. Member of the Editorial Board of ”Words,” and Honorary Member and Chief Editor of the Croatian Society “Alexander Scriabin.”

Synthesis of Scriabin, Jawlensky and Pogorelich in a virtual installation

In my doctoral research, which I conducted at the Zagreb Arts Academy from October 2010 to June 2013, the analysis of artistic achievements of the composer Alexander Scriabin, painter Alexej Jawlensky and pianist Ivo Pogorelich was an introduction to my practical work. I was aiming to synthesize knowledge gained from five branches of art (painting, music, literature, architecture and dance), but also from art theory and philosophy, as well as from science. The transfer of knowledge led me to a better understanding of art and numerous artistic practices, and helped me build the concept of my own artwork as the final dialectical synthesis and the completion of my research. Thus, in the abstract virtual space, a multidisciplinary light installation was created—it was designed for Pogorelich’s performance of Scriabin’s piano pieces, with a simultaneous projection of Jawlensky’s painting series entitled Abstract Heads.

Multidisciplinary virtual light installation designed during my doctoral studies at the Zagreb Arts Academy

Meeting of painting and music at THE common platform

I studied these previously unrelated artists (Scriabin, Jawlensky and Pogorelich) and their work together, hoping to arrive at the common platform where I think painting and music meet. Thus, my installation purports to show the productive aspects of reproductive art and is built as a counterpoint to independent ideas interacting in a common thought structure. It is set up on Lake Lugano, which is not a mere coincidence when we know that all three artists began showing a growing interest in abstraction in Switzerland. Furthermore, my 3D multimedia projection sets up Scriabin’s serialism in music in space, and the pictorial serialism of Jawlensky is presented so as to show how it occupies time. Simultaneously, I achieve a sense of simulated motion through a system of lasers responding to Pogorelich’s changing body gravity. The lasers are my interpretation of Scriabin’s colour system, taking as their basis the quint circle and Isaac Newton’s optics. As this project will not in actuality be played out so that real people could in reality assume their assigned roles, as a multidisciplinary author I am responsible for the entire creative input. The visual content and computer projection are accompanied by my own performance of Scriabin’s composition for the piano Feuillet d’album, Op. 58. Originally, however, the installation was designed for Pogorelich’s performance of Scriabin’s piano pieces.

“After the screening at the Zagreb Arts Academy, I did not want my video-work to end up in an archive room.”

Screening at the International Experimental Video-Art Festival

After the screening at the Zagreb Arts Academy, I did not want my video-work to end up in an archive room. This is why I was thrilled when International ArtExpo, in collaboration with MECA (Mediterráneo Centro Artístico), selected my installation for the presentation during the International Experimental Video-Art Festival Pixels of Identities. In October 2014, it was held in the Museum of the City of Almeria in Spain. The Museum won two awards in 2004 (PAD and ARCO), and in 2005 the museum building was a finalist in the Fostering Arts and Design (FAD) Awards. Also, in 2008 it won an honorary prize in the European Museum of the Year competition (organized by the European Museum Forum), and as a public institution which was founded in 1934, in 2014 it celebrated its 80th anniversary. During the celebration, my light installation was projected.

Award-winning Museo de Almería (Spain)

Fascinating architectural design of the museum interior

An oval-like construction of the installation whose sections synthesize dialectical ellipticity and perfect circle

From the basic idea I build my conceptual project

Discarding excess parts creates the basic form of the installation

Transparent construction of the light installation

Installation floating on the Lake Lugano

 Installation under the influence of light effects

I bring the schematic representation of the pianist into the installation’s centre of gravity—after adding music my video is finished

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Interview for ITSLIQUID

Just when I thought that this virtual journey had the best possible ending, shortly before the closure of the festival, the organizer’s partner, ITSLIQUID (International Platform for Contemporary Art, Architecture and Design), approached me and asked for an interview, so that the public would be permanently introduced to my work.

“In my installation, Abstract Heads blend into one another to show that serial painting takes on a temporal dimension in addition to the spatial one, despite Vassily Kandinsky’s claim that painting, unlike music, is not provided with this possibility.”

Blog Pixels morphing apstraktnih glava

“In my installation, Abstract Heads blend into one another to show that serial painting takes on a temporal dimension in addition to the spatial one, despite Vassily Kandinsky’s claim that painting, unlike music, is not provided with this possibility.”

Interview for ITSLIQUID

Just when I thought that this virtual journey had the best possible ending, shortly before the closure of the festival, the organizer’s partner, ITSLIQUID (International Platform for Contemporary Art, Architecture and Design), approached me and asked for an interview, so that the public would be permanently introduced to my work.

You may also like our other publications…

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