Gilles Deleuze and Bernini’s Bel Composto: From Theatricality to a Living-montage

In The Fold (1988), Gilles Deleuze argues that if the Baroque period establishes the concept of total art or the unity of the arts, then it does so in extension. Each art form extends to another art form. To this “extensive unity” – this “universal theatre” – he adds the Elements; we can say the epi...

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Main Authors: Maria João Moreira Soares, Clara Germana Gonçalves
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Athens Institute for Education and Research 2022-10-01
Series:Athens Journal of Architecture
Online Access:https://www.athensjournals.gr/architecture/2022-8-4-1-Soares.pdf
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author Maria João Moreira Soares
Clara Germana Gonçalves
author_facet Maria João Moreira Soares
Clara Germana Gonçalves
author_sort Maria João Moreira Soares
collection DOAJ
description In The Fold (1988), Gilles Deleuze argues that if the Baroque period establishes the concept of total art or the unity of the arts, then it does so in extension. Each art form extends to another art form. To this “extensive unity” – this “universal theatre” – he adds the Elements; we can say the epigene. The philosopher writes: “[t]his extensive unity of the arts forms a universal theatre that includes air and earth, and even fire and water.” According to Giovanni Careri, writing in Bernini: Flights of Love, the Art of Devotion (1995), the interiors of Gian Lorenzo Bernini's are the most complete realisation of the bel composto. In these chapels, the interiors function as complete autonomous organisms in and of themselves. A theatrical dimension is associated with this autonomous operation. Careri adds another insight. He argues that the proliferations of composition components inherent in Bernini's chapels result in a cinematographic montage. Proceeding from Bernini’s bel composto and Deleuze’s thought, this paper proposes a new reading of the Baroque that is relevant to the present-day for architecture, taking the idea of theatrical scene as an organism supported by architecture and advancing to an idea of montage (beyond Careri’s) in which the spectator, the one who observes the small world, and the small world itself turning into an autonomous organism, makes the assemblage of the whole. A living-montage – an idea of architecture that is constantly interpreted, reinterpreted and recreated by the beholder.
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spelling doaj.art-d2fbd7045e8d4305a30a13045e73ffd72022-12-22T04:29:24ZengAthens Institute for Education and ResearchAthens Journal of Architecture2407-94722022-10-018431533610.30958/aja.8-4-1Gilles Deleuze and Bernini’s Bel Composto: From Theatricality to a Living-montageMaria João Moreira Soares0Clara Germana Gonçalves1Assistant Professor, Lusíada University & Researcher, CITAD, Lusíada University, PortugalResearcher, CITAD, Lusíada University & Invited Assistant Professor, Lisbon School of Architecture, University of Lisbon, PortugalIn The Fold (1988), Gilles Deleuze argues that if the Baroque period establishes the concept of total art or the unity of the arts, then it does so in extension. Each art form extends to another art form. To this “extensive unity” – this “universal theatre” – he adds the Elements; we can say the epigene. The philosopher writes: “[t]his extensive unity of the arts forms a universal theatre that includes air and earth, and even fire and water.” According to Giovanni Careri, writing in Bernini: Flights of Love, the Art of Devotion (1995), the interiors of Gian Lorenzo Bernini's are the most complete realisation of the bel composto. In these chapels, the interiors function as complete autonomous organisms in and of themselves. A theatrical dimension is associated with this autonomous operation. Careri adds another insight. He argues that the proliferations of composition components inherent in Bernini's chapels result in a cinematographic montage. Proceeding from Bernini’s bel composto and Deleuze’s thought, this paper proposes a new reading of the Baroque that is relevant to the present-day for architecture, taking the idea of theatrical scene as an organism supported by architecture and advancing to an idea of montage (beyond Careri’s) in which the spectator, the one who observes the small world, and the small world itself turning into an autonomous organism, makes the assemblage of the whole. A living-montage – an idea of architecture that is constantly interpreted, reinterpreted and recreated by the beholder.https://www.athensjournals.gr/architecture/2022-8-4-1-Soares.pdf
spellingShingle Maria João Moreira Soares
Clara Germana Gonçalves
Gilles Deleuze and Bernini’s Bel Composto: From Theatricality to a Living-montage
Athens Journal of Architecture
title Gilles Deleuze and Bernini’s Bel Composto: From Theatricality to a Living-montage
title_full Gilles Deleuze and Bernini’s Bel Composto: From Theatricality to a Living-montage
title_fullStr Gilles Deleuze and Bernini’s Bel Composto: From Theatricality to a Living-montage
title_full_unstemmed Gilles Deleuze and Bernini’s Bel Composto: From Theatricality to a Living-montage
title_short Gilles Deleuze and Bernini’s Bel Composto: From Theatricality to a Living-montage
title_sort gilles deleuze and bernini s bel composto from theatricality to a living montage
url https://www.athensjournals.gr/architecture/2022-8-4-1-Soares.pdf
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