BLOOdBALLET

NITSCH/122. mALAKTION/NIETO SOBEJANO ARCHITECTS/MORITZBURG

NITSCH/122. mALAKTION/NIETO SOBEJANO ARCHITECTS/MORITZBURG

hERMANN NITSCH 6122. MALAKTION 26

MORITZBURG ART MUSEUM 42NIETO SOBEJANO ARCHITECTS 56

PROJECT DOCUMENTATION 73

INDEX

hermann nitschhermann nitsch8

hermann nitsch

Hermann Nitsch (born 29 August 1938) is

an Austrian artist who works in experimental

and multimedia modes. Born in Vienna, Nitsch

received training in painting during the time he studied at the Wiener

Graphische Lehr-und Versuchanstalt. He is

called an “actionist” or a performance artist. He

is associated with the Vienna Actionists, and

like them conceived his art outside traditional

categories of genre. Nitsch’s abstract

splatter paintings, like his performance pieces, established a

theme of controlled violence, using bright

reds, maroons, and pale greys that communicate

organic mutilation. In the 1950s, Nitsch

conceived of the Orgien Mysterien Theater

(which roughly translates as “Theatre of

Orgies and Mysteries” or “The Orgiastic

Mystery Theater”), staging nearly 100

performances between 1962 and 1998.hermann nitsch

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Nitsch’s work, which can be considered both ritualistic and existential, first drew attention in the early 1960s when he exhibited a skinned and mutilated lamb. The lamb was crucified against a white fabric-covered wall, with the entrails removed and displayed below a white table, splashed with blood and hot water. This was accompanied by Nitsch’s “Geräuschmusik”. Nitsch’s subsequent work has incorporated many similar elements, often combining slaughtered animals, red fruits, music, dancing, and active participants. Nitsch juxtaposed slaughtered animal intestines with quasi-religious icons such as staged crucifixions, satirizing and questioning the moral ethics of atavistic religion and sacrifice. Currently his work is often discussed in the context of our culture’s fixation with violence seen on the news, movie screens, and in popular video games. Correlations have also been drawn to many instances of the intersection of violence and culture. These performance works, which have become known as “actions” have become more and more elaborate over the years. This highly elaborate work is exemplified by the 6-Day Play, which Nitsch considered to be his pinnacle piece. In 1998, Nitsch staged his 100th performance (named the 6-Day Play after its length) which took place at his castle in Austria, Schloss Prinzendorf. In 2004, he held an abbreviated (2-day) version of the work.

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By 1995 Nitsch had been so sufficiently embraced by the establishment, that the Vienna State Opera invited him to direct and design the sets and costumes for Jules Massenet’s opera Hérodiade. Nitsch continues to publish articles and release CDs. In 2009 Nitsch was the central guest of the Incubate festival in Tilburg, Netherlands. In 2009 the Fondazione Morra in Naples opened the Museo Hermann Nitsch entirely dedicated to his work. On the occasion the artist Roberto Paci Dalò created the film portrait Nitschland Napoli. In May 2010 Nitsch held his 130th Action in Naples, Italy at the Museo Nitsch (Morra Foundation). A 12 hour long piece, this was Nitsch’s first performance in Naples since 1996, and also first using the new museum facility dedicated to his work. The action proceeded from the museum, with a full procession through the streets, to the San Martino Vineyard overlooking the city and the Bay of Naples. The action coincided with the Nitsch/ Caravaggio show at the Pio Monte della Misericordia, where Caravaggio’s Seven Works of Mercy is held. On February 15 and 16 2011, Nitsch held his first ever live painting action (60th Malaktion)in the United States at the Mike Weiss gallery in New York City.

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Bedeutung: Are you working at the moment?

Hermann Nitsch: I’m always working.

B: Painting?

HN: Also. But, mainly, I’m supervising a

project: we’ve opened a museum in Naples with

a big installation of relics from my work, photographs, artworks. It’s something for the

future; so that students can go, study and be informed.

B: Andy (Nitsch’s assistant) said you have a play planned in two years.

HN: Maybe, I hope so.

B: Here?

HN: Here.

B: Our issue’s theme is ‘Human and Divine’. It is in this context that we are interested in your work; because, it seems that you

make reference to rituals, the human/animal distinction, the divine. Your work seems to have a lot to do with the enactment of faith,

belief.

HN: I want to show with my work everything that is. I want to show the whole creation

process, to start a creation, to show that everything is movement. There is an entire

philosophical tradition I’m interested in: from the very important ancient Greeks (pre-Socratics and

others), to the mystics, the Eastern philosophies.

B: There is something very ridiculous though about this spiritual tourism we see nowadays...

HN: I agree. I don’t take things, I hate that. I think about these things.

INterview - die bedeutung

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B: Are you religious?

HN: Yes, but not in any particular way; not in the way of believingin one religion. I believe in life,

I enjoy nature. My ‘religion’ is the whole idea of creation, not a particular dogma, maybe

a new religion. There was Buddha, there was Jesus

Christ, there was also Nietszche; he was also a religious fi gure.

B: In a sense he defi nitelly was: he

never managed to escape his

Christianity. His attempts only confi

rmed it at the end.

HN: Of course. There was a war; he fought the war against

Christianity. I would say he was also a mystic in the traditional sense.

He said ‘yes’ to all of life and this is a kind of mysticism. This is, precisely, the

mysticism of ‘yes’, not the mysticism of ‘no’. Zarathustra was a mystic.

B: Where do you find purpose?

HN: The only purpose is that things are. Working towards something, the purpose is found in being, in everything. You mentioned the divine. People ask me if I believe in God. I cannot answer this question. And, I would say, we have more interesting questions to think about than whether God exists. Everything exists in a way. The most important thing is that there is creation. Philosophy that goes back to Schelling and other early philosophers asks all these questions: ‘why is there something rather than nothing’. And that is, for me, the important thing. And in this

sense of being, everything for me is important, all Gods, all religions, everything matters to me.

B: Yes, but it’s one thing to say there is being and another to know what to do with it.

HN: I’ll tell you what to do with it: don’t lose your time, live, move, don’t worry about tomorrow. Celebrate creation.

B: A very well known pre-Christian maxim which Christianity took away: carpe diem.

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HN: Exactly. But, remember, Christianity is only one ofmany religions. And I have worked a lot with Christianity,especially some of its symbolisms for which I have great respect: the cross, the resurrection, the wishing for eternity. But there are so many things that are problematic for me: the abstinence from pleasure, this great border between immanence and transcendence, its opposition to life, which it considers no more than a mere compromise before heaven. As you can see, I have some problems with Christianity. Another thing that seems very bewildering to me is the idea that you have to love the other more than yourself. Well, love has nothing to do with a commandment, a law. To be in love is a state of being, not a demand, not a command; you are in it, there is no love out there to command yourself towards.

B: Everything appears to be for you a state of life that does not seem to have beginning or end, a constant movement. What motivates this movement?

HN: My answer is: Don’t look for a purpose in everything. Don’t ask ‘is it good?’, ‘is it bad?’, ‘what is the meaning?’ I know only one thing: that I am here and I have to make the most of this time, there is no other possibility. To ‘make’ means to say ‘yes’ to the fact that I am here, not to stop and try to fi nd a purpose. That’s all.

B: In a sense, you are saying that there is only contingency, accident, chance, no deeper purpose, only a constant negotiation of our condition.

HN: Absolutely. When you look at any creation, be it plants, birds, animals or humans, their common characteristic is a movement towards the direction of existence. This development is meaning as such, nothing more. The only motivation in nature is life. Everything is built and is working towards this direction.

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B: So why do people always try to find a truth?

HN: I don’t know - but there is one line by Wittgenstein that I can relate to very much: “Not how the world is is the interesting thing. That the world is is interesting thing.” How it is, is the problem of science; interesting, maybe, but a fi nal answer can never be reached. Science cannot give you all the answers. This idea was a 19th century fable: it’s called Positivism...

B: And Psychology, the exploration of human nature.

HN: Yes, but as you see, science has limits. I’m not against science, don’t get me wrong, you can do a lot with it; but not everything.

B: And science also depends a lot on the cultural values of the world in which it operates.

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HN: Absolutely.

B: To go back to Christianity, you perform rituals that are refferential to the Christian

religion.

HN: We have to be very accurate here. When we

speak about the ritual, to what degree does the ritual

belong to religion? Is not ritual a thing that, maybe,

equally belongs to art? You have rituals in music:

Wagner. Or Monet, when he painted cathedrals in

the morning, at noon, in the evening, his haystacks, using

the same method: this is also a kind of ritual. Church

does not have a monopoly on rituals. Rituals are

everywhere: people eating their food for example...

B: The rituals you enact engage the person fully.

You try to break some consciousness boundaries,

aesthetic, moral, without applying judgment.

HN: Exactly. Let’s not forget that one very important thing

in the structure of life is the aesthetic. When I use

blood, it is beautiful for me. Then I create these beautiful

colours. Think of all the beautiful pictures of passion,

think of the music of Bach and you will realize that

aes thetics is not just pretty colours. Beauty goes very

deep, it goes to the deepness of death. And I would say that when I find the form,

it means that I have found the way of creation and,

therefore, the intention, the purpose and, therefore, the

meaning. There you go.

B: So meaning comes after creation?

HN: There are so many theories of development.

What comes fi rst, what comes after. And, in this process, creation becomes too conscious through us.

B: What do you think about ideology?

HN: I am very much against it. Ideology, particularly political ideology, destroys everything, it numbs our personal thinking. I want everybody to fi ght for their own thinking, their own meaning, accept no authority. I want people to be free.

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visionary conservative eccentric

visionary conservative eccentric

visionary conservative eccentric

visionary conservative eccentric

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A SEN

SITIVE

MUS

ICIAN

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an artist

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an artist

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122. 122.

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122. MALAKTION122.

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The 122 Action was staged by the performance artist Hermann Nitsch in his orgies mysteries theater performance in 2005. It took place at Vienna’s Burgtheater and was Nitsch’s first action in a permanent theater house. The occasion was the anniversary celebrations dedicated to the 50th Anniversary of the reopening of the Burgtheater building after the war (1955).

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The invitation came at the suggestion of Nitsch’s

Burgtheater director Klaus Bachler.

The performance took place on 19 November 2005, over

100 stakeholders from eleven nations instead. The overall

concept of the show came from Nitsch. The action started

by 15 clock and lasted until 22:30 clock. The maps for the

Burgtheater unusually high price of up to 250, - € were sold

out on the first advance sales within a few hours.

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The entire building, the Burgtheater was involved in the game: the action scenes were not only the main stage, but also the entrance foyer, the two lateral fixed stairs (Landtmann, folk garden side), the first Foyer, the luster ground, the outside balcony overlooking the town square outside the theater as well as the sidewalk in front of the main entrance.

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art m

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m`ha

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The Moritzburg is a fortified castle in Halle (Saale), Germany. The cornerstone of what would later become the residence of the Archbishops of Magdeburg was laid in 1484; the castle was built in the style of the Early Renaissance and is one of the most imposing buildings of Halle today. Since the end of the 19th century it has housed an arts museum which is recognised of being of national importance. The history of the Moritzburg is closely connected to that of Halle. Already in the 13th century powerful aristocrats could, by buying privileges, reduce the influence of the sovereign, the Archbishop of Magdeburg, on the town. Thus, Halle had practically reached a state of political autonomy in 1263. In the 15th century a group of the important guilds formed an opposition and demanded representation in the city council, which was until then dominated by the urban aristocrats. In 1479, the opposition conspired with the sovereign and opened the gates of the city for the Archbishop's troops. After sparse resistance, Archbishop Ernest II. of Saxony, who was only 14 years of age at the time,

moved into the town. As a consequence, the town lost its earlier gained freedoms and it was determined ein festes Schloss zu erbauen, um die Stadt besser in Gehorsam, Unterwürfigkeit und Ruhe zu erhalten: to build a castle in order to gain better control over the town and keep it obedient and quiet. Construction began promptly with first surveying in April 1479. The search for an adequate location, however, proved difficult due to poor soil conditions. A location was finally found, incorporating the city wall, on the site of the former Jewish settlement northwest of the city. Archbishop Ernest personally laid the cornerstone of his new residence on May 25, 1484 in a ceremonial procession and named the castle Moritzburg after Saint Maurice, the Patron Saint of the country. The Moritzburg still exhibits signs of the waning Gothic age; but the almost regular layout, the consistent floor levels and the representative impression of the horizontally emphasized facades show that the castle already belongs to Early Modern European Architecture. The Moritzburg combines the

concepts of a fortress with that of a castle, unifying the residence and the defence aspects of the complex. In the beginning, the construction was supervised by Peter Hanschke of East Prussia. Starting from 1533, Andreas Günther, general master builder of the dioceses of Mainz and Magdeburg then created the fortress walls and probably also the round bastions on the east side. The design of the Magdalenenkapelle (Magdalene Chapel) is attributed to Ulrich von Smedeberg. On May 25, 1503, Archbishop Ernest could move into the imposing castle. His arx insuperabilis (invincible fortress) was financed mainly from the salines of Halle's aristocrats, which had been confiscated in 1479. Total construction cost was announced to be 150,000 Guilders.

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The reign of the builder, Archbishop Ernest II. of Saxony, was distinguished on the one hand by his victory over Halle in 1479 and, on the other hand, by manifold promotions of his new residence city.

Early years until the Reformation His successor Albrecht of Brandenburg, elected in 1513, was at the same time the most splendid and the most tragic sovereign of Halle. As Erzkanzler des Reiches (Archchancellor of the state), cardinal, Archbishop and Prince-elector of Mainz, Archbishop of Magdeburg and Administrator of Halberstadt he -and his favourite residence, the Moritzburg- were in the focal point of European history. In 1517 he called the notorious Dominican monk Johann Tetzel to the Moritzburg and started a limitless sale of indulgences, financing the archbishop’s great collection of relics. The collection, which was first housed in the castle’s chapel and later moved to the city’s cathedral, composed of 353 reliquaries with as much as

history50

21,484 single relics, among these 42 whole bodies of saints, rendering it ideally and materially extremely valuable; it was the most outstanding of its kind in Germany. After the Protestant Reformation Albrecht gave up the city and retreated to Mainz. During the War of Schmalkalden the Moritzburg was occupied by imperial troops. On June 10, 1547 Holy Roman Emperor Charles V moved into Halle upon his victory in the Battle at Mühlberg; his military leader, the Duke of Alba, occupied the Moritzburg.

Thirty Years’ War In the Thirty Years’ War both the city of Halle and the Moritzburg time and again attracted troops. In October 1625

Wallenstein occupied town and fortress. After the defeat at Breitenfeld, the Count of Tilly moved, pursued by the Swedes,

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to the Moritzburg as a first retreat. In September 1631 the Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus appeared before Halle and could peacefully

occupy it for a longer period. Following the Peace of

Prague in 1635 the Emperor acknowledged the Duke of Saxony-Weißenfels as the

new Administrator. On January 6, 1637, under siege by the Swedes, a fire broke out in the castle. All the upper floors of the west

and north side as well as the chapel were destroyed,

forcing the inhabitants to surrender. On March 19,

1639 Saxon troops blasted the south-western bastion,

in turn forcing the -now Swedish- inhabitants to give

up, which happened three days later. August, son of the

Saxon Prince-elector John George as subsequently appointed the new

Administrator. He insisted on vacating the castle of troops to reduce its strategic

attraction. A neutrality contract between August and the Swedes kept halle free from

the Thirty Years’ War from then on. The Moritzburg was not rebuilt, only the

chapel was partly reconstructed as to be used for worship again.

The Moritzburg falls to Brandenburg / Prussia With the death of August in

1680, the city of Halle fell to Brandenburg, as designated

by the peace treaty of Westphalia. In 1686 the

Huguenots of Halle were allowed to use the Gate Tower of the Moritzburg

for their religious service. On October 26, 1690 they moved into the Magdalene

Chapel. In 1717 the Prussian

Anhaltinisches Regiment of about 3,500 soldiers

moved into the Moritzburg. In frWont of the compound

a parade ground was established, where Prince

Leopold I of Anhalt-Dessau, nicknamed der Alte

Dessauer (the Old Dessauer), drilled the troops.

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In the Seven Years’ War (1756-1763) as well as in the late Napoleonic Wars (around 1813), the Moritzburg served as a military hospital. Later, the vaults of the castle were leaesd to a brewery, while the Chapel, which had been used by the French community until 1808, became a storage room. The Prussian government bought the ruins back from the leaseholders in the years from 1847 to 1852, for the sum of 24,800 Thaler. Interestingly, there existed plans for a reconstruction of the complex for the University of Halle by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, but the project was cancelled due to lack of funding. Since 1900, the structural

condition of the castle deteriorated dramatically. In 1897

the East, South and West wings were sold to the city of Halle for a

new museum. Funded by donations, the Talamt, the southern battlements,

the Gate Tower and the South Bastion were reconstructed to house the museum.

World War II until present In World War II the deep vaults of the

complex served as an air-raid shelter for the Halle citizens and the

Gauleitung (Gau administration) of the NSDAP. The cellar was also

used to store valuable portals and pieces of the castle architecture. The upper rooms of the West Wing were restored between 1951 and 1954. The lower floor of the same housed a restaurant and a small theater since 1964-67. The North-east Bastion became a Student Club in 1972. Since the 1990s the castle underwent major reconstructions, which have been completed in 2008. The architects of the reconstruction, in which the ruined western part of the castle received a modern roof and interior, were Fuensanta Nieto and Enrique Sobejano.

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enrique sobejanoenrique sobejano

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fuensanta nietofuensanta nieto

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FUENSANTA NIETO (Madrid, 1957) and ENRIQUE SOBEJANO (Madrid, 1957) are graduated

Architects of the ETSA Madrid and the GSAP Columbia University, New York. USA. They teach currently at the Universidad Europea de Madrid (UEM) and at the Universität der

Künste of Berlin (UdK), and are partners of the office Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos S.L.

Both have been visiting critics and/or referents at various Spanish and international universities

and institutions, as for example GSD Harvard University USA (2000); ETSA University of

Barcelona (2002); University of Torino, Italy (2003); University

of Stuttgart, Germany (2006); Columbia University, New York USA (2006); 10th Alvar Aalto Symposium, Helsinki, Finland (2006);

University of Graz, Austria (2006); Encuentros de Arquitectura AE’07 # 2,

Argentina (2007); University of Limerick, Ireland (2008); Trinity

College, Dublín (2008); University of Illinois (2008);

‘The Second International Utzon Symposium’, Aalborg, Denmark (2008); ‘Urban Aphorisms’,

Sofia, Bulgaria (2008);‘ICOMOS 2008’, Québec, Canada (2008), etc.

From 1986 to 1991 they were editors of the architectural journal Arquitectura edited by the

Architectural Association of Madrid (Colegio Oficial de Arquitectos de Madrid).

Their work has been published in various Spanish and international

magazines and books and has been exhibited among others, at Biennale di Venezia 2000,

2002 and 2006; Bienal Española de Arquitectura 2003, Extreme

Eurasia, Tokyo (Japan) 2005; On site: New Architecture in Spain, MoMA

New York 2006; Less and more exhibition; 10th Alvar Aalto Symposium, Helsinki 2006;

Collective Housing Substance of our Cities, Pavillon de L’Arsenal, París 2007;

Allgarve lifetime experiences, Portugal 2007; Galería Aedes, Berlin 2008;

Galería Kusthaus, Graz (Austria) 2008.

In 2000 they received the 1st Prize of Madrid City Hall for the Housing in Calle Sicilia, and

in 2006 the 1st Prizeof Madrid City Hall for the Offices and Housing in Calle Talavera.

In 2007, they Prize Arquinfad Members and the National Prize for Conservation and

Restauration of Cultural Patrimony for the National Sculpture Museum in Valladolid.

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1993 Housing Building Benta-Berri, San Sebastián, Spain1995 Rectorate of the University of Vigo, Spain

1996 EUROPAN-IV. 174 Dwellings, Sevilla, Spain1997 Latina Municipal District offices, Madrid, Spain

1998 Maritime Museum in Castle of Light,Las Palmas, Spain

1999 Conference and Exhibition Centre, Mérida, Spain1999 274 Dwellings in Alcorcón, Madrid, Spain

1999 Institutional Headquarters, Madinat al ZaharaArchaeological Site, Córdoba, Spain

2000 Extensions, National Sculpture Museum,Valladolid, Spain

2000 Malecón Building, Havana, Cuba2003 Canary Islands Museum, Las Palmas, Spain2003 Montecarmelo Sports Centre, Madrid, Spain

2003 1Environmental Cultural Centre, Cáceres, Spain2004 Moritzburg Museum Extension, Halle, Germany

2005 San Telmo Museum Extension,San Sebastian, Spain

2005 Congress Hall and Auditorium Expo 2008,Zaragoza, Spain

2005 Rioja Wine Centre, Logroño, Spain2005 Kastner & Öhler Extension, Graz, Austria2005 Contemporary Art Centre, Córdoba, Spain

2006 Joanneum Museum Extension, Graz, Austria2007 Interactive Museum of History, Lugo, Spain

2007 Comercial and Sport Centre Barceló, Madrid, Spain

1st PRIZES IN NATIONAL AND InTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS

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HISTORY MUSEUM OF66

LUGO

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contemporary art museum

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contemporary art museum

cordoba69

museum extension

joanneum

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joanneum

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NITSCH/122. mALAKTION/NIETO SOBEJANO ARCHITECTS/MORITZBURG

NITSCH/122. mALAKTION/NIETO SOBEJANO ARCHITECTS/MORITZBURG