Trip report.
Who doesn't know Piranesi! He is everywhere. In every museum, in every apartment of an architect, if you search, you can find a picture. But what is Piranesi and Piranesianism is rather difficult to understand and, moreover, to explain. I myself have known him since early childhood. The Arch of Titus and Tivoli Gardens, bought as originals in the twenties, on Kuznetsky Most, always hung in the parent's house, in the dining room. Then, in the library, I found old albums with engravings. But I rediscovered Piranesi for myself, already studying at the Institute of Architecture, when I stumbled upon a folder with photo prints. They were much better in contact printing than in book printing. In the forties, they were acquired by our parents - students. Having pulled out a dusty folder of contact prints, we looked at them for a long time together with Sasha Brodsky. On this basis, perhaps, our creative association took place and a real passion for architecture and etching began. Since then, 30 years have passed, and a lot of water has flowed under the bridge, and it seemed to me that I already knew everything about Piranesi. But, unexpectedly, Alexander Brodsky came to my studio and said that I urgently needed to go to Venice for the Piranesi exhibition … I felt that something serious had happened … and I went …
The mood was skeptical. I didn't like Venice this time. The weather was bad, it was raining, the water constantly flooded the streets, not allowing you to relax. And there seemed to be more tourists than usual. But the most annoying was the European-style renovation, which was everywhere. I began to notice things that I had not noticed before. Plastic euro windows on the Grand Canal. The boutiques with panties, without turning off, illuminated the streets, since it was getting dark early. Somewhere, between lane Rialto and lane San Marco, I came across a huge modern house, already ugly in that it is modern. San Marco and Palazzo Doge stood knee-deep in water, covered with advertising banners with half-naked aunts. Musicians played in the only open cafe, recalling the last frames from the movie "Titanic". These aunts were especially annoying. It costs a penny to print such a banner, and advertising gives a lot of money, without this it is impossible now. In Piranesi's time, the print of an engraving performed the same role, and the print itself on paper did not cost much money. Making an engraving required a lot of work and special skill. Once I tried to explain to students how etching is done. How a sheet of copper is selected and polished for a long time to a mirror-like state, how it is worked through with alum, then heated and damped with a special varnish. That the varnish must be properly smoked with a candle, that then the sketch drawing is carefully mirrored onto the black surface of the etching board. How the finished drawing is etched with acid, how the paper is prepared, and the whole printing process. I tried to explain how the engraver should mirror the negative of the drawing on black, while imagining the positive. And I realized when I saw the smirks on the faces of the students that they would never do this. And they will do it as easy as possible. And in a different way. And I don’t know how else. Art is impossible without hard work and skill.
The same prejudice was towards the closing Architectural Biennale. And I decided that apart from the architecture of the Arsenal itself, I had nothing to see, and did not go to the exhibition, leaving my strength on Piranesi.
The exhibition began for me from the moment the vaporetto set off theatrically from the "perishing Titanic" and headed along the green waves to the island of San Giorgio, to the beloved Palladio and Piranesi. And there, at the Piranesi exhibition, I finally calmed down, feeling at home. First of all, I saw an amazing interior space where the exposition was placed, ending somewhere in the dark with wooden beams. All the attention of the light is on the engravings. The first discovery is that the beautiful, as it seemed to me, copies are very different from the originals. And I, at times, did not recognize the works that were familiar to me. This is especially true for large etchings. An engraved print, like architecture, cannot be reproduced by book printing. The large engraving has its own scale. You need to go to her. At first, the whole image is perceived, and as you approach, you notice more and more details, up to a bizarre web of patterns of the author's stroke. The unevenness of the paper breathes, making the images voluminous and alive. One such etching can be looked at for hours, walking along the ancient pavements, looking into the arches of aqueducts. There are not just beautiful pictures, but sheets with a huge amount of information about archeology, architecture with text, drawings of plans and sections. The four-meter column of Troyan, consisting of two parts with a full description of the exploits of the emperor, amazed with its scale. The material exhibited in one place is grandiose and incomprehensible in terms of the scope of the declared topics and the quality of the works. We must pay tribute to the authors of the exhibition for the taste and quality with which all the details are made: frames, mat and inscriptions. In addition to the collection of Piranesi etchings on display, the exhibition features three more independent projects. One of them is not new. This is a comparison of engraved views of Rome with photographic paintings taken from the same vantage point. This project enjoys the greatest success with the public, because it strikes with the similarity of the paintings with the preservation of historical objects. Finding the difference between etching and photographic originals is also entertaining for the audience. Meanwhile, a knowledgeable specialist here must take off his hat, because the whole world owes such a preservation of historical monuments to Piranesi. Painting the ruins as finished compositions, he himself did not suspect that he was laying the foundations for the future school of restoration. And then, after many years, his etchings will be needed in order to "correctly" complete the construction of historical monuments from the garbage of archaeological debris.
The author of another project created several real objects from Piranesi's engravings: a fireplace, a lamp and several vases. An attempt was made, rather tentatively, to recreate the interior of the fireplace room. It also shows the process of creating a digital model on a computer, the technology of casting and assembling objects in natural material. We are all accustomed to computer miracles, and even accustomed to scolding a digital product for its dryness and lifelessness. But, having seen the recreated etching in real volume, the discovery for me was that "small-gravity", ideally suited to the etching graphics, can just as well exist in the author's object design. It turned out that all these painted grasses, plants, shells, passing into the faces of animals, have their own logic, meaning and form the author's inimitable style.
The animation project "Prisons" looks like a student, bold and fresh. In the middle of the hall with engravings there is a five-meter wooden tower - a hut covered with a white sheet. This independent design object, inspired by etching graphics, acts as a cinema, where a three-dimensional journey into the world of architectural fantasies is continuously going to music. The film itself will not surprise a specialist either. In general, this is a student's work done in 3D MAX. But overall, it's luck. And the main advantage of these projects is that three-dimensional elements have been added to the traditional exhibition walls, it has become possible to use the space theatrically, to diversify the exposition accents along the trajectory of the visitors' movement. Everything is done professionally and with great taste. This is probably the best exhibition dedicated to the memory of the great Piranesi.
It so happened that the legacy left by a simple "Venetian architect" who did not build anything influenced the development of architecture much more than the real works of outstanding architects. Influenced minds and philosophy, fashion and styles, interest in history, the formation of the world restoration school.
And, it seems to me, the most important thing is that Piranesi's art has always inspired and continues to inspire creative personalities to engage in architecture and art.
You have to go and see with your own eyes …..
