Bizet (2006), by Jaume Plensa (Barcelona, 1955), which went for around €12K + 20% government commission at Brok the other day:
Hypotheses:
- Mr Plensa, a covert musicologist, has discovered extraordinary connections between Hector Berlioz, master of the grand and the imperial, and author of the works listed, and Georges Bizet, who dabbled in local colour several decades later.
- Mr Plensa is a genuine Berlioz fan, but suffered a couple of days absentmindedness and then thought wathefook.
- Mr Plensa has consciously sold some new clothes to the art-buying imperial class, who don’t know fook about art, or music, or anything really, but who desperately need something to hang in the corridor next to the coatrack.
I favour (3). An undistinguished bronze bucket by Mr Plensa went for around €18,000.
[A well-run auction is the closest modern equivalent to the Ottoman harem. A warm and well-lit room, comfy chairs, a waiter bearing fizzy wine and sweetmeats, “What about this one, sir?”]
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I think Plensa is actually completely ignorant about music. Here’s an interview with him. He thinks Bizet wrote that music.
Question. Lo cierto es que distintos aspectos del mundo musical reaparecen muy literalmente en su trabajo. Pienso no tanto en sus escenografías para ópera cuanto en dibujos recientes, como Bartok y Bizet.
Answer. Recuerdo que Anthony Caro estaba muy preocupado por la escala. Me decía, «Jaume, hay tres cosas fundamentales en escultura: la escala, la escala y la escala». Estoy de acuerdo, aunque sólo en parte. Mi aproximación a la medida es más abstracta. Creo que las palabras son un contenedor perfecto, pues tienen físicamente la medida exacta de su contenido. La palabra proporciona un registro físico común, un lugar abstracto compartido al que cada cual puede acceder con su propia memoria. Del mismo modo, la música es un lugar privilegiado para la abstracción, pues no genera imágenes descriptivas que bloqueen la posibilidad de ir más allá, algo que a veces sucede en las artes visuales. Por eso me ha parecido más oportuno escribir «Bartok» o «Bizet» que hablar de Bartok o de Bizet. Bartok no es un homenaje a Bela Bartok, sino la definición de un lugar, la palabra «Bartok», al que todos, cada uno con su propia memoria, podemos acceder.
Oh dear, that is a surprise. We may be the only two people left alive who remember that … what was it again?
I’ll message you by pigeon when I remember :-)