Symphony at The Cloisters, New York City, and Iconic Realism

The Cloisters, New York City

www.pbase.com/ terraxplorer/image/68935986

The following excerpt is in the Introduction of my first book: The Theory of Iconic Realism. I'd like to thank my late friend and colleague, Professor Lionel Bascom, RIP, for telling me of this experience as his illustration of iconic realism.

A group of New Yorkers assembles in the Cloisters museum, which sits atop a hill overlooking the Hudson River, just outside of Manhattan. These individuals have come to listen to a concert, which will be presented just before sunset. Anticipating a traditional concert with musicians performing in front of a listening audience, they search for seating. They notice that chairs have been strategically placed throughout the museum, a few here, a few there, up the winding staircases, in the garden, along the walls of stone. Confused, the concert attendees seat themselves, waiting.

Soon, echoing through the interweaving chambers of the museum, low brass instruments create a resonating medieval drone, monotone voices chanting in Latin with sustained pitches, fill the damp air with a sound that transports the audience from the busy New York City museum to a medieval stone castle. The glow from the setting sun mixed with low lighting envelops the medieval tapestries, statuary and paintings while muted melodies fill the audience with an aural feast. Iconic melodies that signify this medieval period permeate the halls.

The medieval tones mingle with the realism in the works of art, architecture and presence of the audience, sensually transported to this era. When the concert ends, the members of this audience become aware of the cultural distinctions between the two worlds of medieval Europe and twentieth century New York City, now transformed in their perceptions of continuity of human interaction in time and space, having experienced iconic realism.

"Dixit Dominus" (With gratitude to Mozart) and Iconic Realism

Cochlea from Medical Dictionary- The Free Dictionary

When I was in high school, I was blessed to attend a two week music workshop at the University of Georgia. I began by playing oboe in the orchestra, but switched to sing in the advanced choir. It was much more rewarding to me, and I thoroughly enjoyed singing Alto to Mozart's Dixit Dominus as one of the classical pieces we sang for the cumulative concert. 

 

In the poem below, I demonstrate my semiotic theory of iconic realism by writing a description of the hearing process, but one aspect of that process is unexpected: the cochlea is dormant. This human ear is deaf. Thus, this perfect individual will never hear as the hearing public does...Dixit Dominus. (It is God's Word.) The Word will have to come to that individual through alternative means. I have placed the iconic representation of hearing with an iconic composition, Dixit Dominus, to bring awareness of the beauty in all of humanity, particularly in those individuals who cannot hear with their ears. They must experience the heavenly Word in their unique way. 

Dixit Dominus 

The chorus swells; waves rush in,

their flow controlled 

by the canal's turbid banks. 

Membrane pulsates - 

Malleus, Incus, Stapes

vibrate

through a liquid universe.  

Electrical impulses meander

in and out and around 

minuscule hair cells within.

Majestic cochlea sits on its throne,

dormant. 

Eighth nerve to the brain reaches out.

Mozart sheds a heavenly tear. 

Yet this perfectly deaf one will hear ~

Dixit Dominus.

© Jeanne I. Lakatos

To hear Mozart's Vesperae solennes de Confessore, Dixit Dominus, click onto this link: 

https://youtu.be/H7QbViCuGfU

Click onto the link below to see an animation of sound felt along the basilar membrane in the cochlea:

https://youtu.be/dyenMluFaUw

The Tiny Hand of Samuel Armas (In honor of Respect for Life )

Photo from Google Images

In 1999, Michael Clancy captured on film the little hand of Samuel Armas, held here by Vanderbilt University Hospital surgeon, Dr. Joseph Bruner. The iconic element here is the hand of the human fetus, for it represents life, innocence, and complete vulnerability.

This is an excellent example of iconic realism in photography, for one usually would not think that the connection between a 21 week old human in the womb and a surgeon could physically take place in this manner. See how the tiny hand grasps the finger of the surgeon, illustrating the need for human touch even when the baby is in the mother's womb!

One cultural dilemma that this photograph reveals is that even though there exist limitations and possibilities of medical science,  the beauty in the touch of a human hand is a divine statement that life is precious and can be meaningful from the womb... before birth.

"Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee..." (Jeremiah 1:5) kjv

Walt Whitman's "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer" and Iconic Realism

Adler Planetarium Astronomy Museum, Art Institute of Chicago

When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer

by Walt Whitman

When I heard the learn'd astronomer,

When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me,

When I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide,

and measure them,

When I sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured with

much applause in the lecture-room,

How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick,

Till rising and gliding out I wander'd off by myself,

In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,

Look'd up in perfect silence at the stars.

Above is a poem by the American poet, Walt Whitman. Here, the speaker leaves an astronomy lecture to step outside the fixed parameters and subsequently, learns first-hand the beauty in viewing the same firmament of which the lecturer speaks, but viewed simply with the naked eye, in silence. By leaving the lecture, the speaker has knowledge shared by the astronomer inside and now enjoys the silent beauty with appreciated knowledge. More importantly, the speaker has appreciation of the significance of the stars’ natural state. 

This poem illustrates iconic realism in that the subject, constellations in a contrived setting, brings the audience (the speaker in the poem) to a recognition that education of natural phenomena directly connects humanity with nature. 

I warmly thank the Art Institute of Chicago for purchasing a copy of my book, The Theory of Iconic Realism: Understanding the Arts through Cultural Context.

To hear me read this, please click HERE.

White Wolves-"Fear" and Iconic Realism

Click HERE to view video

In this beautiful musical presentation by IceFloeSoul, with lyrics sung by Sarah McLachlan's mystical voice, the concept of stewardship once again appears through the illustration of the iconic white wolf in late winter/early spring, a symbol of freedom. This video lets the audience see this animal and hear its haunting voice, along with voices of other animals and sights of natural parallel structures. 

The juxtaposition of this visual and aural experience with contemporary music and words that describe a love theme provides the audience with awareness of the human connection to and responsibility for maintenance of a healthful environment, alerting us to possible limitations of freedom and corollary fear, if we are not watchful.