On 20 June, Lviv Polytechnic hosted two significant events: the preface to the Stammering Circle and the Chalk Circle, a large-scale exhibition and discursive platform in Lviv. The project is presented by Faktura 10 and RIBBON International.
At the lecture hall in the University’s Chemistry Building, Marta Kuzma, Professor at the Yale School of Art, Artistic Director and Chief Curator of Faktura 10 – a major initiative of RIBBON International – explained why she decided to implement the projects Faktura 10 and the Stammering Circle in Ukraine.
– As an Art Professor, I tend to view exhibitions as research initiatives, to approach art in an unusual way, and to see the document as a basis that is always necessary for dialogue with history. My academic research is rooted in aesthetic degrees, marked by an influential ambivalence towards scientific progress, particularly with regard to a positive assessment of its potential for change. We are dealing with a body of knowledge where criticism of scientific progress – due to its role in generating new forms of social control and alienation – has largely faded, noted project curator Marta Kuzma.
The art historian also shared that the inspiration for the project came from the works of Paul Celan, a Jewish poet born in Chernivtsi.
After the introductory lecture, the visitors moved to the academic building No. 10, where they could see Magic Architecture – the facsimile works by the Austrian-American architect Frederick Kiesler, as well as attend a lecture on Frederick Kiesler: Magical Architecture as Pre-Architecture by Gerd Zillner, Director of the Austrian Frederick and Lilian Kiesler Private Foundation. During his presentation, Gerd Zillner presented the artist’s biography and achievements, talked about his contribution to the development of world architecture, and demonstrated fragments of Frederick Kiesler’s book.
The book includes an epilogue that, in essence, represents a circular structure. Zillner states that Kiesler’s scheme describes an «orbit of ecstasy», completing the cycle of drawings of the architectural universe, some of which are on display in the Machine Room.
The exhibition of Frederick Kiesler’s facsimile works is made possible by the cooperation of the Kiesler Foundation in Vienna and CIVA (Centre for Information, Documentation and Exhibition) in Brussels. This selection of Frederick Kiesler’s works, curated by CIVA’s Artistic Director Nikolaus Hirsch, is part of the larger exhibition titled Pre-Architectures (6 November 2024 to 30 March 2025)
