Mondrian's Philosophy of Visual Rhythm by Eiichi Tosaki

Author:Eiichi Tosaki
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Springer Netherlands, Dordrecht

Mondrian was fascinated by the possibilities of music performance without enlisted players; that is, music performed by the composer directly. He predicted the advent of electric synthesized sound without a ‘musical’ instrument, commenting that “it is time that the composers immerse themselves in the study of electronic acoustics ” (Sanders 1979) Mondrian’s acknowledgment of machines and mechanised sound is not as straightforward as many writers on Mondrian have suggested. Mondrian championed the machine as a symbol of universal modernity, but in terms of its function, rejected it as still naturalistic . In his view, the automatic repetitive commotion of the machine opposes neoplastic rhythm. I would argue that it was not the machine or mechanisation itself with which Mondrian was so captivated, but with the possibilities inherent in the ‘new’ timbre and rhythmic structure of repetitive sound produced by machines. We can see this in the following citation taken from “The Manifestation of Neo-Plasticism in Music and the Italian Futurists ’ Bruiteurs” (1921):

Man will prefer sounds and noises produced by inanimate nonanimalized materials. He will find the noise of a machine more sympathetic (in its “timbre”) than the song of birds or men. Depending upon how it is produced, a given rhythm will affect him as being more or less individual (Mondrian 1986, 153).

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