GESAMTKUNSTWERK

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Though Scriabin argued against ballet’s place in the realm of Gesamtkunstwerk, some interpretations of Gesamtkunstwerk would place ballet easily alongside the work of Wagner and other practitioners of the unified arts.  In analyzing the work of modernist artists, Shaw-Miller employs Levinson’s three forms of “Hybrid art:” juxtaposition (multidisciplinary), synthesis (interdisciplinary), and transformation (cross-disciplinary).  According to Levinson, all three of these forms have equal potential to be Gesamtkunstwerk, but must be understood within their own unique context in order to be seen as such.  Shaw-Miller associates dance - as well as Wagner’s operas - most heavily with synthesis, in which he says elements are, “submerged into a third term” (p. 32).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In his 2002 article “Merce Cunningham and the Aesthetic of Collage,” Roger Copeland (2002) takes a different approach to the theory of Gesamtkunstwerk, contrasting it with the “collage” style of post-modern artists, specifically Merce Cunningham.  While some theorists suggest that Gesamtkunstwerk lies in any work that unifies multiple forms, Copeland rejects this theory, saying that a work can easily be a “collage” of different pieces without being “total” in any way.  Like Tatlow, Copeland cites Brecht, but this time in a rather scathing argument against the power of Gesmtkunstwerk.  Quoting Brecht, he says,

So long as the expression “Gesamtkunstwerk" (or “integrated work of art”) means that the integration is a muddle, so long as the arts are supposed to be “fused" together, the various elements will all be equally degraded, and each will act as a mere "feed" to the rest. The process of fusion extends to the spectator who gets thrown into the melting pot too and becomes a passive (suffering) part of the total work of art.  Witchcraft of this sort must of course be fought against (p. 12).

Copeland goes on to explain that his siding with collage over Gesamtkunstwerk comes from the fact that, “Unlike the Gesamtkunstwerk,which exemplifies a hunger for wholeness, collage appeals to an age that has come to distrust claims of closure, ‘unity,’ and fixed boundaries” (p. 13).  Merce Cunningham’s works, which combine the works of notable musicians, painters, filmmakers, and other visual artists, present - in Copeland’s view - a greater diversity of voices than a Wagnerian opera, which tries to unify each element within a single voice.  By leaving the work open to multiple voices, there is a greater element of truth to the collage than to the Gesamtkunstwerk (p. 27).

 

Of course, the issue arises that Copeland’s very reasoning against Gesamtkunstwerk in the twenty-first century illustrates what Tatlow would call a perfect example of such a work - one in which the intention is not only to promote an aesthetic idea, but to respond to a social or political trend.  By Levinson’s definition, this work would qualify as a multidisciplinary work, using juxtaposition to heighten, not dilute, a single idea.  If Cunningham used collage specifically to deny the idea of a transcendent form as a response to the contemporary mindset that truth lay in diversity of voice and opinion, then Tatlow might argue that Cunningham - albeit inadvertently perhaps - created Gesamtkunstwerk.  Like the Kabuki theater, Cunningham’s works display “rhythmical movement and rhythmical colorism,” as well as “stylized movement.”  Therefore, it seems that Tatlow would group this work along with the Gesamtkunstwerk of its predecessors.

 

Throughout ages of art - unified, disengaged, re-integrated, and transformed again and again - Gesamtkunstwerk has remained on the cutting edge of artistic expression.  From ancient Greek and Romantic-era choruses to expressions of movement in visual art, to backup dancers in  modern-day concerts and musicals, dance has always been a key part of this unified artistic experience, but has often taken a back seat to music and drama within Gesamtkunstwerk.  Dance, however, fits not only one, but virtually every accepted theory of Gesamtkunstwerk, from Wagner’s first declaration that Gesamtkunstwerk must be a unification of forms for the ascension of  natural drama and social revolution, to Yeats’ idea of making strange events credible, to Levinson’s theory of combining works through juxtaposition, synthesis, or transformation.  As Gesamtkunstwerk continues to evolve into the next era, one can imagine that dance will evolve with it, finding yet another place within this complex theory.