Resurrection Through Obscenity

Writings of the Russian Formalists are full of pessimism about death and aspiration for revival. Successful as a literary movement, they sought to create very non-conventional art to shock and awaken the current art scene. Argument they make it convincing. People do get too used to things. We are too uninspired and uninterested as we pass our time in such banal environment, and it is in the peculiar that we take most interest in. Peculiarities inspire us to look closer and gain more understanding into our world. But having watched the most strange "Victory over the Sun," last Friday, I am some what skeptical of the Formalists. Behaviors, costumes, and speech of the actors were so alien that they completely stunned me. Perhaps the leap out of my comfort zone demanded by the play writers were just too great for me. Play was unintelligible and discomforting, and perhaps that was part what the Formalists set out to do, but they certainly failed at inspiring me to look closer.
As I tried to relate the Formalist writings into architecture, works of Peter Eisenman quickly came to my mind. It is impressive how disfigured his works are. And like the play "Victory over the Sun," many of Eisenman's works inspire nothing more than a wince from the audience. Maybe we only have ourselves to blame as we choose not to open up an encyclopedia. Even the most beloved works peculiarity, such as the works of Frank Gherie, inspire nothing more than a momentary joy. It is somewhat unfortunate. I found Eisenman houses very intriguing when I actually did look up the history behind them.