Bernard Tschumi (1978) Part 1 of 2

Shelly Kappe introduces Bernard Tschumi. Tschumi begins by describing his interest in the use of space in the work of Los Angeles-based artists like Michael Asher, Robert Irwin, and Bruce Nauman. He argues that the question, "What is space?" tends to be answered in two ways: Space is memory, the past, or Space is subjectivity. In contrast, Tschumi proposes to understand space through the history of architecture. He discusses social movements within art and architecture in the 1960s, expanding architecture’s role, attempting to obstruct its commodification. Tschumi discusses the physical interaction of body to space. He discusses the concept of "Raumempfindung” (“Felt space"). He cites Oskar Schlemmer’s assertion that drawing and writing concern theory while dance concerns the practice of space. Tschumi discusses artists like Bruce Nauman and Trisha Brown who use the body to define space – or assumptions about space – to yield greater comprehension of the body itself.