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posted at: www.artforum.com/talkback
REPORTAGE- Rhythm & Gender
by stephenlauf, 05.19.04 12:29 pm
The dates I used were of the specific Doric temples of which there are remains (ref. Fletcher). I included eastern Greece because I think Delos is an island off the east coast—I might be wrong though.
The proof of communication are the temples themselves.
The proof of trained builders are the temples themselves.
The proof of 'architects' involved are the temples themselves.
The proof of a unified religious system are the temples themselves.
You're asking for physical evidence, and physical evidence is exactly what the Doric temples are!
Are all modern-day questions automatically answered by the physical evidence of the finished temple? Of course not, but that doesn't mean that the temples didn't answer the questions the ancient Greeks asked of them.
Remember, before any Doric temple was finished and polished and painted, its place was a construction site, and that's where and when the communication occurred. [In the 1980s archaeologists published the discovery of 'architectural' drawings directly related to temple construction. The drawings were actual size, on stone, and at the temple site itself.] Much communication occurred at quarries as well.
Furthermore, the notion of a migrant labor force is very, very ancient. And don't forget the availability of slave labor, which had no control itself of where it specifically worked.
Then there is the question of what role the religious priests played in providing guiding information and the making of design decisions.
There is also the question of how far back the existence of "trade secrets" go? For example, we will probably never know the trade secrets that built the Pyramids because those that knew the 'secrets' well also (and obviously) knew how to keep them well.
[Ever since Otto's death 11 October 1916, he kept close watch of what Einstein was doing—once a Münchener always a Münchener and all that. Otto and Einstein first met 18 April 1955, and are close friends since then. Einstein doesn't hang around Earth much these days though; he's mostly far off somewhere in the continuum. The last time Otto and Einstein were together was on 5 March 2000 at Princeton. They captured lots of images (of architecture) on the University campus that Sunday. Otto recently decided to publish the images—Art that is Otto and Einstein at Princeton 5 March 2000.]
Hey FatChance, how many of my questions haven't you answered yet? You do know how to count past three don't you? Here's one more: do you relate to Doric temples as one set of damaged goods to another?
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