Test your design IQ
MANILA, Philippines -Who is the 20th century Hungarian painter, photographer, and industrial designer best known for his light prop for an electric stage?
He was born on July 20, 1895 to a Jewish-Hungarian family in Bacsborsod. After his discharge from the Austro-Hungarian army in 1918, he attended the private art school of Hungarian artist Robert Bereny.
In 1923, he replaced Johannes Itten as the instructor of the foundation course at Bauhaus. This effectively marked the end of the school’s expressionistic leanings and moved it closer towards its original aims as a school of design and industrial integration.
Bauhaus became known for the versatility of its artists, and he was no exception. Throughout his career, he became efficient and innovative in the fields of photography, sculpture, painting, printmaking, and industrial design.
One of his main focuses was photography, where he coined the term “New Vision†for his belief that photography could create a whole new way of seeing the outside world that the human eye could not. His theory of art and teaching is summed up in the book The New Vision, from Material to Architecture.
He experimented with the photographic process of exposing light to sensitive paper with objects overlaid on top of it, called the photogram.
Perhaps his most enduring achievement is the construction of the Light Prop for an Electric Stage, a device with moving parts meant to have light projected through it in order to create mobile light reflections and shadows on nearby surfaces. Made with the help of Hungarian architect Istvan Seboek, it is often interpreted as a kinetic sculpture.
After his death, it was called the Light Space Modulator and was seen as one of the earliest examples of light art.
He resigned from the Bauhaus in 1928 and worked freelance as a highly sought designer in Berlin. He designed stage sets for successful and controversial operatic and theatrical productions, designed exhibitions and books, created ad campaigns, wrote articles and made films.
Moving to London in 1935, there he took on design jobs for Imperial Airways, photographed contemporary architecture for Architectural Review, and designed special effects for the Alexander Korda film Things to Come.
In 1937, he moved to Chicago to become the director of the New Bauhaus. This did not prosper, however, and instead he opened the School of Design, which became the Institute of Design in 1944.
He died of leukemia in Chicago in 1946.
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Last week’s question: Who is the French celebrity chef known not only for his three-star restaurant, but also for being one of the first chefs to embrace the idea of food as art?
Answer: Pierre Gagnaire
Winner: Ermenilda Avedano of Quezon City
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Text your answer to 0915-6486414 with your name and address. One winner will be chosen through a raffle of texts with the correct answer. The winner will receive P2,000 worth of SM gift certificates for use at Our Home, SM Department Store, or SM Supermarket. They can claim their prize at Our Home in SM Megamall. Call the store manager at 634-1943. Bring photocopies of two valid IDs and a clipping of the Design Quiz issue in which you appear as winner.
