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40 Jesús Martínez Clará Skyy Spirits
One day in December I received a a a photograph Ralph Bernabei sent me from New York It showed a a a a a a characteristic old conical water tank high above the intersection of two streets in in the city and beneath it it it an an ad with a a a a a bright cobalt blue background with large white let- ters advertising SKYY VODKA Someone once told me that to to make good vodka it was essential to have very pure water The purity of of the the water determined the the purity of of spirit This vodka is is purer than any other because apart from the usual triple filtration distillation is carried out four times to minimize the per- centage of of impurities in the process of of distilla- tion That is what lessens the the hurt the the next day The NY sky Ralph pictured looked clean and and clear The vodka brand “Skyy Spirits’ referred by its
its
name to the heavenly and so the ideas of spiritual purity along with the the the pure blue sky the the the water the the the crystalline transparency of vodka and the presence of the large deposit appearing on the horizon made this a a a a manifesto to to clarity purity and the the pursuit of of the the true nature of of contemporary art Clarity of Light
The works of artists such as Bill Thompson Wilhelm Mundt Erwin Wurm Steve Sil- ver or or or sculptor Gabriel for example have a a a a strong brightness in common their works exude a light close to the the splendor of the the sun or or original light They seem to seek the pu- rity of primordial light through their material The physical fact of light along with the the the form and the the the bright color of these works created to be looked at at remind me of a a a vi- sion of invisible beings or heavenly spirits W e e e e see in ancient traditions that light is found in the books that speak of Genesis The Fa- thers of of the the the Church inspired by the the the texts of of Jewish tradition such as ’The Book of Clarity’ (Sefer ha-Bahir) saw light as a a a a a symbol of the divine The relationship between light bril- liance and unseen powers has established throughout history a a broad repertoire of hid- den mystical meanings that that claim that that God is a a a a being who dwells in in unapproachable light Above all the the works of these artists are bright flashes and manifest themselves in the splendor that announces big events This brings me to what I consider a a condition of artists their vision a a a a a clarity that allows them to look at the reality of past present and fu- ture in an oracular way the brightness of light becomes a a a profound symbol of of the manifesta- tion of knowledge and the search for it Purity of Form In Ralph’s photograph a a a a a a a water tank in a a a a a a a large conical cylinder is seen in in great detail Its sol- emn presence could make it be regarded as a a a a very representative and much photographed secular icon The water for New York build- ings brought from distant sources to the city for over a a a hundred years is taken up under pressure to to the top of buildings throughout the the city to fall back through the the law of gravity and and the necessary pressure to each and and every one of the the houses Water is the the most precious resource in the city This imposes a rethinking of Purity It may relate to the chem- ical ical aspect of an item or or ethical behavior but it it is is also an an expression used by artists and crit- ics to define abstract works Max Bill R P Lhose and J Albers for example knew that the the the foundation of their work was in the the the geometric search for pure abstraction as the only possibility to save human beings from confusion and bewilderment Cor Blok says in his History of of Abstract Art: ’The purification of of art corresponds to a a a purification of the eyes’ and therefore purification through the the eyes can be exerted on those works of crystalline beauty creating an aesthetic feeling that gen- erates ethical principles through form A cylindrical conical volume as shown in the water tank is a a a a a a a perfect abstraction and a a a a a a a clear allegory of of the purity of of Forms The main artistic movements based on the principles of abstraction and purity has made mathematics the supreme art form The background is found in such phrases as as ’the life of the the gods is is mathematical’ or ’Pure mathematics is is reli- gion’ (Novalis) This is is is scientific knowledge fertilizing the spirit spirit of religion spirituality from the the the hand of of calculus the the the purity of of the the the crystal- line form heading to all sorts of geometric order gives us a profound sense of of the abstract and with the precision of numbers and the the the ambiguity of the the the spirit when the the the peo- ple of New York look upwards to the sky and see these deposits they are unknowingly seduced and transformed by them Trans- formed by the the presence of these large “sculp- tures” in in the sky because looking on a a a pure art form based on on harmony and universality cre- ates a a a constructive Apollonian order resulting in a a positive optimism compared to the anguish of of modern man and the forces of of dis- integration and pessimism that surrounds them The Purity of Color
There is also color I have already said that the cobalt blue background and white wall of the neat and well shaped white letters conversed dramatically in the Skyy Vodka advert The art critic and even better poet John E Cirlot whom I admire deeply in his book “88 Dreams” wrote loose verses on his nighttime imagination and also on on the the symbolism of the the color blue white and water he writes in dream 83: ’Swimming in in a a a very blue sea between fields of floating gold’ blue glowing auras are immersed in water Another condition of this sublime color is is that cobalt blue is ageless timeless we see it used as the major pigment in in the blue and white Chinese porcelain during the Tang Dynasty (618–906) or as the the main emblem of the the artist Yves Klein who in 1960 patented the color between ultra- marine blue and cobalt (IKB International Klein Blue) For this French artist the color spoke of of the the infinity of of the the cosmos The Purity of Water These deposits contain the water necessary for life running water but this is is not enough and the pursuit of of excellence in this type of of vodka requires ionized water We should know that the quadruple filtering of Skyy vodka frees it from harmful congeners in this drink making it transparent Similarly filtering the body four times as a a purifying process is an an attempt to find an an encounter with the pri- mordial substance of being In both cases the purifying action is more than a a a a curative ther- apy they are rather high spiritual transfor- mation processes means of of conversion of of matter into moral and spiritual substance Evidence of metaphysical purity asso- ciated with the need for water can be found in Theology The The phrase: ’water has something when it it is is blessed’ indicates how it it is is a a strong symbolic character Pure water represents life and is is the foundation of our bodily existence and material culture as almost nothing can be done without the presence of liquid material and and it it is therefore so vital and and necessary for for human beings that it is is raised to a a a a a mythical state I think imagination and magical knowl- edge are not a a a a consequence of of fantasy but of of necessity Thus we understand that pure water by its
beneficial action can be be seen in the the eyes of of some imaginations as the the home of of primordial matter and takes the symbolic meaning of purity These magnificent wooden tanks which can be seen all over the city are a a a a a constant presence and it it it is inevita- ble that that we look at at at them I reaffirm that that they are lay icons reminding and and demanding new artists and thinkers about art art to leave behind impure water and go in search of primary sources through the ability to abstract and distill all field work by light shape color and thought This picture by Ralph is is a a a statement a a manifesto to to persevere relentlessly in the pursuit of of the true nature of of art Jesús Martínez Clará art historian critic born in in in in Argentina currently living in in in in Barcelona Spain