The Obituaries

At the end of every year, while most people are comparing their personal best-of-year lists with their favorite movie / music / literary (you fill in the blank...) critic, I look forward to the New York Times Magazine's annual obituary issue, recounting the rich lives of many of the people who passed away in the prior twelve months. Short of that issue, though, I camp out a lot on the obit page of the Times' daily edition. See an earlier blog entry on Bob Noorda.

Last Saturday was no exception, and there it was - Ruth Kligman's life history, distilled into a dozen short paragraphs. You may not remember Ruth Kligman, unless you saw 'Pollock', the 2000 movie about the artist's world. Ruth was the sole survivor of the car crash that took Jackson Pollock's life after a hard day of drinking. Or, maybe you might know her as the subject of Willem de Kooning's painting named after her, "Ruth's Zowie". De Kooning and Pollock were two of many artists Ruth "bumped" up against, including Irving Penn, Robert Mapplethorpe, Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, and Franz Kline. But, what Ruth Kligman might be best remembered for is her life's motto as well as something Franz Kline told her. Her motto : "Art is my life." And the life reflection Mr. Kline imparted on her about being an artist and what people outside the art world think of you : "They think it's easy. They don't know it's like jumping off a 12 - story building every day."

Jackson Polllock:


Jasper Johns


Ruth's Zowie:


On the same day as Ruth Kligman's obituary, it was a short jump across the page to Raimund Abraham's. An architect's architect who definitely did not make it look easy. His built work can pretty much be counted out on one hand. His influence, though, is hard to grasp with two outstretched arms. Teaching at RISD, Cooper, Pratt and SciArc, Abraham touched a generation of architects in a mini-Hejdukian manner.

Abraham spent more time drawing and imagining the world of architecture than he did building it. To Abraham, in Lebbeus Woods' words, architecture "existed as an act, a concept, a discipline." His drawings were captivating and enigmatic, rich in imagery that connoted other worlds and meaning.

Abraham drawing:


His architecture did as much as well. Abraham's Austrian Cultural Forum in Manhattan was, in his own words, "a cross between 'Blade Runner' and an Easter Island sculpture".

Austrian Cultural Center








Abraham was killed in a car crash in Los Angeles after giving a lecture at SciArc. The final sentence he shared with the eager students in the audience:

“You don’t have to become a slave in a corporate office or a groupie of a celebrity architect. All you need is a piece of paper, a pencil, and the desire to make architecture.”

Make!

mark