I recently viewed the documentary, The Architect and the Painter. The following article is partly a review of the film and also an article about the marriage relationship as a work of art.
It is questionable when people consider a creative couple who made a significant impact dancing across the American stage in the latter half of the 20th century, that they would place much emphasis on a chair. However, for Charles and Ray Eames, a chair is where their romance with culture, and possibly between themselves, began. Seldom does one find a married couple who really does demonstrate oneness through how they carry out their lives through their gifting and their incredible sense of vision. This was a vision that encouraged many of those around them to view their world differently. Even though obvious cracks appeared in that iconic image as time wore on, one can say that from the office chair to movie messages to simply how things were presented in general, that couple, on stage for major moments in American history, influenced their world in their life and even in their death. They were referred to as artists, yet appreciated that the term artist was something that was earned. They loved to say, “We don’t do art. We solve problems.” Today, some speak about living holistic lives, they were adroit at blending work with life.
What they were in life, everyone around them who knew them, wanted to be. Some said that everything that they touched, turned into something magical. They wanted to bring fantastic experiences to the world around them. They were truly learners, and that led to their profound influence and the unlimited repertoire of their opportunities. In the depth of their commitment and role as welcoming hosts, they unlocked the wonders of their world for their less ideaphoric friends.
They were so profound in their impact upon the culture that their name, Eames, now actually means an approach to thinking. Charles’ ability to richly and elaborately ponder enabled him to run his office like a renaissance studio. In many ways, he was only truly happy in manipulating ideas. Some people who worked for him knew they were not getting the full credit for the amount of work they were investing into projects, but in some ways they didn’t mind. One person stated that she knew she was being exploited, but she also knew she was being exploited by a proper master.
Charles told others to “take their pleasure seriously”. One example of where he did was through his fascination with the circus, which appeared as a total “free-for-all”, but which actually had a great deal of constraints. His incredible awe of the circus caused him to turn the Eames office into one. In one sense, the office was a renaissance art shop. It was 24x7x365 there. As one individual stated, “It was like people at the Eames office were taking their brains out and kneading them like dough.” People who burned the midnight oil there knew they were not practically matched for anywhere else, but perfectly fit in there. Even though one might ponder the sanity of Charles’ mind, he always knew where his center was, and that gave him the ability to work for powerful clients.
Ray was a product of the tutelage of Hans Hoffman. The new American art really grew out of what she gleamed from him. She could move any objects around in a room, on a board, table, canvas, or anywhere else and find form and beauty in the new arrangements. Everything from the floor to the ceiling to the sofa was a canvas for Ray. She even went so far as to create a visual dessert at one of their dinner parties. The dessert was comprised of three perfectly arranged bouquets of flowers. She could change one’s feeling about the way that something was, simply by how she arranged it. She really intrinsically knew what was art and what wasn’t.
Charles and Ray together were one individual with two different special areas. It was what they created together which was so extraordinary. Truly the image of them as a solid work was the greatest work created.
Where did the oneness begin to crack?
Success seemed to breed success as Charles and Ray went along. As Charles began having more communications with corporate chiefs who were giving him their design problems to solve, he also began to develop more of an interest in science. He was concerned that American children were falling behind Soviet and other children in their math and science abilities. During this time he began to make films to reach students and motivate them in that arena. The Powers of Ten was one of the studio’s most famous films. Another was Mathematica. IBM and other companies were turning to Charles and the studio to create films that humanized super computers and other mid-century technological inventions. As Charles journeyed deeper and deeper into this world, the pace of his steps was apparently beyond that of Ray’s who did not share his passion for science to that degree. She tried to continue to assist where she could, but became more marginalized and less indispensable to where business and life were taking Charles. She had a great deal of competition for the attention of her charismatic and driven husband. Apparently in tandem with this situation, her talents in color and design, coupled with a perfectionist tendency, became a burden to her. In this drift, Charles apparently fell in love with another woman who refused to marry him due to not wanting to hurt Ray.
Charles and Ray eventually healed their relationship, and then it was time to collaborate on the biggest Eames project of all, The World of Franklin and Jefferson, for the US Bicentennial. This mammoth project covered a lot of subjects and contained a great deal of text, way too much for the average person to digest, but to Charles, it was all of utmost importance. His mind could place all of these bits of information there. Whether or not one could accept or digest all of that was another matter.
His health began to deteriorate after this exhibition. He was wanting to travel and shoot photography. However, there was no successor to take over the operations of the company, so he was tied to that. He couldn’t simply shut it down. When he did pass away, the design community sensed that a big empty hole had developed due to the fact that he had been such a dominant force in that community, in fact existing as the most important individual in many people’s lives. Upon his death, Ray took over the management of Eames for a while, and succeeded in finding her voice in American design to the point where women began pointing to her.
As a signal of the depth of their love for each other through the public triumphs and private trials of their career, Ray, when she was nearing death, expressed a desire to die on the same date as Charles in order to fully experience oneness with him. Her very final statement was about being with Charles.
In considering the Eames’ and the picture their complementary lives and talents was to the world, the idea of the dance comes to mind. Marriage in many ways, is like a dance through what is conveyed to the world.
It is first a work of art – Few things inspire me as artistically as a couple who knows how to dance. There is something incredibly graceful when one sees a man who knows how to lead on the dance floor, and a lady who knows how to smoothly follow that lead. I remember years ago sitting in a ballroom in Vienna, watching some experienced couples dance to Strauss waltzes. While I view dancing as fun, I have never had the mentality to devote the time and detailed attention to become proficient with any form of it. That is why I enjoy watching people who really can glide across a floor and make it look so incredibly simple. There are of course some things to consider that go into making that one couple’s dance look so nice. (1) Are the man and the lady suitably matched on the dance floor? One party can be very capable and find it easy to step forward, backward, turn, rotate and perform numerous moves; the other really may not find it so easy to perform the same steps due to lack of coordination. Dancing is an art more than a sport, and not everyone looks excellent engaging in it. That is fine, as it can be a fun activity and oftentimes we just need to forget about ourselves and get out on the floor and move our heels. We just have to satisfy ourselves that we won’t be featured on “Dancing With The Stars” type shows. (2) Is the man leading? Some guys quite frankly simply do not like to dance and feel that they do so against their will. What transpires on the floor due to that fact is uninspiring and lacks spark. Couples on the dance floor where neither is leading don’t draw one’s eye. (3) Is the woman leading the man? Some have the attitude that this is acceptable assuming the woman is a really good dancer. If the guy will simply follow along, it may come off looking acceptable. I remember however, being on a church week in Colorado a number of years ago and being in a skit where different teams sent a couple to the front to compete for who the crowd thought were the best dancers. The woman I was with insisted on leading the dance, and it didn’t come off that well. There is something intrinsic in dancing that caters to men leading and ladies responding. (4) The pairs that are pleasurable to view are definitely the ones where the man leads the lady in the moves at a pace he has learned that she can handle, and in a way that she can respond to. He is confident in what he is doing, and she is trusting of his leadership because she knows he will not extend her out too far and will always be there to take hold of her hands at the right moment after a twirl. This is so important when a couple are performing advanced swing dancing moves that involve the man flipping the lady in the air. He has to know her exceptionally well as to her reflexes and she has to know him well enough to appreciate that he is not going to lead her beyond what he can extend himself. One can say that they obviously practice, practice, practice, and understand that the perfection that they view at the moment comes after hundreds upon hundreds of mistakes. At the same time it is quite something to view a couple on the dance floor who appear as if they are reading each other’s minds, and responding accordingly.
It is also an icon – When one visits a more ornate church, it is common to see icons at various places throughout the sanctuary. Let’s consider some definitions for icon. (1) a picture, image, or other representation. (2) sign or representation that stands for its object by virtue of a resemblance or analogy to it. (3) Semiotics . a sign or representation that stands for its object by virtue of a resemblance or analogy to it. (4) a person or thing regarded as a symbol of a belief, nation, community, or cultural movement. When a couple on the dance floor is really attuned to each other their movements become so smooth and sophisticated that they draw positive attention to themselves. The more they operate in this smooth and graceful manner in front of people who have observed them well over time, the more the observers can sit back and have an image of this couple come to mind as it relates to what is considered good dancing. This image gets reinforced with such frequency and intensity that the observer would almost be seeing the other couple dancing as he is envisioning himself as being more proficient on the floor. Olympic pairs figure skating is an example of grace where the really exemplary skaters practically become images as they glide along the ice. One example I will cite here is Russian figure skating champions Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov, who won virtually every competition they entered. They won the Olympics in both 1988 and in 1994. Tragically, Sergei Grinkov died suddenly of a heart attack on November 20, 1995 in Lake Placid, New York while rehearsing for a "Stars on Ice" tour. He was only twenty-eight years old at the time of his death.
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It is constructed as one piece – This right here may be the most critical element of all. Does the couple appear as one piece on the dance floor? Can you spot a gap or separation as you view them? Sometimes those gaps will be literal in nature. Sometimes they will simply be figurative. A trained eye who knows dance however, will be able to discern those gaps and the quality of that piece will be observed as less than stellar. Consider the idea of shopping for the perfect diamond. You should be concerned with clarity, cut, color and carat. The closer to the mark of perfection those qualities are, the higher their value will be. Consider that porcelain figurine that your mom or grandmother has in her living room collecting dust. Some of the best European craftsmanship was invested in creating these fine, delicate pieces. If they get dropped on the marble or hardwood floor, they break into an untold number of pieces and can never be reassembled exactly the same way again. Therefore they have reduced value. A couple that communicates well on the dance floor will gracefully glide along in a manner that will please the eyes much as a bottle of fine wine or the best cut of beef perfectly prepared does for the palate. It really does get down to the old adage, “You know it when you experience it, and know when other things just don’t measure up.”
Also, people move in tandem – When two individuals communicate with each other very well, they tend to appear as if they are moving in tandem with each other. That sense of being one piece, yet brimming with life, comes when the two individuals are both keenly aware of where the other individual is, and are adjusting their pace downward or upward to meet in the middle.
Missteps in Dance
At times however, the dances that seem to be going so well, break down or begin to look less polished to the keen observer. Perhaps the couple is just having a bad day, or one of them is ill. Whatever the cause, things tend to come across as problematic and the artistry of the dance breaks down.
One party goes too fast – Oftentimes this will be the guy. Men are the stronger physical vessels in life, and sometimes they can’t quite help themselves as they pursue new challenges in the world to keep themselves stimulated in one fashion or another. They might increase their pace to a level that is beyond the ability of the lady to follow. Sometimes that will lead to mishaps on the dance floor that a proficient couple would not normally experience on a day when they are more in tune with each other.
The other party does not follow the leader – Sometimes the man is leading in a move and the lady decides that she doesn’t want to follow where that movement is taking her, so she decides to not move along at the rate that the man is leading, or she subtly attempts to work against the dance moves of the man to a rhythm that she is more comfortable or familiar with. Comfort and familiarity are nice things in life, but they are not necessarily friends to a couple on the dance floor that is telling the world they wish exemplary status. Reaching exemplary demands pushing through fears, comfort with the familiar, and a host of other states so as to go where one has not traveled before. Exemplary can be exhilarating, but few couples on the dance floor reach that as they simply cannot invest the hard work that is demanded of them.
One or both parties let go – It is heartbreaking to watch a couple in competition that glides across the floor night after night with such incredible precision, break apart with one or both individuals landing on the floor. There is nothing graceful about that and the perfect score they were cultivating can be forgotten for that evening. They can both hopefully get back up and fit themselves together, but it will take a while for the bruises to heal and the mental and emotional trust of the injured party to be restored to a level where they are as free in their excellence in the dance as before.
Simple mistakes – Sometimes these are the simple result of one party forgetting a move, or being distracted about something. It is not borne out of trying to push the pace along, or of rebelling against a move. It is imply inattentiveness which leads to the sub-par performance.
Whether the location is a ballroom or a boardroom or the object a chair or an exhibition, a dance for a married couple is the way that they show their innermost selves to the world. Spoken or unspoken; acted out or suppressed, a couple’s movements will impact all around them, and craft a permanent story on the annals of humanity.
The Art of The Dance
Posted: August 1, 2012 by Chuck DeShazo
