Tom de Paor: On Hans Poelzig’s Grosses Schauspielhaus, Theater der Massen, Berlin, 1919

Tom de Paor

Tom de Paor (1967), On Hans Poelzig’s Grosses Stadspeilhaus, Grosses Schauspielhaus, Theater der Massen, Berlin, 1919, 2018. Cardboard and paper clip. DMC 3455.

The drawing is thinking, the same mark used over and over, up and down, hurdling scales quickly, the pulled edge of the sheet mimics the line.

There is one idea – on the right, closer up – a  study after or rehearsal for the three-quarter view bleached out from the left which comes quarried, convex from uneven ground to a concave entablature, to bow an attic, all fluted. A corner trifle of cartoon squinches to drip the interior perhaps?

It is the repeat that makes the cut of the space, a layered negative – the fillet of course helps to bend to circle and dome, milled to scallop shadow until surface transcends armature.

A print of the drawing sliced along these lines attempts a pop-up Poelzig. The cuts, with iteration, expand in scale and reduce in number as tabs for a roll of space (with  an arch to get in maybe) from a page much the same size as the original and a paperclip for tension and rhyme.