Credo

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Beauty | XIV 2012

LGt JournaL on weaLth cuLture

Beauty | XIV 2012

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CreditsPublisherh.S.h. Prince Philipp von und zu Liechtensteinchairman of the Board of trustees of LGt Group

Advisory boardthomas Piske, ceo Private Bankingnorbert Biedermann, ceo LGt Bank in Liechtenstein Ltd.hans roth, ceo LGt Bank (Switzerland) Ltd.

Editorial officeSidi Staub (executive editor)LGt Marketing & communications

LayoutLGt Marketing & communications

Design conceptthomas von ah, Zurich

Picture editor Lilo Killer, Zurich

TranslationSyntax translations Ltd., Zurich

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LithographerPrepair Druckvorstufen aG, Schaan

Picture creditsPages 10/11: Die Illustratoren.de/Jürgen willbarth (adapted from

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Contents | CRedo Xiv

Beauty 02

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Portrait | The beauty of lifeHow the blind music therapist Wolfgang Fasser opens up the world to disabled children.

Portfolio | The golden ratioWhoever seeks the key to beauty must know the number Phi.

Portfolio | Maserati 300SIn sixty years’ time, will we still restore our cars with so much love?

Portfolio | What is kitsch?An explanation why art liberates and kitsch sedates.

Interview | We love symmetry and proportionThe surprising findings on the topic of beauty by theevolutionary biologist Josef H. reichholf.

Report | The ideas factory What’s dreamt up at Central Saint Martins Collegecan change the world.

Essay | The beautiful game of BarçaAt last: a soccer team that plays beautifully, and yetstill wins.

Masterpieces | Venus in front of the mirrorA painting that itself observes the beholder.

Literary choice | The loss of beautyThis novel about a wild “amour fou” could only have been written by a Frenchman.

Carte Blanche | Music must be trueYou’ve heard it right: smooth and noise-free isn’t how music’s meant to be.

Editorial

CREDO | 01

Beauty is transient. Who could deny it? But beauty is also eternal – at least it

is when you free your perspective from the confines of the superficial. In this

regard, the life story of our cover personality is for me an exemplary case. The

blind music therapist Wolfgang Fasser is a man who touches other people,

heals them, encourages them, and makes them happy. He gives them a new

perspective on the beauty of life – one free of any hindrance, sickness or dis­

ability. In his person and in his work, timeless values become visible: values

such as generosity, tolerance, trust, empathy and humor.

In medieval philosophy, beauty was regarded as “the splendor of truth.” Ar­

tists sought out the beautiful and the true. Those were the days. It has been a

long while since external beauty was a dominant criterion for the quality of

art. On the contrary: the boundaries between the artistic and the artificial, the

inauthentic and even the kitschy have probably never been so slender as they

are today. But the search for truth, in art too, has lost nothing of its topicality.

And there has perhaps been no era in which all aspects of life have been aes­

theticized to such an extreme degree as in our own.

This edition of CREDO sheds light on different realms in which the concept of

beauty plays a role: in the visually perceptible, in the conceptual and intellec­

tual, in society, art, nature, philosophy, science and even in sport. I hope that

you will gain new, perhaps even surprising insights into the multiplicity of

forms in which beauty has been perceived in different cultures and at dif­

ferent times in history.

H.S.H. Prince Philipp von und zu Liechtenstein

Chairman of the Board of Trustees of LGT Group

Dear readers,

A Portrait of | Wolfgang Fasser

02 | CREDO

Text: Franziska Zydek | Photos: Romeo Polcan

Wolfgang Fasser is blind. He is a music therapist who

opens the doors of life to disabled children. An inspiring

story about hearing and seeing.

There was a key moment in the life of Wolfgang Fasser that

paved the way for everything after it. It happened on a Saturday

one autumn in the little Swiss town of Glarus. The bells began to

peal, so the local children knew that a wedding was taking place

in the church. As at every wedding, they knew they would be

showered with goodies afterwards. They ran to the church

square, where, in keeping with an old custom, the bride and

groom threw candies known locally as “firestones” among the

people who were there. “I could hear the candies pattering down

onto the ground around me and I watched how the other

The beauty of life

Animal sounds in the natural world play an important role

in music therapy.

CREDO | 00

children bent down after them. But I couldn’t see the candies as

they flew through the air,” remembers Wolfgang Fasser. “After

the square had emptied I was still standing there. I wasn’t in a

hurry. With my foot I carefully pushed aside the leaves under­

neath the chestnut tree in front of the church. And there lay the

“firestones” that had remained hidden from the others. In this

moment I realized with intense clarity that the course of my life

would differ from that of my school friends.”

Retinitis pigmentosa is a genetic disease that gradually robs

you of your sight. Of the five children born to the teacher Adolf

Fasser and his wife Johanna, three would go blind. Wolfgang lost

his sight at the age of 22, Bernhard at 28 and Christina at 38.

A wanderer between worlds“My life is geared not to the visible but to the invisible,” says

Wolfgang Fasser, who is now 57 years old. “It’s not my goal to live

like someone who can see. I want to be just how I am.” Early that

morning, he landed in Zurich after arriving back from Africa,

where he had spent two months in the highlands of the kingdom

of Lesotho, holding further training courses for physiotherapists

as he does every year. In the village of Thaba­Tseka, at an alti­

tude of 2500 meters, there is a little hospital where Wolfgang

Fasser volunteers as a therapist. He often travels for days on end

across impassable mountain terrain in order to visit and treat

the sick.

Wolfgang Fasser is a physiotherapist and a music therapist.

He commutes between Africa, Switzerland and Italy, between

poverty and prosperity, and between archaic, rural structures

and city life. “I am used to these contrasts and they don’t shock

me anymore,” he says. “Even though there are huge differences

A Portrait of | Wolfgang Fasser

04 | CREDO

between them, I have friends both here and there who are im­

portant to me, and in both places I meet people who touch me

deeply.”

In Switzerland, Wolfgang Fasser lives in the apartment of a

friend who is blind like him. He knows his surroundings. He boils

water, makes tea, sets the table. He exudes a deep sense of calm.

Pot, tea caddy, spoons: everything that he picks up he puts back

carefully in its proper place. If you can’t see, you have to have

order in your life so you can live independently.

The next day, Wolfgang Fasser will take the train to Florence

and from there will travel another forty miles to the distant

mountain village of Quorle. He has founded a charitable institu­

tion there too: “il Trillo”, a school for musical improvisation.

The magic of the moment“Nel giardino dei suoni”, in the garden of sounds, is the name of

a prize­winning film that shows how Wolfgang Fasser goes about

his work. The Italian­Swiss film maker Nicola Bellucci spent

many years filming this sensitive documentary. It shows how

children with physical and mental disabilities can acquire a con­

nection to the world with the help of music therapy. It shows the

astonishing variety of acoustic spaces through which Wolfgang

Fasser guides them. And it shows how their personalities can

develop through the interplay of sound and touch. The children

are at first locked up in a body that won’t listen to them, and

they have no means of expressing their inner life. But here they

discover their own unique potential and a joy in life.

In one scene of the film, Wolfgang Fasser can be seen on his

way through a forest one night with his dog and a tape machine.

With the help of music, sounds and touch…

CREDO | 05

He is going to record animal sounds. You can hear the hoarse

barking of a fox and the call of a deer – indefinable, mysterious

sounds. Shortly afterwards, the therapist plays these sounds to

a patient, a girl who can barely move and cannot speak. While

the tape is running, a small miracle happens: the child turns its

head in the direction of the sounds. She opens her eyes and ut­

ters a sound herself – a sound raw and archaic, like the cries of

the animals.

“I am trying to retrieve sunken treasure.”

“In this moment, Jenny felt that she was not alone,” says

Wolfgang Fasser. “She found an echo of her own voice in the

voices of the animals.” This sound experiment opened the door

to the world just a little for this child. The therapist is convinced

that “if you observe things very carefully, you can find a common

language even under the most difficult circumstances. It might be

a note, a touch, a laugh or a concert of birdsong. In that brief sec­

ond when the contact takes place, something mutual happens.

Like a little light that suddenly flares up and brightens the dark­

ness. Achieving this spark is to me a moment of great beauty.”

The chronological structure of the film lets us see how this

first moment of contact is followed by others. It shows how Wolf­

gang Fasser is unendingly calm and imaginative as he engages

with his patient, over and again, by means of sounds and games.

The sum of these encounters results in trust: a relationship is

founded. Jenny blossoms. She learns to walk and to use her

hands. In an unforgettable sequence, the girl looks into the cam­

era with bright eyes and says, with great difficulty but a sense of

triumph: “Now I’m also learning to speak!” The beauty of this

child’s happy face gets right under your skin.

“I am trying to retrieve sunken treasure,” says Wolfgang Fas­

ser. “It can take a long time, but the moment always comes when

you see the child and not the disability. That is the turning point!

After that comes happiness.”

The value of simple thingsWolfgang Fasser’s blindness has made him sensitive to every­

thing that is not obvious. Perhaps this explains his empathy

with other people. The absence of his sight is something that he

interprets as a call to use his remaining senses all the more inten­

sively. “Being blind allows me to perceive the world differently.”

His little house in Italy is small. The kitchen has a wooden

table, a stone sink, a large fireplace and an oven – all objects of a

world that is in easy reach. Next to the kitchen is the study, and

you reach the bedroom via steep wooden steps. “I am content

when I have little,” says Wolfgang Fasser. “I recognize the things

around me by touching them. I know their use and their value

for my everyday life. If I only possess a few things, I can love ev­

ery one of them. That makes them beautiful to me. A relation­

ship develops with them when I use them. And this personal

connection to them creates harmony. That’s how I can love

these things.”

It’s not just practical objects that Wolfgang Fasser has grown

to love. He offers examples of things of beauty that surround

him, and smiles as he does so: a root, a stone, a little bronze

statue, a horn that contains “medicine” against hailstorms – a

… the children find their way back into life.

gift from an African shaman. None of these things have any

practical use, but they are important to the soul, he says. Yet

even when it comes to things of beauty, it’s still important to

Wolfgang Fasser that they are a manageable quantity: “I can’t

perceive beauty in a multitude.”

The search for his own pathWolfgang Fasser’s childhood in the Swiss Canton of Glarus left a

deep impression on him. There the Alps surge straight up to­

wards the sky. Ten mountains, each of them over 3000 meters

high, surround the narrow valley and cast their mighty shadows

over it. Avalanches thunder down in the winter, and fast­flowing

streams rush by in summer. Young Wolfgang’s childhood dream

was to become a forest ranger in this wilderness. “It’s impossible

with your diagnosis,” said his implacable father. “He said no out

of love,” recalls Wolfgang Fasser. “But it still hurt.”

A Portrait of | Wolfgang Fasser

06 | CREDO

So what was he to do? He could still see, and blindness was

as yet the stuff of bad dreams at night. After leaving school he

trained first as a laboratory assistant and then as a baker. But

each time, his impending disability set a limit to his career ambi­

tions. “The turning point comes when you understand that it’s

not a defeat if you can’t do something,” says Wolfgang Fasser.

“You are not defined by your limitations. If you can accept that,

you’ve taken the first step on the right path.”

He decided to do a four­year training course as a physiother­

apist. He wrote his thesis just before he lost his sight. A few

days later he was blind. But this young therapist was highly sen­

sitive and talented, and his career took off. Soon he had built up

a physiotherapy department at a renowned Swiss clinic and hel­

ped to pave the way for new therapeutic techniques. He lived on

his own in his apartment, he was earning well and had a lovely

guide dog. “I was where I wanted to be, but I didn’t know any

more where to go because I had already arrived,” he recalls. At

the age of 30 he asked himself the question: “What am I really

here for?” Not long after, Wolfgang Fasser with backpack and his

dog were on a plane with a one­way ticket to Lesotho in south­

ern Africa. He had made a clear arrangement with the doctors’

organization for which he was to work. He wanted to be paid

enough for basic insurance, board and lodging, but he was ada­

mant that he shouldn’t be given a salary.

Wolfgang Fasser landed in the midst of nothing in the harsh,

windswept highlands of Lesotho. It was the poorest region of a

poverty­stricken country. And there, on the veranda of the hos­

pital of Thaba­Tseka, which was waiting room, transit camp and

meeting place all in one, he set up his therapist’s couch and star­

ted to work.

The beauty of hearingWolfgang Fasser moves through life with astonishing speed. As

soon as he knows where he wants to go, he seems to find his way

with unerring accuracy. This is true not just in an ideal, spiritual

sense, but also in thoroughly practical terms. He has learnt to

navigate the streets of Zurich, he wanders across the Lesotho

highlands and he will soon do the same through the forests of

the Toscana. “I never had the impression that I couldn’t see

anything, because – after all – I can hear”; this is his credo.

“But I didn’t know any morewhere to go.”

Wolfgang Fasser makes contact with his patients by means of touch.

CREDO | 07

His love of nature helps him to find his bearings. “Just like

when I was a child in the mountains, I pay attention to all the

sounds that surround me,” he explains. “I make a noise with my

stick and its echo is cast back to me by stones and house walls. I

register the sound of the wind whistling round a corner. I notice

that blackbirds are singing in a particular tree. This is how I save

a map of my surroundings in my memory, and it is made up of

the most varied noises and sounds.”

If you take up Wolfgang Fasser’s invitation to close your eyes

for a moment and concentrate in complete stillness on the acou­

stic markers of your environment, you will be surprised. There

are sounds that swell up and die away again, traces of noise,

scraps of conversations, fragments of music, the sounds of bells,

and birdcalls answered far in the distance. All these sounds are

on the move and form a confusing multiplicity of the most varied

acoustic signals. “The world of sound has its own landscapes,”

says Wolfgang Fasser with a smile. “In the same moment that the

eye loses its dominance, you can begin to listen. Over time, aural

pictures of incredible beauty are formed inside you.”

Following the call of lifeThe years in Africa have left their mark on Wolfgang Fasser. He

was touched deeply by his many encounters with people who

were for the most part incurably ill, yet still exuded so much

cheerfulness and a lust for life. He also changed as a physiother­

apist. In the little hospital of Thaba­Tseka, which lacked every­

thing that constitutes modern medicine in Switzerland, Wolf­

gang Fasser realized that the most important aspect of his work

is his proximity to the patient. He acquired a new perspective

from all that he experienced: “Healing is not the same as repair­

ing. It’s an act of unfolding human possibilities.”

Anna smiles: they find a common language without words.

08 | CREDO

Armed with this new knowledge, he returned to Switzerland.

But nothing would be the same again. After his deeply felt con­

tact with the simple life and the poverty of Lesotho, his everyday

life in Zurich seemed unbearable to him. “What’s most important

in the Western world are your salary, getting recognition and

your social position. What you earn determines the value of your

work,” he says. “In Africa it’s different. All that counts there is

that a patient suffers less.” Again Wolfgang Fasser asked himself

the question: “What am I here for?”

“All that counts there is that a patient suffers less.”

A letter from an Italian friend brought him the answer. “I’m

expecting you, and soon!” he wrote, short and sweet. To Wolf­

gang Fasser, these few words seemed like the call of life. He

packed his things, took his dog and moved to his friend’s home

region, to Quorle in the mountains of the Toscana. He felt at

home in this out­of­the­way area and worked here as a physio­

therapist for a minimum wage.

Music at last!In Africa he once had a dream. In one hand he was carrying a

black case in which there was a saxophone, and in the other he

held the leash of his dog. He had the dream a second time, but

this time the saxophone lay shining in a poorly lit rehearsal

room. Wolfgang Fasser finally learnt to play the instrument

when he was in Italy. He now felt that the time was ripe to ex­

pand his career into music. So he signed himself up for a four­

year part­time course in music therapy at the Pro Civitate Chris­

tiana in Assisi.

As if of their own accord, all the pieces in the jigsaw puzzle

of Wolfgang Fasser’s life came together to form a unified picture:

his experiences as a physiotherapist, his inner images from the

cosmos of sounds, his love of nature, his desire to give warmth

and love, his belief in the potential of human possibilities. Wolf­

gang Fasser founded his workshop for musical improvisation,

With help from his secretary, Wolfgang Fasser corrects tests by his students in Africa.

A Portrait of | Wolfgang Fasser

CREDO | 09

Franziska Zydek lives by the lake of Zurich and in the mountains of the Gri­

sons. She likes most of all to write about people and their path through life.

“il Trillo”, in 1999. Today he works with disabled children at the

school alongside two other experienced music therapists. “We

don’t ask for any wages, just a small contribution to our costs.

The therapy can often last for several years, and this means that

truly all parents can afford it,” says Wolfgang Fasser. Sponsors in

a support association pay the rent and heating costs.

Another dream has come true for Wolfgang Fasser: he is

mak ing music! Together with the Shalom Klezmer Quartet he

plays Jewish folk songs everywhere that people come together:

in theaters, in children’s homes, at weddings and at fairs. There

you’ll see Wolfgang Fasser with his saxophone, his red beret on

his head, standing among a crowd of happy people, playing to

raise the roof. And it’s a picture of great beauty.

Giving something back to society Wolfgang Fasser has founded two charitable institutions that are de­

signed to help other people free of charge. The association “il Trillo”

provides music therapy to disabled children in the mountain region of

the Toscana, and the “Lesotho Project” offers advanced training for

physiotherapists. For information on both projects, Wolfgang Fasser’s

books and other activities, see: www.wolfgangfasser.ch

Fraternità di Romena Wolfgang Fasser is the co­founder of a lay Christian movement whose

goals include offering individuals and families a place of quiet, away

from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Wolfgang Fasser is respon­

sible for the movement’s “house of quietness”: www.romena.it

“Nel giardino dei suoni” This film by Nicola Bellucci can be ordered on DVD at: info@wolfgang­

fasser.ch

Shalom Klezmer This quartet plays music that makes you want to tap your feet and that

warms your heart: www.shalom@klezmer.ch

Hearing, seeing, feeling: getting to know the world through sensory impressions.

Portfolio

10 | CREDO

Many people find sunflowers beautiful, and ancient temples

too. Scientific studies have shown that volunteers from dif­

ferent cultural backgrounds find the same faces attractive. Why

should that be? The quest for a formula for beauty is probably as

old as mankind itself. However, among the numerous attempts

at an explanation, one phenomenon keeps recurring: the golden

ratio. For the ancient Greeks, the geometric relationship called

the “divine proportion” – “proportio divina” – denoted the epit­

ome of aesthetics and harmony. The golden ratio occurs when a

line is divided into two parts in such a way that the smaller part

(a) is in the same proportion to the larger part (b) as the larger

is to the whole line (a+b), that is to say: a:b = b:(a+b).

This proportion, also described using the character Phi (Ф),

is to be found in the architecture of numerous temples from an­

cient times. The most well­known is the Parthenon temple on

the Acropolis in Athens. To this day we do not know whether the

proportions were selected intentionally or through an uncon­

scious perception of beauty. Certainly in later eras, there are

countless examples of the deliberate use of the golden ratio, in­

cluding the cathedrals of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence and

Notre Dame in Paris. Many artists have also used these propor­

tions as the basis for the composition of their paintings. This is

the case, for example, in the paintings of Leonardo da Vinci and

Albrecht Dürer. Even in photography, it is still used today as a

way of composing a pleasing picture.

It was recognized centuries ago that the golden ratio not

only forms the basis of artifacts created by man but is also a kind

of template for development in nature. At the beginning of the

13th century, an Italian mathematician proved, for example, that

the arrangement of petals on a flower follows a mathematical

pattern. Only later was it discovered that the Fibonacci numbers

that were named after him are strictly based on the principle of

the number Phi. Since then, the importance of the golden ratio

in other natural processes has been demonstrated. About 160

years ago, the scholar and writer Adolf Zeising devoted himself

to studying the proportions of the human body. He established

that the proportions of the golden ratio can be found in the ana­

tomy of the average person right down to the smallest details.

Since at least the 1990s, digital animations have repeatedly

proved that a face is perceived as more beautiful if it more close­

ly resembles the average face. Modern cosmetic surgery makes

use of this knowledge about the ideal proportions when recon­

structing certain parts of the body. Furthermore, since 1991, the

scientist Jean­Claude Perez has set himself the task of proving

that Fibonacci numbers are a structural element in man’s gene­

tic code.

The golden ratio in its purest form can be found in numerous

geometric shapes. Among polygons, the pentagram in particular

– the regular five­pointed star – has all its proportions based

directly on the golden ratio. This is one of the oldest symbols

used by man, whether for the drude’s (witch’s) cross in Goethe’s

The golden

ratio

a b

CREDO | 11

“Faust” or as a symbol on the flags of many countries. One of the

best­known formulas for representing the number Phi is quite

impressive even for non­mathematicians:

It is clear that the special role played by the golden ratio in

art, culture and science is absolutely fascinating. Nevertheless,

the golden ratio has never been recognized by modern scientists

as the formula for beauty. The reason is quite simple: the golden

ratio is not a universal formula and certainly not a guarantee of

beauty. From a strictly scientific point of view, that may well

make sense. At the same time, thinking about things in this way,

which is so typical of our times – always looking for concrete

numbers and not ideals – is to obscure your vision of the whole

truth. This is because it is not the specific dimensions that are

special about the proportion once described as divine. Rather, it

is the underlying principle that states that each section is in the

same ratio to the next largest section. So it is the consistent ar­

rangement of all the parts to make the whole that is the ideal ex­

pressed by the golden ratio in its purest form. Consideration of

the bigger picture as a law of nature: now that’s just beautiful!

Dr. Dr. Ruben Stelzner is a legal expert and dental practitioner. From an early

stage, he dedicated himself to researching beauty. When working for his

doctorate at the University of Witten/Herdecke, he studied the golden ratio

in great depth. For more information, see: www.golden­section.eu

Ф= +�1 +�1 +�1 +�1 ...+�1

Portfolio

Only 26 of them left the Maserati factory in Modena (Italy)

between 1955 and 1956. Four meters fifteen centimeters

long, some 780 kg light and with a top speed of 180 mph. Legend­

ary drivers such as Juan Manuel Fangio, Sterling Moss, Carroll

Shelby, Luigi Musso and Jean Behra drove to triumph in this car

at the Mille Miglia, at the Targa Florio and in Le Mans. Even to­

day its asymmetrical, aluminum body is breathtaking. It was de­

signed and constructed by Medardo Fantuzzi, who was also res­

ponsible for the Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa, and he gave it erotic

curves just like those of Sophia Loren in the movies of the day.

Right down to our own time, the Maserati 300S remains one of

the most beautiful racing cars ever made.

Of those 26 that were built, only a few have survived in their

original state. One of these – the one that used to belong to

Count Carlo Pottino from Palermo – has now been restored in

12 | CREDO

Beautiful and fast: ready to race again, thanks to passion and precision.

Maserati300S

Cologne, in a former engine house not far from the Deutz harbor.

And it’s all been done by a small workshop that has specialized

in restoring racing cars from the 1950s and ’60s. Here, cars are

not just “pimped up” but are allowed to remain authentic wit­

nesses of the pioneering days of the automobile. They should

not just land in a museum or in the exhibition hall of some pri­

vate collector. They should continue to write history and they

should race again – that would be their ultimate endurance test.

This is why the owner of the repair workshop is completely un­

compromising when it’s a matter of authenticity and quality: as

uncompromising as people only can be when they are driven by

passion.

Sidi Staub is the executive editor of CREDO.

CREDO | 13

Portfolio

14 | CREDO

What is

kitsch?

Kitsch is even more difficult to define than art. This is be­

cause it is a concept that describes not just aesthetic phe­

nomena but also emotions and modes of behavior that really be­

long in the realm of ethics. Typical characteristics of kitsch are a

treacly sentimentality, a tendency to sugarcoating, infantilism

and a false pathos. All these have one thing in common: people

sensitive to kitsch find them fake. If we place the false childlike­

ness of the garden gnome at one end of a sliding scale and the

hollow pathos of Kaiser Wilhelm II’s public monuments at the

other, we can easily situate commonplace kitsch between these

two poles. Kitsch ranges from the cutely sentimental to the child­

ish, the homely and the nature­loving and thence to an aestheti­

cized pseudo­beauty; from there in turn we move into erotic,

religious and patriotic kitsch, and finally to a kitsch of the sub­

lime that urges us to bow down in reverence before it. The left

hand of the scale, to put it in crude terms, could be called

schmaltzy kitsch, whereas the right­hand side displays a rising

tendency towards the bombastic. A glance at cultural history

shows that kitsch has by no means always existed. We find

nothing comparable in either Antiquity or in the Middle Ages.

Elements typical of kitsch emerge in art only in the modern pe­

riod. Whereas Raphael’s Madonnas and his angels are generally

still regarded as possessing authenticity, Guido Reni’s female

martyrs, casting their languishing gaze towards the heavens, al­

ready possess for the critical observer a hint of kitschy senti­

mentality. The Rococo then brought the kitsch of the cute, while

the Romantics let loose the kitsch of nature. In the 19th century,

the whole of culture became in the end so swamped with kitsch

that the great works of art stand out like islands amongst it.

The sentimental kitsch of the child, the home and of nature

endeavors to convey a sense of comfort and security, whereas

bombastic, pseudo­sublime kitsch satisfies a longing for unques­

tioned authority. Both types appeal to those who have lost what

that kitsch purports to represent. Until the Middle Ages, man

was bound within a vertical societal order that was so firmly en­

trenched that greater comfort and a yet higher authority could

be anticipated only in the beyond: in the Garden of Eden, to

which one hoped to return by submitting to the authority of

God. The rise of the bourgeoisie from the end of the Middle

Sent

imen

tal,

cute

kits

ch

SCHM

ALTZ

Y KI

TSCH

Child

ish, h

omel

y, na

tura

l kits

ch

Feelings of comfort

CREDO | 15

Ages onwards, coupled with an increasing trend towards secu­

larization, brought about a greater leveling off in society. In its

wake there emerged a sense of rootlessness and of alienation

from the here­and­now that has become an integral aspect of

modern existence.

Kitsch satisfies our increasing desire for surrogates of what

we have lost. This is its fundamental difference to art. Art also

satisfies a general human yearning, namely a yearning for plea­

sure in perception and sensation. But unlike kitsch, art remains

within the realm of the aesthetic. It does not “satiate” us but

makes its impact through formal design, by stilling the pleasure

of expectation (in the visual arts) and by ritualizing the plea­

sure of satisfaction (in music and poetry). A beautifully painted

still life attracts us without our wanting to eat its fruit; and an

aria laden with emotion or a furious finale satisfies without

satiating – otherwise the enthusiastic listeners would not cry

“Encore!” Immanuel Kant once described this separation of the

physiological pleasure of desire from purely aesthetic delight as

“disinterested pleasure.”

Art is liberating: kitsch, however, sedates and acts like a

drug. We see it in a crass form in National Socialism, in which the

nationalistic cult of blood­and­soil offered a pretense of comfort

and security, and in which the Nuremberg Rallies with the bom­

bastic, kitschy, pseudo­sublimity of their “cathedrals of light”

and massed marches served to satisfy a yearning for authority.

The great mass of kitsch might be harmless, but man’s wide­

spread receptivity to the promises of a false Eden still makes it

a latent danger.

Hans­Dieter Gelfert was professor for English literature and culture at the

Free University of Berlin until his retirement in 2000. Besides books on Eng­

lish and American literature, on the English, American and German mentality

and humor, he has written the books “Was ist Kitsch?” (What is Kitsch?)

(2000) and “Im Garten der Kunst. Versuch einer empirischen Ästhetik” (In

the Garden of Art. An essay on empirical aesthetics) (1998).

BOM

BAST

Aest

hetic

izing

, “be

autif

ul”

kits

ch

Erot

ic an

d re

ligio

us k

itsch

Yearning for authority

Awe­

insp

iring

, pse

udo­

subl

ime

kits

ch

In conversation with | Josef H. Reichholf

Being beautiful is important, for both man and animals.

In his book “The Origin of Beauty”, the zoologist and

evolutionary biologist Josef H. Reichholf explains why

this is so.

CREDO: Why has an evolutionary biologist written a book

about beauty?

Josef H. Reichholf: Thinking about beauty is an important part

of my professional work as a biologist. Questions inevitably arise

about where beauty comes from, what purposes it fulfills and

whether or not this comes into conflict with the Darwinian the­

ory of functional advantage in nature. I have been interested in

this for years, if not decades. The result is this book.

What makes us as humans think that something is beautiful?

The basis on which we assess beauty is the predominance of

symmetry and proportion, which may or may not be immediate­

ly apparent. As humans, we note, for every animal, every human

we encounter, whether the proportions – size of the head and

body, length of the arms and legs – are well balanced. If

someone’s arms are far too long, which only happens in a very

few people, we notice it immediately. If the legs are not exactly

in proportion, the person concerned is obliged to limp. Even

though a difference of one centimeter in the length of the legs is,

in itself, trivial, we can see from quite a distance if someone is

limping. We automatically observe whether the proportions are

right, and instinctively reject that which is out of proportion. If a

tulip flower has two longer petals, we notice that immediately,

regardless of whether it serves any purpose or not. This judg­

ment takes place entirely subconsciously, enabling us to distin­

guish in an instant, and without thinking about it, between the

normal – which generally equates to the beautiful and the good

– and the aberrant or deviant.

16 | CREDO

We love symmetry and proportionInterview: Manfred Schiefer

Josef H. Reichholf’s book investigates beauty in evolution.

CREDO | 00

In conversation with | Josef H. Reichholf

18 | CREDO

The different perceptions of man and animals A magnificent, symmetrical set of antlers impresses female deer as much as it does humans. However, contrary to a common misconception, the antlers are

not the most important criterion when a doe is selecting a mate. Far more critical is the sound of the stag roaring. If that is deep and powerful enough, the

doe will select a partner even if he has smaller or less regular antlers. Hunters, on the other hand, decide for quite different reasons: for them the antlers are

definitely the main selection criterion.

Can symmetry also be a criterion for assessing beauty

beyond the animal and plant kingdom?

Symmetry and proportion provide a simple but very reliable ref­

erence system. Whether you look at classical statues, buildings

such as the Taj Mahal and Cologne Cathedral, or even modern

edifices, you will find symmetry and harmony everywhere – in

complex or more simple form. Even the Leaning Tower of Pisa

is, as a tower, symmetrical in construction. The simpler a struc­

ture is, the easier we find it to understand. The appearance of a

pyramid is immediately impressive because it is the perfect ex ­

pression of pure symmetry. And diamonds, for us the most de sir­

able gemstone of all, have one of the simplest crystal structures.

What is the function of beauty in animals?

Beauty generally indicates that the animal’s development – from

the egg to the way it is now – however long that may have taken,

has proceeded normally. If every peacock’s feather has an eye

and the feathers are all the same length, then when the male

spreads his tail, the hen can see straightaway that this is a

healthy bird. The female decides at a glance whether the male is

a suitable mating partner. If the answer is yes, she tests him

further. The peacock, for example, will then demonstrate his fit­

ness by displaying his splendid plumage for as long as possible,

rattling his feathers forcefully – the longer he can do this for, the

stronger he is, and so the more interesting he is to the female.

What other forms of beauty are important in the animal

world?

In those birds that do not have the fine plumage of ducks or

birds of paradise, it is usually the song that is the selection crite­

rion. But here again, it is not only the beauty of the performance

that counts. The females are interested in how long the male can

sing for. That shows how strong he will be when it comes to the

tireless work of finding food for their young. So it is not only the

beauty of the song that is judged but also the stamina associated

with it. The females only use beauty to make their initial, rough

selection.

But there are some animals that we consider to have irregu­

lar proportions and that, in our eyes, are not at all beautiful.

Yes, there are. In deep sea fish, for example, the head is far too

large in proportion to the rest of the body. There is a functional

reason for that: because it’s always dark down there and there

isn’t much food, they have to have huge feelers for catching the

occasional prey that comes along. Sand puppies too, the hair­

less, mole­like creatures that live underground, seem ugly to us.

In their own habitat, however, external beauty counts for

nothing, since nobody sees them, not even members of their

own species. In functional terms, though, deep sea fish and sand

puppies are perfectly equipped for survival. These examples

show, firstly, that some species have far less scope for making

the best of their external appearance than man or birds. Second­

ly, they also teach us that we are very prone to considering other

forms of life from our own point of view and judging them accor­

dingly.

Even in the animal kingdom, beauty, in the sense of symme­

try and proportionality, is not the only criterion for select­

ing a mate. Shouldn’t we talk about attractiveness rather

than beauty?

Beauty can be measured relatively objectively. The plumage of

birds is a good example of how we, as impartial observers, can

see how such a gorgeous appearance would be effective. Nowa­

days we can use the methods of molecular genetics to analyze in

detail how particular females make their selections, how often

infidelities occur and so on. So we know how urgent or compel­

ling the effect of the male’s external appearance is for the fe­

male, or how it may be only a contributing factor. To that extent,

beauty is a concept that is easy to define objectively, so it lends

itself more to scientific analysis. Attractiveness, on the other

hand, is a far more personal matter. Something that is really at­

tractive to one person may be very off­putting for another.

To take an easy example from the animal world: it is hard to get

excited about slugs. However, if you study their lives in depth,

they can be very attractive from a scientific point of view. But I

doubt if even the most committed slug researcher would expect

the average man on the street to find these creatures attractive.

With human beings, things are even more complicated than

most people realize – because our nose and ears also play a part.

Once again, it is useful to compare birds with humans. If voices

are at the same pitch, we find the one that is speaking our lan­

guage more attractive. When it comes to smells, we find things

rather difficult. Modern odor research shows that we follow a

principle that is summed up well by the colloquial expression

“He just gets up my nose.” It is something that we are not con­

scious of, but it contributes to the complex picture of attractive­

ness. So, attractiveness is far more multilayered and dependent

on an individual’s point of view, hearing and sense of smell.

Beauty, on the other hand, can be assessed visually, or acousti­

cally in terms of consonance and dissonance.

Unlike with many animals, where the male is the more mag­

nificent, in humans it is women who are regarded as “the

fair sex.” Why is that?

In evolution, it is always a question of the relationship between

the genders. Among mammals, the females always seek out the

CREDO | 19

In conversation with | Josef H. Reichholf

Beauty and evolutionThe British naturalist Charles Darwin regarded beauty in the animal kingdom as an unsolved problem: it contradicted his understanding of the pure function­

ality of natural processes intended to ensure survival. Later scientists explained away beauty as a handicap for animals. If the magnificent plumage makes

life more difficult for birds, because it makes them more obvious to predators or – as in the case of the peacock – even puts them at a disadvantage, then

that was supposed to be a signal to the female: if they can survive in spite of these disadvantages, then they must be strong and healthy. Josef H. Reichholf

was the first to recognize the function of beauty in the animal world. In his book “The Origin of Beauty,” he shows how the peacock’s splendid plumage

also provides protection against predators, for example, that spreading the tail deters attackers from behind. They are unable to see the bird’s body and so

would miss it if they attacked. And even when it is not raised, the peacock’s long tail protects him: if he is attacked, he can drop his feathers in a “fright

molt” and fly off without the troublesome burden – and the enemy is left with a heap of beautiful but useless feathers.

20 | CREDO

fittest males, because that increases the chances of survival for

their young. In primitive human societies, such as among the

Pap uan tribes of New Guinea, it was just the same. In societies

where there is an uneven distribution of rich and poor people,

this relationship has been reversed. There are relatively few

men in attractive jobs or with considerable assets – formerly no­

blemen owning land, or rich merchants, nowadays company ow­

ners and senior executives – and lots of women seeking the best

conditions for their children. This means that, in the complex

world of humans, the women compete for the men. This compe­

tition is subtle yet purposeful. It happens on a far wider scale

than may normally appear to be the case. If a woman seeks to

dress herself as distinctively as possible, in biological terms that

is a reflection of the keen competition between women.

If beauty is also one of the criteria in selecting a partner for

humans, why haven’t we, in the course of evolution, come to

resemble a common ideal of beauty – like birds of paradise

or peacocks?

It is not the most beautiful people who have the most children.

The highest number of surviving children is more likely to be

found near the middle of the spectrum of variation. Biologically

speaking, reproduction always results in a deviation away from

the ideal form. Unlike with animals, it is not possible to breed

the ideal form of human being. That is a good thing, because

otherwise the immune system would become standardized,

which would lower resistance to disease and lead to genetic de­

ficiencies. Variation keeps the immune system healthy. That is

why striving toward the common idea of beauty is a good thing,

but at the same time it is important to keep a certain distance

away from what might be regarded as perfection. The more the

gene pool is mixed up, the less the vulnerability to disease.

So why does evolution require beauty if it’s all about genetic

diversity?

We humans also use beauty in our preselection. That’s why we

decide quite spontaneously whether we like someone’s hair or

skin or not. And red lips, for example, indicate that the body has

developed normally. Beauty is, really, the yardstick for every

living being.

So is there a biological reason why the ideal of beauty should

change over time?

The ideal of beauty has not changed so very much. The differen­

ces in body shape and proportions between past times and our

own are relatively slight. In modern times, when plenty of food

is guaranteed, the ideal of thinness may be particularly prized.

That dates back to our origins as hunter­gatherers. The nomadic

lifestyle demanded proportions similar to today’s concept of

perfect beauty. In the late Middle Ages or early modern age, a

plumper body was a kind of insurance against infection and bas­

ic illnesses that quickly wiped out the undernourished. A fuller

body shape indicated to the potential marriage candidate that

you were healthy with reserves of strength. The Greek ideal of

beauty – the youthful athlete – is also widespread in Africa, the

jungles of South America and in South­East Asia. Universally,

proportionality is the key factor in assessing beauty. Variations

are permitted, but they depend on the time and the situation.

Has your own attitude to beauty changed as a result of your

work on the book?

I have become aware of a great deal through it. Because I now

know the background reasons, I am able to explain certain reac­

tions in myself and others: for example, if I spontaneously like

something, or if it takes an effort for me to behave normally with

disabled people. We do not warm to them simply through “good

will” but as a result of active humanity.

The fact that I have been interested in all kinds of life forms

since my earliest childhood has, of course, helped me in my

work as a zoologist. This is because if you don’t only study beau­

tiful birds, but also the generally unloved creepy­crawlies and

creatures like sand puppies and warthogs, it automatically broad­

ens your assessment criteria. Also, looking at them through the

microscope often reveals really beautiful shapes that you simply

can’t see with the naked eye. This shows that there is far more

of the basic structures of symmetry and proportion, that is to

say beauty, in life forms than we realize. When you study animals

and plants, you learn that you should not be too one­sided in

only looking at them with human eyes.

CREDO | 21

Prof. Dr. Josef H. Reichholf is an evolutionary biologist, zoologist and ecol­

ogist. He was Head of the Vertebrates Department of the Bavarian State

Collection of Zoology in Munich, and has taught at both Munich universities.

In 2007, he was awarded the “Sigmund Freud Prize for Scientific Prose” by

the German Academy for Language and Poetry for his accessible writings on

ecology. According to the 2009 Cicero rankings, Josef H. Reichholf is one of

the forty leading natural scientists in Germany.

Report | Central Saint Martins College

22 | CREDO

Text: Sacha Batthyany | Photos: Mischa Haller

In the world-famous Central Saint Martins College of Art

and Design in London, the focus is not just on beauty but

above all on our lives, our fears, dreams and instincts.

It isn’t difficult to find the new home of Central Saint Martins

College in London. You need neither a map nor a GPS, you don’t

have to ask for directions from passers­by and you don’t even

need the address. You just have to wait in front of King’s Cross

Station until you see the students with the craziest hairstyles,

and then follow them discreetly. There are the Asian girls with

their canary­yellow leggings and their coats in fir­tree green,

then the Indians wrapped up in gaudy scarves carrying artwork

portfolios as big as windscreens. They are your guides. And five

minutes later, after having passed cranes and excavators, you’re

standing at the imposing entrance of this world­famous college

that has brought forth artists such as Lucian Freud, singers such

as Sade and actors such as Colin Firth. It has trained fashion de­

signers including Alexander McQueen, Phoebe Philo and Stella

McCartney and inventors such as the vacuum­cleaner manufac­

turer and billionaire James Dyson. “What is dreamt up here,”

says the lecturer Nick Rhodes a few hours later, “changes the

world.” And he is not exaggerating.

“What is dreamt up herechanges the world.”

Everything is still a little unfamiliar. The place smells of

paint and a few technicians are laying a cable. It was only last

The ideas factory

CREDO | 23

The ideas factoryLight, glass and transparence in abundance – the imposing entrance hall of Central Saint Martins. A perfect blend of old brick walls and the most modern industrial architecture.

October that this 40 000 m2 building was inaugurated. Here,

old brick walls from the 19th century are combined with the

most modern industrial architecture, built by the London ar­

chitects Stanton Williams. Before, the different departments

were dotted across the whole city, but now they are united un­

der a single roof. Here, 4500 students from sixty countries stu­

dy fashion, architecture, drama, industrial design, graphic de­

sign and much more besides. From ashtrays to evening dresses,

from the design of a new cell phone to experimental film

scripts: new things are being created here every day – sket­

ches, drafts, projects. Some things are just pipe dreams, other

things land straight in the trash. But time and again, one or

another student succeeds in awakening the interest of an out­

side company. Central Saint Martins is a factory of new ideas.

And by bringing together all its fields of study in a single build­

ing, the Head of College, Jane Rapley, hopes that it will genera­

te “yet more innovation, yet more provocation, new collabora­

tions, new paradigms, new paths.” It’s not just the college

building that is new, for the whole area around King’s Cross is

changing. Just a few months ago it was a wasteland the size of

thirty soccer fields. The rain was dripping through the roofs of

run­down factory buildings and there were illegal clubs where

a few insatiable techno freaks would meet in secret. Otherwise

there was nothing except for a third­rate go­cart track. But

now there are cranes everywhere. New office buildings are

springing up, as are new dormitories for students and a new

square right in front of Central Saint Martins. “This should all

be finished in the summer, right on time for the Olympics,”

says Ricky, one of the construction workers who every morning

watches the students pass by on their way to college, all

dressed up. “Are they really the same as they look?” he asks.

“Or are they quite normal?”

A place of creative cooperationJonathan Barratt, Dean of the School of Graphics and Indus­

trial Design, shows us through the four­story building. We pass

the beautiful library where not just art books and all editions of

Vogue are on display but also different kinds of materials: rub­

ber, aluminum, plastic – because the students also have to know

their way around the materials they work with. “We didn’t want

a skyscraper,” says Barratt, “because studies have shown that

people interact less in high­rise buildings than they do in low­

rise structures. People don’t like walking up and down.” Every­

thing in this new building is open: there’s plenty of light, plenty

of space, plenty of glass; and in­between, time and again, there

are the rust­brown brick walls of the former granary. Their

patina shines back into the rooms and lends them a quite singu­

lar sense of warmth. Wherever you go, students are standing in

little groups and discussing their next creations. That reminds

one of Steve Jobs’s mantra that the best ideas aren’t born in

classrooms or at lonely office desks, but in the cafeteria, in the

elevator or in the car park. In his biography of the late co­found er

of Apple, Walter Isaacson writes that Jobs had his company build­

ings constructed so that his employees would meet by chance as

much as possible in order to exchange ideas. Steve Jobs would

have loved the new building of Central Saint Martins.

There’s a smell of glue and wood just like in a workshop, yet

there are books everywhere. It is this combination of handicraft

and intellect, of manual abilities and analytical capability that

makes this college so unique. Barratt says: “We place a lot of

val ue on research. Before our students attempt a new object,

wheth er it’s a handbag or a chair, we tell them that they have to

go out and be inquisitive, observe people, see how they live, how

they eat, how they move. They should act like explorers and

make sketches and photos. They should note down their rituals

and ask questions.”

Indeed, regardless of their chosen subject, all the students

have tales to tell of their research out in the field. Most of them

here are very self­confident and you notice quickly that they are

Report | Central Saint Martins College

24 | CREDO

Top: The Stella McCartneys and James Dysons of tomorrow study here today.Right: The canteen offers global cuisine: sushi, curry, vegetable soup.

CREDO | 25

used to expressing themselves. Their heads are full of plans and

they have their lives ahead of them. One of them has spent days

in the subway, observing everything that people do with their

cell phones in places where there is no reception (women use

them as a mirror, while some men use them to scratch their

backs). Another spent some time living like an ethnologist with

a Swiss alpine farmer. He wanted to learn about the lonely, rough

life in the Alps in order to transfer his knowledge to the urban

context of London. All these research travels are based on an

endeavor to study human behavior, “how people interact with

one another and with objects.” “Because human beings,” says

Barratt, a tall man with a high forehead, “are always at the heart

of what we do. A good designer is someone who understands

people.”

“We place a lot of value on research.”

Barratt drinks coffee from a cardboard cup, sitting at one of

the long wooden tables in the canteen. Central Saint Martins has

a different motto from other colleges, he says: “Every student

has to specialize. They have to become an expert in a particular

field. Only then do they have to acquire knowledge in other ar­

eas.” For that is precisely what is in demand today: specialists

who think laterally and connect subjects with one another. “We

have a project in Seoul. We have been given the task of opening

up the city to tourists. We have to tell new stories, we have to

rethink a city that has in large part been formed by industry. For

this we need an international team of creative architects, city

planners, filmmakers, graphic designers. You’ll never find all of

them as easily as you will at our college.”

Beauty as a social categoryThis multiplicity of cultures is for Simon Fraser also one of

the secrets of the success of Central Saint Martins. Fraser

teaches furniture and jewelry design. “When I stood before the

students for the first time,” he says, “I saw people from thirty

Jerry Chai combines the old with the new. “I want to strengthen our Chinese heritage.”

Chinese wine cup“I come from China, a country that is currently undergoing massive social

transformation. In the last forty years, an incredible amount of things have

happened there. When measured against their parents, many people have

achieved a state of relative prosperity. An upper middle class has evolved.

For the first time in the history of this country, a large number of people

have a lot of choice and can determine their own lives. But precisely be­

cause this development has come so quickly, people copy the Western life­

style today. Everything that comes from the West is admired, while Chinese

traditions get left behind. My project tries to make people aware of this im­

balance and to point in a new direction by combining the old with the new.

In China, it’s part of the new zeitgeist to drink wine – that’s also something

that we have learnt by watching the Europeans. Most people use wine glas­

ses such as we know in the West. They fill them to the brim, often with

Chinese schnapps, and this frequently leads to binge drinking, especially

among men. With my wine cups, I am reacting against this bad habit by

returning to traditional Chinese forms. I want to strengthen our Chinese

heritage, hence the rather classical Chinese design. Furthermore, I have

de signed the cup so that you drink less quickly from it – and you can’t

pour yourself as much. My cup is also meant to improve the health of

Chinese men.”

Report | Central Saint Martins College

26 | CREDO

Sam Rowe, the inventor of a vending machine for the homeless: “Here you can find everything from a toothbrush to a blanket.”

A vending machine for those tired of giving“My object revolves around the topic of homelessness and the question of

how we deal with the homeless themselves. Right now, during the crisis,

such questions are acute. In my analyses and research, I quickly found out

that many people are concerned about the wellbeing of homeless people

and want to do good, but they don’t know how. Giving money is something

that many find unpleasant or pointless. They are often of the opinion that

homeless people would use it for alcohol or drugs. I have designed a ven­

ding machine that addresses this discomfort and these prejudices. On the

outside it reminds you of one of those snack machines that normally stand

at airports and in railway stations. But it is more than a product. It is a kind

of design intervention, a tool that in a very urbane manner engages with

one of the important questions of our time. I am negotiating with a certain

restaurant chain. The idea is that its loyal customers will be given a voucher

after eating there several times.

This then allows them to support

homeless people. With such a

voucher, a homeless person can

choose from various products in

one of my machines: from a tooth­

brush to a blanket or socks, there

is much to be found here that can

make life on the streets a little

more bearable. My machines com­

bat the aid fatigue of the public

and help those on the edges of

society to reintegrate into it. I

call that killing two birds with

one stone.”

CREDO | 27

Whether it’s designs for tableware or jewelry: it’s the combination of craftsmanship and intellect that makes this college unique.

different countries. This intense concentration of knowledge is

incredible.” To this day he is still amazed at how many ideas are

created in these rooms every year. “Whoever thinks that all we

do is design a few nice chairs and clothes has no idea about de­

sign and no idea about this college.” The concept of “beauty” is

hardly mentioned in his teaching, because that’s not what it is

about, at least not in the sense of beauty as an aesthetic cate­

gory. “After all, what is beautiful? What is ugly? A man from

China would answer that quite differently from an Indian

woman.” It existed in the past, he says, this notion of universal

beauty to which everything had to be subjugated. “But this view

is completely outdated, totally one­sided, and in the end it’s also

boring.” And yet, Fraser says, there is such a thing as beautiful

furniture, beautiful earrings, beautiful bags. Only this beauty is

created from different factors, from the material to its scent and

the way it’s used. “Something is beautiful if we feel comfortable

with it. Yes, that’s how you could express it: Good design makes

you happy.”

It is not about beauty, or at least not exclusively, says Nick

Rhodes. “It’s about our lives, our fears, dreams and instincts.”

Rhodes is the Course Leader in Industrial Design. A bicycle does

not interest him, for example, if it just looks good. “It’s about the

story behind it.” And it’s about who it is meant for. “Am I making

a bicycle for fathers of families in Copenhagen? Or for tattooed

ghetto kids in L.A.?” Only when something fulfills its purpose,

“when it’s right in itself,” does it become beautiful. He shows a

model by one of his students. The task was to develop a tele­

phone for a luxury company. “The basic idea of this model is that

true luxury is about omission, limitation, simplicity. If someone

has everything in life, then he won’t need twenty buttons and

hundreds of apps, but the opposite.” He shows us a cell phone

that comprises only a frame. There is no firm block to hold, but

just a tiny battery and hardly any buttons. Good design, he says,

respects the needs of a society that is in a constant state of flux.

“Because human beings are always at the heart of what we do.”

Nor does Rhodes tire of insisting how much he is always con­

cerned about the interaction between the object and the human

being, and how this applies to all objects. Marco Monterzino, an

Italian student of his, had the task of producing a cigarette light­

er for a highly exclusive company. “I searched for ideas for a

long time, I played with forms and tried out luxury materials.

Then one day I saw how a man gave a light to a woman he did

not know. There was a gust of wind, they came closer for a mo­

ment and her hands touched his. That’s when I had my inspira­

tion.” He recognized that the beauty lay in the act of giving fire,

so he conceived a model that stressed this interplay between

two strangers. “I realized,” says Monterzino, “that giving the

light was at the core of it all, not the lighter itself.” Rhodes nods.

It’s stories like these that the teachers of Central Saint Martins

want to hear from their students. Here, seemingly small things

are created – like lighters, new glasses, or new lamps. But they

have the potential to change our lives.

Report | Central Saint Martins College

28 | CREDO

Sacha Batthyany is the editor of DAS MAGAZIN, the weekend supplement of

the newspaper Zürcher Tagesanzeiger, the Basler Zeitung, the Berner

Zeitung and Der Bund.

Bottom: Besides the most varied materials, from rubber to plastic and aluminum, the library also holds a complete series of English Vogue.Right: This is no skyscraper, but four floors of innovation, provocation, new paradigms and new paths.

CREDO | 29

Fashion from quilts“When I tell strangers that I am studying fashion design at Central Saint Martins,

most of them probably think I’m a fashion freak who likes to go shopping and browse

for hours in Vogue. But the opposite is the case. All of us who study here work hard.

In the weeks before a presentation, we even work round the clock. Hunting through

clothes shops bores me. I seek my inspiration elsewhere; I read a lot, observe people,

travel to foreign countries. Because that is what it’s all about at this college: you have

to have ideas and find your own, very personal way of putting them into practice.

Research is essential, not the look. We worked with an initiative called Racing for

Change, which is responsible for promoting the sport of horseracing, and had to

design elegant clothes, like those worn at Ascot.

I went around stud farms, making photos of the

stables, talking with horse owners, and at some

point these typical quilts caught my attention

that are jammed under the saddle of horses. And

I knew: this is how my dress should be. I like this

material, its robustness. There is something

craftsmanlike about it – that suits me. I could

imagine working as a costume designer at an

opera house when I’ve finished college. We’ll

see. It often happens that we have to design

clothes for companies. Then there are little competitions among the students to see

whose sketch comes out on top. The next project is with Louis Vuitton to design a

handbag and the winner may get a placing as an intern. Of course we’re all excited.

I mean, Louis Vuitton: naturally, everyone wants that.”

Daisy May Collingridge, fashion design student: “I don’t like going shopping. I seek my inspiration elsewhere.”

Essay | FC Barcelona

The Camp Nou is an austere concrete bowl situated in the

west of Barcelona, on the Avinguda Diagonal, a thorough­

fare that joins the city highway shortly after passing the stadium.

Access to the stands is via drafty gray walkways and winding

staircases. Unless the plans of British architect Sir Norman Fos­

ter to completely remodel the stadium, incorporating an outer

skin made of carbon and glass in the colors of Catalonia and a

new roof to cover all of the seats, are actually realized at some

stage, visitors to the Camp Nou will have to forego the comfort

and convenience of more contemporary stadiums.

Yet for Barcelona fans, the fact that the spectator area fails

to match up to the quality of the performances on the stage

below, is immaterial. Here, they stream into the ground with a

sense of anticipation more akin to a visit to the opera than to a

soccer stadium. The fans are not loud, only breaking into song

when the club’s anthem rings out of the loudspeakers. Nor is it

their manner to scream their team on to victory. Only that which

this particular team’s fan base would contemplate excites the

Barça culés: can Lionel Messi and Xavi, Cesc Fàbregas and And­

rés Iniesta recreate the beauty that will leave us amazed and ex­

ulted? Will they manage to pull off a move that will stun even the

most experienced of opponents?

The poetic nature of artistry with the ballWith the aim of the game being victory and not aesthetics, beau­

ty in this sport counts for nothing. In soccer, playing beautifully

and not winning amounts to dying a beautiful death. Beauty,

however, runs right through FC Barcelona. Since 2006, the club

has won three Champions League titles, three FIFA World Club

Cup titles, two UEFA Super Cup titles, four Spanish national

league championships, one Spanish Cup and four Spanish Super

Cup titles. In 2009, the club won all six of the competitions in

which it participated, an unprecedented achievement in the his­

tory of the game.

No side has ever played such beautiful soccer either. The

manner in which coach “Pep” Guardiola’s team plays the game

combines the poetic nature of artistry on the ball with the athlet­

icism of high­tempo soccer. The players’ breathtaking mastery

of the ball is on a par with that of Brazil’s soccer virtuosos who

captivated anyone who watched the World Cups in 1958 and

1970. The only difference today is that the game is played at

twice the speed. This also explains why, at Barcelona, solo

extravagance on the ball is a thing of the past; instead, every

player shines for just a brief moment before making the next

pass. The beauty of individual skill is complemented by that of

highly sophisticated tactics.

A cascade of soundIn the Camp Nou, this style has a sound all of its own as the play­

ers on the pitch string together their short passing movements

in a systematic attempt to search for a gap in the opponent’s de­

fense. If the players sprinkle their tiki­taka with an unexpected

trick or two, the spectators applaud with the generosity of expe­

rienced connoisseurs. They are all too aware that nothing in soc­

cer is as hard as passing the ball quickly and accurately. And

they also realize that less talented teams prefer a quicker ap­

proach to getting the ball forward and exerting pressure, one

that is more physical. If the almost one hundred thousand fans

packed into the stadium detect that their team is about to pene­

trate a gap in the defense of the opposing team, a rumble of ex­

citement stirs. And if the Azulgrana conjure up a move out of

nothing to bamboozle their adversaries, a collective shout of

“Uiiii!” goes up. This is what creates sound at a Barcelona game.

However, this can also be illustrated using hard and fast fig­

ures and statistics. In last season’s Champions League, which

30 | CREDO

The beautiful game of Barça

Mittelfeldspieler Cesc Fàbregas: Was zählt ist der Sieg, nicht die Ästhetik.

Quick passes: What counts is winning, not aesthetics.

ended in Barcelona defeating Manchester United 3­1 in the final,

the team racked up a total of 10 715 passes over twelve games;

their opponents in the final came second in the passing stakes,

with just 7456. Even more important than the sheer quantity of

passes though was the fact that these were actually made suc­

cessfully to a teammate. This equaled an average of 732 success­

ful passes completed per game, ahead of the second best placed

team in this respect, FC Bayern Munich, with a mere 553.

This style of play is not to the liking of all soccer fans. There

are some who find that the patient passing game is not direct or

physical enough, preferring instead to see crunching challenges,

an approach that FC Barcelona consciously avoids. Often, the

team leaves its opponents chasing shadows – much like a mata­

dor does with a bull. “You can’t defend against direct play,” says

team captain Xavi. “You can mark me but if the ball is played to

my feet and I’ve already passed it on, how do you defend against

that?” It is a question to which no team in the world has found a

convincing answer in recent years.

Despite looking easy, playing soccer the Barcelona way is

difficult, only to be achieved by professionals who are perfectly

attuned to one another. It has the effect of an elegant dance, but

this is merely of secondary importance. Barcelona adheres to its

cast­iron principles and a detailed plan. Whenever the team is

awarded a corner, it virtually never hits a long cross into the pen­

alty area. Most of the time, the players on one side of the pitch

will move to ensure that the move finishes on the opposing flank.

In attack is Lionel Messi, a player who in actual fact is much too

short for this position. But that does not matter for a team that

barely crosses the ball and plays mostly on the floor. And be­

cause this team so often enraptures crowds with its outstanding

creativity, it is easy to overlook the power and finesse of its de­

fensive game, which squeezes the life out of any attacking move

by the opponent even before the ball has left the latter’s half.

This is yet another example of the team’s organization: only

teams who are perfectly set up are able to press their opponents

into conceding possession of the ball so quickly.

The beautiful game above all elseKnowing this is all well and good – indeed, many opposing coa­

ching teams have analyzed the way Barcelona plays the game

right down to the very finest detail. However, breaking up this

flow of passing is virtually impossible, as is replicating it.

Although Barça’s beauty may come at a price, with the club

creaking from all of the win bonuses paid to its stars, it cannot

be bought. The team that won the Champions League final in

2011 featured seven players who were the product of the club’s

own La Masia youth academy.

For more than two decades now, training at La Masia has

been carried out with the ball and has never involved just run­

ning. Most sessions take place on scaled­down pitches, in an at­

tempt to encourage the development of young talent in the

game’s finer details. Focusing first and foremost on playing with

the ball favors small players such as Messi, Iniesta or Xavi, who

at other clubs are often discarded while playing for youth teams

due to their inability to impose themselves immediately in phy­

sical terms. And speed is always of the essence. “In soccer, be­

sides having the physical speed to execute a move – like Messi,

who does everything super fast – there is also mental speed,”

explains Xavi. “Above all, this means always knowing exactly

where you are on the pitch. Knowing what you’re going to do

with the ball before receiving it: at Barça, we learn this from an

early age.”

“FC Barcelona’s game looks easy, but in fact it’s difficult.”

This was how the building blocks of a new type of soccer,

combining technical brilliance, speed and perfect organization

on the pitch, were put together. And with many clubs following

its blueprint for success, this is also the reason why Barcelona

has helped to enhance the beauty of soccer as a whole. No team

has yet caught up, which means that even the biggest rivals are

always in danger of succumbing in the Camp Nou to the sound­

track of Barça’s triumphs, hopelessly chasing the ball as the

cries of “Olé” ring down from the stands.

Christoph Biermann is a member of the editorial team on the German soccer

magazine 11 Freunde (11 Friends) and author of a number of soccer books.

“Die Fußball­Matrix” (The Soccer Matrix), his most recent book, was voted

Germany’s soccer book of the year in 2010.

CREDO | 31

The masterpieces | Peter Paul Rubens

Whether it is used for vain narcissism or for inner reflection

on the transience of purely external beauty, a mirror can

serve many purposes. There is also a diverse tradition of depic­

ting a mirror as an attribute of Venus who, following her mythi­

cal birth from the foam in the sea, suddenly became aware of her

nakedness and beauty. Here in the imagination of Peter Paul Ru­

bens (1577–1640), “Venus in front of the mirror” tries to ex­

change glances with the observer, in whose eyes, as we all know,

beauty lies.

Where does your eye fall first? On the naked back of Venus?

On her winged son Cupid, with his cheeky face, who is holding

the mirror for the goddess? Or on the face of the black maidser­

vant? Or on that of Venus, reflected in the precious mirror? In

any case, the focus of her gaze brings a fourth person into the

scene: the observer, with whom Venus is trying to make eye con­

tact through the mirror. And this gives life to the network of re­

lationships centered on the body of Venus, appearing like a vast

monolith descended from the heavens.

In this work, which he painted in about 1614/15, Peter Paul

Rubens reveals himself as a master of sensuality. He portrays the

body of the goddess in minute detail, applying layer upon layer

of glaze to make her skin appear as lifelike as possible. And with

the same intensity he paints her long golden hair and her clear

complexion – both the “real” one shown in profile and the “virtu­

al” one looking out from the mirror.

The artist conveys sensuousness particularly in the way he

reproduces materials: the skin, with its many different shadings,

the dark red velvet, and the white cloth that Venus holds cov­

ering her modesty, and which highlights the physical distance

between her and Cupid. There is a marked contrast between the

accuracy with which the artist’s main subject is depicted and the

mere suggestion of the background to the picture, with its trees

and leaves. This indicates that the scenario is taking place out­

doors, which only becomes apparent at a second glance.

Rubens was adding to a long tradition of representations of

Venus showing the goddess at her toilette after bathing. One in­

direct precursor was the painting “Venus with a mirror” (1555)

by Titian, which is now hanging in the National Gallery of Art in

Washington. This shows Venus from the front, seated and semi­

nude, her lap covered by a fur­trimmed velvet gown. Her face in

three­quarter profile is looking toward a mirror in which we see

only part of it reflected. Deep in self­absorption, she makes no

eye contact with the observer. The same applies to “Venus and

Cupid” (1606–1611), a painting in which Rubens drew directly

on Titian’s masterpiece for his own first creative attempt.

However, just a few years after completing that painting, Ru­

bens produced his own reinterpretation of the theme, by por­

traying “Venus in front of the mirror” from behind and also as a

reflected image. This further increases the eroticism of the

scene. A great deal is still left to the imagination of the observer,

which is at the same time stimulated by the sensuality of the

naked back. With his trick with the mirror, Rubens gives us not

just one view of her face, with its expression of inner beauty, but

more: in the reflected image we see it in half­profile, showing the

goddess’s right cheek, while in the “real” depiction we see the

left cheek in “profil perdu” with the wide, beautiful and seduc­

tive eyes and the long, straight nose, almost exactly correspon­

ding to the ancient concept of perfection.

Rubens was not only entering into dialogue with the older

masters whom he so much respected. He was also interested in

the “paragone,” namely the conflict between the arts and the de­

bate about whether sculpture or painting could better depict

reality. In his diverse and dynamic portrayal “Venus in front of

the mirror”, Rubens has succeeded in asserting the supremacy

of painting.

32 | CREDO

Dr. Johann Kräftner is the director of the Princely Collections and from 2002

to 2011 was director of the LIECHTENSTEIN MUSEUM, Vienna. He is the au­

thor of numerous monographs on the history and theory of architecture.

Venusin front of the mirror

CREDO | 00

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Literary choice | Guy de Maupassant

34 | CREDO

Oscar Wilde once said: “Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful

things are the cultivated. For these there is hope. They are the elect.”

Olivier Bertin is certainly one of that elect. The most charming ladies and the

richest men of Parisian society come to him to have their portraits painted.

Beauty is Bertin’s profession, one might say, and his paintings preserve it from

the ravages of natural decay.

Olivier Bertin is the central figure of Guy de Maupassant’s novel “Fort comme

la Mort” (Strong as death), written in 1888 during the writer’s most productive

period. This novel has a special place in Maupassant’s oeuvre, and not just be­

cause it is longer than the circa 300 short stories that he committed to paper

between 1880 and 1892. Of more significance is the fact that its author here

offers us a view of beauty and ageing, of artistry and youthful élan that is far

removed from all moralizing and pathos and is for him unusually free of irony.

Bertin has arrived in what we would today regard as the prime of life and

has done so without any notable struggles along the way. He is successful as

an artist, he moves in the finest circles, and for many years this bachelor has

been the object of tender affection and admiration on the part of Countess

Anne de Guilleroy. Their relationship has almost nothing left in common with

what one might term an “affair” in its usual sense, and the painter has long

since become a close friend of her husband, the Count, who in turn sees

nothing immoral in his wife’s close relationship with the elegant artist. Their

initial passion has given way to a deep sense of trust and a loving friendship.

The novel lingers for a long time on the happy couple and their rituals, told

Several works by Guy de Maupassant have been filmed: Catherine Erard in “Trois femmes” by André Michel (1952).

The loss of beauty

CREDO | 35

Robert Pattinson as the ruthless seducer Georges Duroy in the film “Bel Ami” by Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod (2012).

alternately from his perspective and from hers. It is only with the graceful fig­

ure of Annette, the Countess’s 18­year­old daughter, that discord enters their

long­established harmony. This pretty girl reminds the painter powerfully of

her mother when she was a young woman. Without taking into account the

consequences, he now falls head over heels in love with her, surrendering

himself to a crazy “amour fou.” The Countess sees the danger long before he

does. She senses the impending loss of her lover, while the unsuspecting An­

nette does not even notice the emotional chaos that she is leaving in her wake.

Bertin, incapable of reflection or self­analysis, is propelled into an existential

crisis that is only made more acute when he receives the first­ever damning

reviews of his work. He gradually and inexorably loses control of his life. Driv­

en to despair by Annette’s forthcoming nuptials, he wanders aimlessly through

the city, is run over by an omnibus, and dies.

Maupassant offers us an incisive depiction of Bertin’s misery at his loss of

attractiveness and success. Yet the author’s portrait of the astute Countess

Anne is far more penetrating. Suffering deeply in her inability to keep the man

she loves, she nevertheless feels more empathy for his suffering than she does

bitterness. She, too, experiences before the mirror the tragedy of ageing, day

after day, yet no one gives her comfort. The idea that beauty first blesses not

those who possess it, but rather those who love and admire it, is a privilege of

youth. By demonstrating this to us in such a grandiose manner, Maupassant’s

novel remains timeless and topical.

Felicitas von Lovenberg, born in 1974, is head of the literature section at the Frankfurter

Allgemeine Zeitung and hosts the TV program “Literatur im Foyer” for SWR in Germany

(Southwest Broadcasting Company).

Guy de Maupassant Henry­René­Albert­Guy de Maupassant, born in 1850 at

Chateau Miromesnil in Normandy, is regarded as one of the

most significant French writers of the 19th century alongside

Stendhal, Honoré de Balzac, Gustave Flaubert and Émile

Zola. He made his first contacts with members of the liter­

ary world – including Flaubert – while still at high school in

Rouen. At the age of 18 he saved the English poet Algernon

Charles Swinburne from drowning. The Franco­Prussian War

of 1870–71 put an end to his studies of law in Paris. After

finishing his military service, Maupassant worked as a civil

servant in various ministries, though only unwillingly. He

wrote poems and plays on the side, albeit without success.

He achieved his breakthrough only with the short story “Boule

de suif” (Ball of fat), and this allowed him at last to give up

the life of a civil servant that he hated so much. He wrote

ceaselessly throughout the next twelve years. Altogether,

Maupassant published some 300 short stories and six no­

vels, including “Une vie” (A Woman’s Life) and “Bel­Ami”

(Bel Ami, or, The History of a Scoundrel), his best­known

work to this day. He was also a lively political commentator

whom the journals of Paris held in high regard. Guy de Mau­

passant died in 1893 in a psychiatric clinic in Passy near Paris.

Carte Blanche | Andrea Marcon

Music must be trueRecorded by: Manfred Schiefer

At the age of ten, Andrea Marcon discovered that music

is only really beautiful when it offers more than just

the perfect sound.

When I was still a child I was given the opportunity to play on

old organs. I always loved it. It excited me, and I’m sure that it

inspired more than just my fondness for old music. Playing on

organs that were hundreds of years old, with all their peculiari­

ties, might have influenced how I hear more than did all those

performers who seemed so wonderful and so exemplary when I

was learning the piano. They used to treat the composers’ music

very freely. They took all possible liberties, such as ignoring tem­

po instructions. They didn’t have to know the difference bet­

ween a chaconne – which is fast – and a passacaglia, which is

considerably slower. The historical context in which the work

was composed, or knowing what the composer actually wanted

to express in it, were usually of merely marginal interest to them.

What counted was the sound. No extraneous noise was allowed

to tarnish it. It was taboo to let you hear the attack of the violin

bow when it met the strings. Violinists practiced long hours to

produce a smooth tone that was free of any disturbance. But it

sounded unnatural because it was as if the bow was a hundred

meters long. People looked down on the organ because the pipes

make a slight noise before their sound reaches full volume and

envelops the surrounding space. Music had to be as clean as the

smooth, lifeless formica tops that graced our kitchens in the

1960s. And yet it is precisely the irregularity of the grain that

gives wood its distinct aura. Unlike in painting, people tried to

eradicate the “brush strokes” in music. They wanted the “paint”

to be applied equally thick everywhere, and yet it is just such ir­

regularities that lay bare the artist’s own temperament. It is how

the light reflects off the different thicknesses of paint on the can­

vas that makes a work unique and individual.

The soul of a work of art can’t be found on its surface. In or­

der to discover its beauty you have to go deep down. Beauty is

allied to truth. A face is not beautiful when it is symmetrical, but

when it expresses the personality of the human being behind it.

It’s only then that a person is authentic – and in this authenticity

lies beauty. The same is true of music. Only when music is true is

it beautiful. For me, as a conductor and interpreter, bringing out

this beauty is a long and arduous process.

A composer only has musical notes on a page to express his

feelings – nothing more. They are a relatively inadequate means

of expressing the expansive world of emotions, yet they have to

express exuberant vitality as subtly as they depict painful tor­

ment. That is why I find working on a new piece raises many

questions. I seek long and hard for answers. Together with the

musicians of La Cetra Baroque Orchestra Basel, we carry out

scholarly research into instruments, performance practice and

the historical context of the works we play. Only when you feel

the true meaning of a work within you can you interpret it au­

thentically and in the spirit of the composer. I am convinced that

a musician has to share the composer’s emotions: he must feel

the same joy that a composer felt when he was jubilant, and the

same pain that threatened to drive him to despair. Only when we

succeed in this can we realize that beauty is always more than

technical perfection, far more than just perfect intonation – and

this is just as true for you the listener as it is for us the perfor­

mers on the podium. Beauty always bears truth within it.

Andrea Marcon, the Italian organist, harpsichordist and conductor, was born

in Treviso/Veneto and is one of the leading specialists and performers of old

music. He directs La Cetra Baroque Orchestra Basel and is also in worldwide

demand as an opera conductor. In October 2012 he will give his conducting

debut with the Berlin Philharmonic.

36 | CREDO

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Contents | CRedo Xiv

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Portrait | The beauty of lifeHow the blind music therapist Wolfgang Fasser opens up the world to disabled children.

Portfolio | The golden ratioWhoever seeks the key to beauty must know the number Phi.

Portfolio | Maserati 300SIn sixty years’ time, will we still restore our cars with so much love?

Portfolio | What is kitsch?An explanation why art liberates and kitsch sedates.

Interview | We love symmetry and proportionThe surprising findings on the topic of beauty by theevolutionary biologist Josef H. reichholf.

Report | The ideas factory What’s dreamt up at Central Saint Martins Collegecan change the world.

Essay | The beautiful game of BarçaAt last: a soccer team that plays beautifully, and yetstill wins.

Masterpieces | Venus in front of the mirrorA painting that itself observes the beholder.

Literary choice | The loss of beautyThis novel about a wild “amour fou” could only have been written by a Frenchman.

Carte Blanche | Music must be trueYou’ve heard it right: smooth and noise-free isn’t how music’s meant to be.

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Beauty | XIV 2012

LGt JournaL on weaLth cuLture

Beauty | XIV 2012