& a blog

over the summer, i got a chance to see gustav klimt’s beethoven frieze nestled in the basement of the architecturally stunning (but otherwise uninteresting) secession building. having had no idea before of the mere existence of the beethoven frieze i was totally stunned by the beauty and scale of frieze. measuring at least 6 feet tall and somewhere over 120 feet long, the frieze was a true gesumptkunstwerk.

particularly enchanting for me was the image of beethoven, as a knight in shining armor, being hailed into a certain creative-genius-as-hero archetype, and staring a hostile cast of problems and woes facing humanitiy.

recently, i began a study of the frieze by re-intrepreting it for the digital age. drawing over the frieze, i have re-imagined the symbols and characters of the narrative, even interpolating the digital artist/designer as a new creative hero. take a look at this early draft. i have a lot of work still to go, but i think this should turn out as something interesting to print out at massive scale. if not, it will still look good as a small printed fold-out like the one i bought at the secession building gift shop.