LET’S BUILD CIVILIZATION

“The Ontology of Architecture.” What does this mean? We are at the OntoArte gallery in Trevi, where the seminar is being held, and the immediacy of the artwork on display – the functional aspect of the white panel painted black and red – conceals true poetics: a mental architecture called Ontopsychology. During the conference, the words of Prof. Meneghetti, the leader of the OntoArte movement, expressed another important theme that was revealed by his works. The serene critique of denunciatory art in favour of art that praises beauty is backed by philosophical and sociological explanations. It is a perspective of creative intuition that sees, recognizes and elevates the local criterion of formal beauty. “Consumerism places us in a culturally impossible situation,” he explains. “Banks, local capitalists and politicians try to give work to everyone in order to avoid social tension. Mass democracy has replaced the patronage of the ancients. We are in the throes of serial production and consumerism is ruining consumers.” Lizori comes to mind, a place where, along the streets and alleys, in place of house numbers we find the homeowners’ names painted on ceramic tiles. It is a hamlet in which one can easily see paintings and sculptures, and observe how nature and construction have emerged to nourish the particular presence that is evident in the air, a presence known as genius loci. He notes, “It is a place where nature formalizes its way of being and encountering in order to become the contemporaneity of the universal spirit and the historical function that has been identified.” The seminar brochure notes: “One cannot be a collaborator of civilization without knowing the ontological criterion.” In short, it is a true modus operandi. It will be interesting to use the ontology of architecture as a starting point for building civilization. Along these lines, one of the comments at the conference is inspiring. “Within OntoArte we find the restoration of simplicity, spontaneity and aesthetic sensitivity. If we were to base things on the criterion of beauty rather than that of conformity (right or wrong, good or bad), the world would be a better place.”

Ontopsychology
Ontopsicologica Editrice
Antonio Meneghetti