Justice and her adornment: An emerging anachronism
Robert, Christian-Nils
Justice and her adornment: An emerging anachronism - 2018.
64
Within five centuries, patterns have collapsed or faded away. The pedagogical impulse of the early stages of a representation of Justice in the “cités judiciaires” is no more on the agenda. A very rich symbolism, first ecclesial and then sacrificial, has been replaced by the utmost pared-down abstraction, which is also the highest degree of enigma. Today, hesitation prevails, a dance of vibrant colors, green, blue, red, black and yellow, or arms which open up to welcome the litigant, suggest a vanishing point, towards the enigmatic judgement, the rigid octogonality of central forms, their dialogue with deformed rectangles, an obvious geometric simplicity, but, in contrast, an enigmatic metaphor of Justice... The art-lover might be satisfied (Ellsworth Kelly, 1998, Boston Court House). Abstract art, rightly defined as such, has invaded judicial spaces and by doing so it has left to free-standing interpretations the very foundations of a specific space, the judiciary. Shall we abandon everything and renounce any symbolism, or shall we go back to the foundational principles of justice's decorum: sacredness, exemplarity, sacrifice which tend to remain the cornerstones of Justice, an institution which is now and again anachronic?
Justice and her adornment: An emerging anachronism - 2018.
64
Within five centuries, patterns have collapsed or faded away. The pedagogical impulse of the early stages of a representation of Justice in the “cités judiciaires” is no more on the agenda. A very rich symbolism, first ecclesial and then sacrificial, has been replaced by the utmost pared-down abstraction, which is also the highest degree of enigma. Today, hesitation prevails, a dance of vibrant colors, green, blue, red, black and yellow, or arms which open up to welcome the litigant, suggest a vanishing point, towards the enigmatic judgement, the rigid octogonality of central forms, their dialogue with deformed rectangles, an obvious geometric simplicity, but, in contrast, an enigmatic metaphor of Justice... The art-lover might be satisfied (Ellsworth Kelly, 1998, Boston Court House). Abstract art, rightly defined as such, has invaded judicial spaces and by doing so it has left to free-standing interpretations the very foundations of a specific space, the judiciary. Shall we abandon everything and renounce any symbolism, or shall we go back to the foundational principles of justice's decorum: sacredness, exemplarity, sacrifice which tend to remain the cornerstones of Justice, an institution which is now and again anachronic?
Réseaux sociaux