In this critical text, Theon Spanudis proposes the creative participation of the public in the formation of art that he calls “transrational,” which he explains, entails certain modifications to the notions of “time,” “subject,” and “object.”

As part of the cultural, as opposed to architectural or urbanistic, inauguration of the new capital of Brazil, the Congresso Internacional Extraordinário de Críticos de Arte (CIECA) took place in the cities of Brasilia, São Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro from September 17 to 25, 1959. The theme of the event—“A cidade nova, síntese das artes”—was proposed by critic Mário Pedrosa who presided over its inauguration and closing. The lectures of the foreign critics and architects who participated in the congress generated debates on the production of art and architecture in Brazil.

Entitled “Educação artística,” the summary presented in the framework of the seventh session of the congress included contributions by critics Herbert Read and A. Sartoris, architect and urbanist Lúcio Costa, as well as Brazilian artists Theon Spanudis and Fayga Ostrower. The text that Spanudis wrote for the session provides a phenomenological vision of the new Brazilian capital based on the idea of the collective construction of the work of art, a notion akin to what Pedrosa presented at the inaugural session.

Although he was born in Turkey, Theon Spanudis (1915–1986) was Greek; he was educated in Vienna and immigrated to Brazil in 1950, where he worked as a psychoanalyst until 1956 before concentrating his efforts on art criticism and literature. He was a regular contributor to Habitat revista das artes no Brasil, edited by architect Lina Bo Bardi. Spanudis was one of the signers of the “Manifesto Neoconcreto” (Jornal do Brasil, March 22, 1959), although a few years later, he would take a less radical stance and even criticize the movement led by Ferreira Gullar.

For further reading on the congress, see Vera Pacheco Jordão, “O feitiço contra o feiticeiro” (doc. no. 1110411); Werner Haftmann, “As artes maiores na cidade” (doc. no.1110405); Mário Pedrosa’s texts, “A cidade nova, síntese das artes” (doc. no. 1086503) and “Lições do congresso internacional dos críticos” (doc. no. 1086667); and Lúcio Costa, “A crise da arte contemporânea” (doc. no. 1110342).