{"id":59706,"date":"2024-08-30T13:33:35","date_gmt":"2024-08-30T11:33:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/?p=59706"},"modified":"2024-08-30T13:55:02","modified_gmt":"2024-08-30T11:55:02","slug":"at-the-painting-studio-the-soul-calendar-panels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/at-the-painting-studio-the-soul-calendar-panels\/","title":{"rendered":"At the Painting Studio: The Soul Calendar Panels"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For three years, Victoria \u00d6ttl has been painting the verses of the Soul Calendar. Her works will be on display in October at the Goetheanum\u2019s international conference, celebrating the one-hundredth anniversary of Rudolf Steiner\u2019s Education for Special Needs<\/em> course and the founding of the twelfth Section of the School of Spiritual Science, the Section for Inclusive Social Development. The artist Hannes Weigert has accompanied her and offers insights into their collaborative work.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Panel #157, 2023<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The Painting Studio [Malerei<\/em>] is located at Loidholdhof,<\/span>1<\/sup><\/a><\/span> above the Danube, in Upper Austria. In this region, the word \u201cpainting\u201d [Malerei<\/em>] refers not only to a form of art but is also used to describe a painting workshop. In this comprehensive sense, painting at Loidholdhof includes the whole world of craftsmanship. This includes what is written and the act of writing itself, in particular, the writing of the Soul Calendar verses by Victoria \u00d6ttl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It started like this [according to Victoria]: \u201cI wrote \u2018Ronja the Robber\u2019s Daughter\u2019 on a piece of paper for my friend Vivian. He left it by the coffee machine. A short time later, the painting master, Hannes Weigert, found it. He thought, \u2018Who wrote that?\u2019 (Since I had written it so beautifully.) I went back and said, \u2018It was me!\u2019 We thought about what we could do with this writing, and that\u2019s when we came to the decision to write out the Soul Calendar verses.\u201d<\/span>2<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On February 23, 2021, Victoria wrote the verse that begins, \u201cIn the light from out of world heights\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0.\u201d [Verse 48] with a brush and black paint on a large sheet of paper that I had first primed in color (\u201cYou prepared the plates. You painted the background, always different.\u201d) We showed the verse the next day in the morning circle: \u201cwe all get together every morning and look at what\u2019s coming up for the day. And that\u2019s when we read the verse. I read the verse. And the written panels are there; not all of them, just the ones with the verse I\u2019m reading.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the course of three years, three versions of the verses were created. Looking back, Victoria writes: \u201cI transferred the verses to the panels. I read the verses. I wrote down thoughts about the verses. By speaking, thoughts about the verses came to light.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learning to Feel<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Hannes: Do you want to say something else about the verses?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Victoria: The verses were coined by Rudolf Steiner. He then wrote them down in a book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the verses about?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The life of the \u2018I.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About the life of the \u2018I\u2019 in the course of the year? Indeed, it changes all the time.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exactly. On the one hand, the verses have to do with me; on the other hand, they have a lot to do with the outside, with the world; with how the plants germinate, ripen, bear fruit\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0how [nature] changes from spring to winter, one could say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And in winter?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And in winter, everything is bare outside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the soul, too?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then everything blossoms in the soul (laughs). I don\u2019t know exactly how else to describe it.<\/span>3<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morning, at the Painting Studio<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Victoria came to write. Today, she only wrote the first two words of the spring verse on a plate: \u201cInto inwardness\u201d [Verse 51]. Then, she sat down at the table and thought about what she wanted to write down today. She remembered how we had run into each other over by the stable a few weeks ago and how she had said to me that she felt such a strong connection with the verses. She wanted to write that down today. After she had already written something, she paused and said to me, \u201cI was really deep in thought just now, I have to say, honestly.\u201d Then she continued, \u201cBy reading the verses every day, I\u2019m getting a connection with them. One time this week, when writing the verses, I really immersed myself in the verse and really thought about it. I really went into myself. Everything else, outside of me, was completely forgotten.\u201d<\/span>4<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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Top right: Victoria \u00d6ttl writing, 2022
Bottom left: Panel #136, 2023
Bottom right: Panel #10, 2021<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Every Verse, There\u2019s the \u2018I\u2019<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In our conversations over the past year, which followed her writing, \u201cthoughts came to light,\u201d which she then often wrote down verbatim as they had come out of her mouth a moment before:<\/span>5<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Verse 2) The human being matures. Hannes asks: Is there inner growth of the soul? I answer: There really should be. When have you reached your goal?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(3) It\u2019s Konrad\u2019s birthday today, and I\u2019m going to ask him what the \u201cprimal state\u201d [Urstand<\/em>] is. Where is the \u2018I\u2019 at home?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(5) The soul\u2019s being\u2014do you know what that can be? The inner being! It\u2019s in the word; in reading the verse, it sprung out at me. It\u2019s fascinating when thoughts come to you while reading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(6) Archetype is something that happened a long time ago. I can\u2019t really think of anything more. Does the archetypal picture say \u201cmy self\u201d to itself?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(8) Is thinking a sense?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(9) What\u2019s all this about losing? Is the premonition [Ahnung<\/em>] like a self-remembering? (Now, I just distracted myself.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(17) I can\u2019t see the World Word with my eyes. Did I say something stupid there? I believe not. Then how does it get through the senses\u2019 door into the grounds of the soul?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(18) You put on a dress. The soul is the dress. The spirit should put it on. I am the tailor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(24) To be honest, I don\u2019t exactly know how the soul-being should become aware of herself. Does this have anything to do with creating? Is it that the soul-being creates herself and becomes aware of herself in the creating?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(26) Michaelmas mood. The verse is really very puzzling quite honestly. The whole mood, the whole harmony, somehow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(27) Does that mean me there, as a being? The soul belongs, in some way, to the being, I believe. I am the being that observes itself, yes?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(28) The \u2018I\u2019 is present in every verse. Even when the word \u2018I\u2019 is not in the verse, the \u2018I\u2019 is inwardly present everywhere. I was already struck by this in the last verses, so I thought to myself that I had to observe how it further develops throughout all the verses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(32) In the weaving of life\u2019s destiny. I intuited the eurythmy form for this. The lines go up and down. They go back and forth, they penetrate each other, they are interwoven. Is the \u2018I\u2019 in there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(33) I\u2019m just thinking about it. What can that mean? Do I have to feel the knowing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(34) What is he writing here? I can\u2019t do anything with it\u2014the verse is puzzling to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(37) It\u2019s really crazy what ideas come to me. I thought to myself: the spiritual light must actually be inside of me. I believe that I know what the word \u201cstrive\u201d means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(45) It\u2019s darker in winter than in summer. Good thoughts are brighter than bad thoughts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(49) The night is within. From there, hope streams out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(50) The birth of the human \u2018I\u2019 out of the world existence is my true aim. Then the magic spell will be broken!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(51) The eye is a mirror. It mirrors the world. \u201cHe\u201d is the spirit of the world. That\u2019s amazing: That the spirit of the world is in the reflection of the human eye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(52) The spirit inside you. The beauty wells up, like when the sun shines into the Danube. There is one spirit that turns inward and one that turns outward. Oh, that I could express how the two are connected!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Painting Studio has been around since 2018, picking up where I left off with the Painter\u2019s Workshop [Malerverksted<\/em>] in Vidar\u00e5sen<\/span>6<\/sup><\/a><\/span> and the Painting Workshop [Malerwerkstatt<\/em>] at the Goetheanum.<\/span>7<\/sup><\/a><\/span> In addition to the collaboration with Victoria \u00d6ttl and my own painting research and practice, there are other projects in painting. These include: Developing a School for Aesthetic Practice with Bodo von Plato<\/span>8<\/sup><\/a><\/span>, accompanying the painter Kathrin Sammer in her study of Steiner\u2019s painting sketches, delving deeper into the mantras of the class lessons with Joachim Eckl, and the painting collaboration with Julia Weinknecht.<\/span>9<\/sup><\/a><\/span> In addition, seminars<\/span>10<\/sup><\/a><\/span> and exhibitions are held (as part of the Free Academy at Loidholdhof), and publications are also issued.<\/span>11<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Conference Info<\/strong>
Inclusive Social Development: Celebrating 100 Years Together!<\/a>, Oct. 2\u20136, 2024, Goetheanum, Dornach<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Panels for the Soul Calendar <\/strong>Victoria \u00d6ttl (writing), Hannes Weigert (concept\/colour), acrylic on hardboard, 50 \u00d7 60\/65 cm. The Painting Studio, 2021-23<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Translation <\/strong>Joshua Kelberman
Title image <\/strong>Panel #141, 2023<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For three years, Victoria \u00d6ttl has been painting the verses of the Soul Calendar. Her works will be on display in October at the Goetheanum\u2019s international conference, celebrating the one-hundredth anniversary of Rudolf Steiner\u2019s Education for Special Needs course and the founding of the twelfth Section of the School of Spiritual Science, the Section for Inclusive Social Development. The artist Hannes Weigert has accompanied her and offers insights into their collaborative work. The Painting Studio [Malerei] is located at Loidholdhof, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17312,"featured_media":59027,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10458,8823],"tags":[11532,8798,11544],"class_list":["post-59706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-painting","category-reflection","tag-ausgabe-27-28-2024-en","tag-deepening","tag-english-issue-35-2024"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17312"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59706\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}