In 1986, Walter Benjamin delivered a lecture on Piet Mondrian at the Marxist Center in Ljubljana. In this lecture, entitled Mondrian 63–96, Benjamin presents several works of the abstract artist ranging in date from 1963 to 1996. It was originally broadcasted on Belgrade TV (TV Galerija).
This video is presented here in conjunction with “ Walter Benjamin: Recent Writings,” published by New Documents (new-documents.org).
Walter Benjamin was an influential philosopher and art theoretician, best known for his 1936 essay “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” In 1986—many years after his tragic death—Walter Benjamin reappeared again in public with the lecture “Mondrian 63–96” organized by the Marxist Center in Ljubljana. In recent years Mr. Benjamin became an associate of the Museum of American Art in Berlin, giving interviews and publishing articles on art, originality, museums, art history, etc. After a long pause he appeared again in public in 2011 with the lecture “The Unmaking of Art,” first at the Times Museum in Guangzhou and then at the Arnolfini in Bristol. The same lecture was repeated in 2012 at the Museo Universitario de Arte Contemporaneo in Mexico City, Tranzit in Budapest, Institutions by Artists in Vancouver and most recently at Le Plateau in Paris(2013).
