Ma as a Space–Time Concept of Becoming: Karl-Heinz Klopf’s Tower House (2013)

Abstract

© 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This article explores the abstract space–time concept of ma through analysis and interpretation of Austrian artist Karl-Heinz Klopf’s film Tower House (2013). The film is based on an extraordinary house built in Tokyo in 1996 and designed by architect Takamitsu Azuma. Moving between film theory, Eastern mysticism, cognitive psychology, narrative theory, and the phenomenology and ontology of space and time, the main hypothesis is that Klopf uses special film techniques that demonstrate, augment and construct ma. It is argued that this process can also be understood through Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari’s philosophy as a space–time concept in a continuous process of becoming. How does Klopf augment a philosophy of living and logic of architectural space in the filmmaking methodology of Tower House based on the Eastern concept of ma? How can we further understand this using Deleuze and Guattari’s understanding of becoming? Which new frameworks bring the annexation of Deleuzian and Guattarian philosophy to Klopf’s artistic visualization and interpretation of architecture and philosophy of living in Tower House? How do these help us understand a space of tolerance as an ontological concept?.