Paul Klee in NYC: Did he tweet the first Twitter in 1922 ?

August 10, 6:00 PMNY Holistic Science & Spirit ExaminerTima Vlasto

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Twitter Meme: Paul Klee's Twittering Machine (MoMA)

“Art does not reproduce the visible; rather, it makes visible.” Paul Klee

Did Paul Klee knowingly or unknowingly "tweet" the first Twitter?

Did  Twitter find its birth place in Paul Klee’s "Twittering Machine" painted in 1922?

 In an alchemical combination of musical tones, nature symbolism, and a magical sigil of lines; Paul Klee may have concocted a spell for the Twitter meme.

Sigils:

"In modern uses, the concept was mostly popularized by Austin Osman Spare, who published a method by which the words of a statement of intent are reduced into an abstract design; the sigil is then charged with the will of the creator. Spare's technique, now known as sigilization, has become a core element of chaos magic. The inherently individualistic nature of chaos magic leads most chaos magicians to prepare and cast sigils in unique ways, as the process of sigilization has never been defined rigorously and the magician is expected to 'fill in the blank spots' by his or her self. Sigils are used for magical spells as well as for the creation of thought-forms."

"The appendix to The Art Of Memetics by Edward Wilson & Wes Unruh defines a sigil as 'an intersection of the glyph, the time of the glyph’s making, the energy behind the glyph, and the intent in which the glyph was formed."..."From the threads of these four energies a knot is tied on the altar of the mage’s consciousness. This 5th energy, this secret knot now tied, is the true sigil.'"

"Klee was aware that in a conventional system of images, the sign is a 'trigger' to meaning. Klee wanted his signs to live in our visual awareness as facts themselves, as well as have the sense of being triggers toward meaning. Toward the end of his life, Klee immersed himself in the study of ideographs of all kinds, including hieroglyphics, hex signs and prehistoric cave images." Modern Art Prints

Why did Paul use birds in his Twittering Machine sigil?

Besides mating songs there are certain bird vocalizations called calls:

“Calls are brief sounds with relatively simple acoustic structure, usually mono- or dysyllabic and usually don't involve more than 4 or 5 notes. Calls may occur in bursts of extended duration (alarm calls, flocking calls of Chickadees), but there is no clear organization or pattern detectable.”

Localizable calls are short notes with broad frequency range that give information on the location of the sender. Ornithology Lecture

Bird calls are micro-blogging at it's best. Pretty close to what Twitter is about. Paul Klee's "thought-form" and the resulting energy accumulated around this meme over the years, may be part of Twitter's present success.

Twittering Machine (Die Zwitscher-Maschine) 1922
Paul Klee (German, born Switzerland. 1879-1940)
Oil transfer drawing on paper with watercolor and ink on board with gouache and ink borders,
25 1/4 x 19" (64.1 x 48.3 cm). Purchase. © 2009 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn
564.1939

The Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53 Street
New York, NY 10019
(212) 708-9400

In New York City: Other works of Paul Klee

Guggenheim Museum

Arches of the Bridge Break Ranks

Curtain (Vorhang), 1924

In the Current Six Thresholds

Magic Garden (Zaubergarten), March 1926

New Harmony

Portrait of Mrs. P. in the South (Bildnis der Frau P. im Süden), 1924

Red Balloon

Runner at the Goal

The Bavarian Don Giovanni

Metropolitan Museum of Art

12 Works by Paul Klee

Temple Gardens, 1920

The One Who Understands, 1934

Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)

123 Works by Paul Klee (Listed below are some of the artist works)

Demon above the Ships, 1916

Destruction and Hope, 1916

Gifts for "J.", 1928

Girl with Doll Carriage, 1923

Head, 1925

Hoffmannesque Scene

Introducing the Miracle, 1916

Pastorale, 1927

See also:

NYC inspirational paintings 101: Where can I find the top 5 must-see inspirational paintings in NYC?

The secret to Oreo cookies success

For more info: 

Sigils

The Museum of Modern Art