Page 21 - Studio International - June 1965

Pol Bury Clinamen in Art
8 balls in a stepped cupboard 1964. Wood.
x 50 x 25 Lefebre New York by Simon Watson Taylor
Pol Bury abandoned surrealism 1n 1945 (after
contributing paintings to that year's International
Surrealist Exhibition in Paris). abandoned figurative
painting in 1947. and abandoned abstract painting.
together with his easel and brushes. in 1953. His first
experiments with mobile constructions culminated in
an exhibition that winter at the Galerie Apollo.
Brussels. of a series of plans mobiles. black and white
incised flat planes which could be fitted together to
produce a variety of patterns and colour contrasts. In
1955. these plans mobiles appeared again at the
exhibition Mouvements organized by the Galerie
Denise Delrue. Paris. together with work by Agam.
Calder. Duchamp, Jacobsen. Soto, Tinguely and
Vasarely. From this point. Bury's invention blossomed
ceaselessly: 1958 saw his first exhibition of works
motivated by concealed electric power-the mu/tip/ans.
flat rectangular structures composed of long slats set
vertically edge to edge. each side of the slats painted
with part of an overall abstract design. the design
changing almost imperceptibly as each slat turned
separately according to the impulse of an electric
motor. In 1959. the Galerie St. Laurent. Brussels.
unveiled for the first time his ponctuations: some of
these ponctuations consisted of superimposed. per­
forated black and white discs producing constantly
evolving and changing contrasts of pattern and shade
as they revolved ; the second series of works shown at
this exhibition. entitled by Bury ponctuations mo/Jes
and ponctuations erecti/es. were the first manifesta­
tions of the technique which was to form the basis of
all his subsequent work until quite recently. These
ponctuations were rigid or pliable stems emerging
from a plane surface. actuated by a concealed electric
motor giving a basically non-repetitive stimulus to the
hidden roots of the stems. usually through the irregular
rotation of plates or meshes in more or less loose con­
tact with the stem-roots. Let Bury describe them:
· ... what is it all about? ...
. . . from a white . . . or black surface . . . there
emerges . . . a relatively large number . . . of rigid
stems ... or soft stems ... black or white .. .
. . . animated electrically ... they are agitated ... or
not . . . at unpredictable moments . . by erectile
movements and immobilities .. . they also tend to
express a ... fairly ... extreme ... impotence ...
. . . only the structure itself ... of these black against
white ... rigid ... or soft stems ... is perceptible .. .
and even this varies according to the time of day .. .
according to the light ... on these rigid ... or soft
stems ... black against black ... a white dot ... at
their tips ... crystallises all the movements which are
dictated to them ... by the laws of chance .. .'
1961-2 saw a constant expansion of this conception.
with exhibitions of entires erecti/es in various galleriec
throughout Europe. leading to Bury's most important
one-man show hitherto. the exhibition of entites
erectiles at the Galerie Iris Clert, Paris, April 1963:
by , 10w the groping. swaying. clutching groups or
clumps of stems had been joined by single or multiple
globes protruding from and seemingly attached to a
plane surface or nestling in recesses sunk in the
surface. globes which almost imperceptibly moved.
rolled sideways. nudged and jostled each other. or.
solitary. revolved very slowly in irregular ellipses.
London was first able to see Bury 's work at the
exhibition 'Structures vivantes. mobiles. images·.
organised by the Redfern Gallery in M;:irch 1964. an
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