Page 32 - Studio International - October 1965

The technical honesty of Gisiger's work which is since this is abstract art-by naming the idea which was
certainly the result of a personal conviction also corres­ the principal motive behind the plastic creation; in
ponds, especially through the element of discipline this way he confirms the humanist and transcendental
involved, to the spirit of classic sculpture which the message. The solid grounding in classical culture and
artist emulates. He also explains the need for good the understanding of human problems which are
technique through the fact that 'the idea of artistic typical of Gisiger. as well as his lucid solution to artistic
creation cannot be separated from the concept of problems, enable the sculptor to bridge traditionalism
duration'. To ensure a solid foundation for his work he and the modern aesthetic and technical notions which
soon came to prefer metal in its strongest. purest and anchor his work firmly to our present age. ■
most resistant form; for while at first he was satisfied
with iron and copper he soon turned to steel and for
many years now all his work has been done in this
metal-great, monumental compositions as well as
small mobile sculptures such as those reproduced here.
In spite of the small size of the latter it will be readily
agreed that they do not belong to the category of curio
sculptures. They are just as 'monumental' as his large1·
works for the artist believes that all valid sculpture­
that is to say sculpture which in his words is 'repre­
sentative of its age and environment' cannot fail to be
'monumental sculpture'. Logically whenever the oppor­
tunity is granted to him Gisiger works on commissions
for buildings, although it would be true to say that the
plastic value of his sculpture is such that it attains
architectonic stature on its own. that is to say a
balanced spatial relationship between all its elements
and a perfect synthesis between static and dynamic
forces. While this constructive element is typical of
Gisiger's style there are several other aspects involved
since sculpture for him is a mode of expression. Thus
each of his works has a special significance which he
sometimes clarifies by naming the central theme or-

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