Page 42 - Studio International - April 1966

The prime object repercussions in the world of art. For another thing non-
There is a consequence of non-figuration which we have figurative art operates by making references of one sort
not yet touched on, which has had considerable impact or another. There may be exceptions to this, but they
on many of the forms that art has taken since Tatlin's are rare. A possible exception would be the operation of a
first construction. When a painting does not refer to any- purely retinal effect in optical painting, like, say, the
thing outside itself it becomes wholly a real thing in it- after-effects of colour bleaching in the eye. But on the
self— a prime object—like a tree or any other object of the whole references are made, though they may be as in-
world. The idea behind this is apparently simple enough. direct as the activation of a familiar pattern of thought by
Any representation directs attention to its designatum means of a visual structure which in some way corres-
and in so doing displaces some of its own reality as a ponds to that pattern. It is precisely because of these
concrete object on to that thing. The representation qualifications that I believe the question, 'If a painting
states, 'When you see this think of that.' The non-figura- has no subject matter what is it about?' to be false.
tive painting states merely, 'See this.' This apparently Be this as it may, the new status of non-figurative art
Naum Gabo simple idea needs a lot of qualification. For one thing a works, that of being a prime object, was a very real thing
Column 1923 figurative painting does not operate purely as an iconic in the mind of Tatlin and the artists that followed. In-
Plastic, wood, metal
41 1/2 in. high sign, or if it does there is a great deal more to iconicism deed, its implications have never been more important
The Solomon R. Guggenheim than is generally suspected. But for that matter the whole than today.
Museum, New York topic needs clarification, and I should think that a
By courtesy of What does it imply? To begin with, the idea of replacing
Thames & Hudson comprehensive theory of models would have important two-dimensional painting by three-dimensional objects
occurs immediately. The reality of painting has some-
how been eroded by its association with the tradition of
illusion. Tatlin's 'real object in real space' is in part a
reaction to this idea. The ordinary objects of nature are
three-dimensional; the new reality-status of the art work
demanded this condition, and much of the aesthetic of
the construction as a physical object has centred on this
notion. The constructed relief, for example, is valid when
viewed from an oblique angle; accepts and responds to
changes of light direction and intensity; may further
manipulate light through the use of transparent materials
or highly reflecting surfaces. These are effects from which
a painting is usually protected, or when they do occur
must be ignored. But these effects already transcend mere
three-dimensionality. The idea that an art work may
have a more active relationship with its environment— can
undergo change—inevitably follows from the urge to
achieve reality-status. And this urge is easily extended to a
desire to compete fully with nature, to use the whole
repertoire of reality, the full bag of tricks. And so the
qualities of growth, transformation, chance, movement,
etc., present themselves as possibilities. Movement was
introduced into art works in Russia as early as 1920, and
today in the flood of transformable and kinetic work art
forms vie with life as never before.

Post-war developments

Since 1950 a variety of forms have appeared that have
some bearing on the previous discussion. Only two of
these will be considered in any detail: the Constructionist
movement in England, and the international tendency
called 'transformable art'. Kinetic art overlaps trans-
formable art to a certain extent, but is in itself a con-
siderable topic, as are those forms based on ideas of
synthesis, which seek to merge with or otherwise influ-
ence architecture, or proceed from more obscure en-
vironmental urges. Nicolas Schöffer's work is a good
example of the intertwining of kinetic and environmental
themes with technology. He has designed a rotating
theatre, built a 'singing' tower, and one of his works is a
self-propelled construction whose photo-electric 'senses'
allow it a limited response to light signals. There is a