Page 38 - Studio International - February 1967

term Environmental if it was synonymous with Kinetic, to Vasarely. In 1955 the Argentinian artist Gregorio
or if it denoted a quality that could be found in the same Vardanega claimed that: 'Luminosity, precision, har-
measure throughout the whole range of Kinetic art. In mony and especially space are elements which give a new
fact this is not so. There is a difference not simply in de- significance to the work of art— they bring with them joy,
gree but also in kind between works which are designed optimism and perhaps even a less equivocal type of con-
to animate an existing environment, and works which duct, making their contribution towards a fuller life.'
create an environment of their own. This might be ex- There is, of course, an often insurmountable problem in
pressed as a distinction between environmental Art, on realizing the projects which an artist of this persuasion
the one hand, and Environmental art, on the other. will naturally devise. Vardanega's project for a tower of
Kinetic art is environmental not simply because of the twenty metres, with a sequence of flashing lights and
aesthetic factor but also because of the methods by which corresponding sound effects, exists up to now only in a
it is produced. The case of Vasarely is an excellent ex- small maquette. Vasarely calls for a new class of men—
ample of the way in which the abandonment of tradi- 'the Toscaninis of the visual arts' — to investigate and
tional materials has led to a new environmental status for carry out the environmental projects of artists. One of
the work of art. From 1950 he has maintained the habit these has already emerged in the person of Bernard
of working with small maquettes, and using projectors to Lassus, who approaches the problem of animating our
determine what size they should be given in the 'public' environment from an architect's point of view, and has
versions. In 1953 he wrote: 'I make everything in a small already carried out numerous projects in buildings.
format, that is the first stage, and I keep it for myself— Until this type of mediation between the artist and the
from this I draw functional works (I commission a picture wider environment becomes generally accepted, Vasarely
from myself), I execute works in a large format for exhi- and Vardanega are obliged to work within the established
bitions, I have a tapestry made, I work out a film.' It is systems of presentation, producing their works mainly for
the functional nature of the work that is important here. exhibition in galleries and museums. In the past few
Vasarely does not merely design specific works for specific years, however, numerous artists and groups of artists
settings, which is a task that any artist might be expected have turned to the different problem of creating an arti-
to undertake. His method of working is inseparably ficial environment, which the spectator is able to affect,
linked with the notion of function, since the maquette and even transform, by his own actions. The most interest-
would remain no more than a blueprint if 'commissions' ing theorists of this Environmental art (with the accent
were not made from it. on the first word) have been the members of the Groupe
This is not simply a theoretical point. In the Documenta Recherche d'Art Visuel. When the G.R.A.V. presented
III exhibition at Cassel, the section entitled 'Bild und their first `Labyrinthe' at the Paris Biennale of 1963, they
Raum' was planned with the object of allowing a wide explained that this composite work was 'in one sense a
variety of artists to arrange their work in an appropriate transposition on to an architectural scale of some of the
environment. Many of these artists made excellent use of principal aspects of their work'. But they added that it
the opportunity. Sam Francis' three painted panels, was also a pointer towards entirely new experiments
designed for the Entrance Hall of the Kunsthalle, Basel, involving the participation of the spectator. In the same
were arranged in lantern, forming an area alive with year Le Parc, one of the members of the group, gave this
Rococo movement. Louise Nevelson's dead black reliefs, description of a projected 'place of activation' : 'In this
on the other hand, composed a small room as solemn as place there would be neither pictures hung from the walls,
an unopened pyramid. But the seven magnificent works nor actors; neither passive spectators nor masters nor
by Vasarely did more than lend character to the sur- pupils; simply certain elements, and people with time to
rounding space. Beyond their application to a particular spare. This hypothetical place could be a large room
setting, they testified to the existence of a type of creation 15 x 15 x 6 metres in size, all white, with a system of
by its very nature divorced from the traditional systems of panels and mobile bridges. Alternatively, a series of 50
production and exhibition. The generality of their pic- centimetre cubes could be assembled to create different
torial language and the lucidity of their organization floor levels and masses.'
suggested a reintroduction of the traditional Classicist In concentrating their attention almost exclusively upon
principle: 'l'ordre agrandit l'espace'. Far from being the interaction between spectator and work, the G.R.A.V.
dehumanized, they gave no hint of disequilibrium be- were making a decisive departure from the systems of
tween the work of art and the outside world. They were a presentation characteristic of the visual arts. But it is
fitting illustration to the statement which Vasarely made important to realize that they were not cutting themselves
in 1953: 'I take it for granted that man possesses a deep- away from all current forms of artistic activity. Their
rooted plastic instinct. Just like his instinct for rhythm or choice of the word `Labyrinthe' already opens up a signi-
music. I believe that there are fresh possibilities of satis- ficant field of reference.
fying man's natural instinct for sensory pleasures. The The Groupe Recherche d'Art Visuel's intention to 'de-
crowd, the masses, a multitude of human beings. That is mystify' the plastic arts can be related to parallel efforts
the new dimension. That is unlimited space and the truth in the realms of music and literature. Like Boulez and
of structures. Art is the plastic aspect of the community.' Robbe-Grillet they rely on the use of non-sensuous,
This conviction that the Kinetic artist is creating a new labyrinthine structures to create works which are entirely
form of order, to satisfy a human instinct which makes devoid of Expressionist connotations. Robbe-Grillet
itself known not simply in the gallery and the museum might almost be describing one of the 'unstable' optical
but in the community at large, is far from being confined pictures of the G.R.A.V. when he writes in La Jalousie: