Opere moltiplicate, opera aperta Serialità e anonimato nelle ricerche cinevisuali degli anni Sessanta

In the early 1960s, groups of artists begin to develop collective research in kinetic art and visual perception. By combining art, industrial design and technology, these ‘aesthetic operators’ lay the foundations for a multiplied art, made for everybody. The aim of their work is to open art to a genuine democratization process since the viewer would interact with these manipulable objects. However, this point of view questions the art myth of the ‘unique and unrepeatable’ artwork, which is replaced by the ‘open work’, produced in series by an interdisciplinary team. Moreover, the theory of anonymity and the multiples increase the critical debate concerning the concept of authenticity. The paper proposes a reflection on the diffusion of multiplied art during the 1960s. Through the analysis of the archival documents – some previously unpublished – the study identifies the crucial passages in which the experimentations of programmed Italian artists have embraced the democratic ideology of seriality.

The Contribution of the Soviet “Kinetic” Art of the 1960s‑1970s to the Development of the Theory and Practice of Architectural Lighting Technology

The paper analyses the original works in the field of architectural light and engineering belonging to the most prominent representatives of the domestic kinetic art of the 1960s (F. Infante, V.F. Koleichuk, L.N. Nusberg, as well as A. Lanin and B.M. Galeev). The conceptual basis of these works is revealed including a special attitude to light as a unique physical phenomenon and, at the same time, the most important component of a new architectural and artistic language. The practical value of the projects of special dynamic lighting of art objects, interiors of exhibition spaces, individual architectural objects and the urban environment as a whole, proposed by these authors and partly implemented by them, is revealed. It is shown in what way and for what purpose this type of synthetic art was formed at the intersection of architecture, design and engineering, which made a significant contribution to the development of both the theory and practice of architectural light engineering. In conclusion, the idea is expressed about the importance of using the considered historical experience at the present time, when every year new technical possibilities appear for creating an expressive light-colour environment, but deep content, philosophical and theoretical foundations for its design, which inspired the masters who stood at the origins of this the most important architectural and artistic direction, are lost.

BEYOND BRAZIL: REMEMBERING GUY BRETT THROUGH HIS OWN EYES / Além do Brasil: lembrando Guy Brett através de seus próprios olhos

The British art critic Guy Brett has become a standard reference in Brazil through his writing on and friendship with artists such as Sergio Camargo, Lygia Clark, Hélio Oiticica, Mira Schendel during the 1960s and later with Cildo Meireles, Antonio Manuel, Lygia Pape, Jac Leirner, Waltercio Caldas and so many others. While these artists have come, to a large extent, to define how contemporary art is understood nationally, Guy’s contribution helped weave their creative outputs within a larger art historical narrative, helping inscribe them, even if still only partially, within the hegemonic and institutional canons. Yet, it would be limiting to consider Guy’s relevance through this single, albeit important, perspective. This article, not so much an essay but a series of annotated quotes, seeks to shed light on Guy’s own intellectual trajectory, focusing on the particular way he came to articulate, through his writing and curation, the art that he was interested in. What actually interested him ranged from the singular subjective experience with the art object to its wider relation with the world. When referring to that which bridged such diverse approaches to art, Guy often invoked the idea of cosmic energies, field forces, sometimes in a literal sense such as in the case of electromagnetic force in the work of the Greek artist Takis, at other times more metaphorically. Such invocations whether referring to ancient cosmologies, millennial knowledges or scientific thought, never attempted to determine or impose his own perspective upon others or imply any sense of superiority of one type of art over another. In Guy’s own understanding, the universal seemed antithetical to the way it is usually prescribed within the history of modernism. Indeed, Guy never had a problem with modernism itself but with the narrow constraints with which it has been considered. His criticism was directed primarily towards how modernism has been historicised and instrumentalised within the institutional structures of art.Keywords: Guy Brett; Kinetic Art; Signals Gallery; Art Criticism; Decolonising. AbstractO crítico de arte britânico Guy Brett se tornou referência única no Brasil por meio de sua escrita e amizade com artistas como Sergio Camargo, Lygia Clark, Hélio Oiticica, Mira Schendel durante a década de 1960, e mais tarde com Cildo Meireles, Antonio Manuel, Lygia Pape, Jac Leirner, Waltercio Caldas, assim como tantos outros. Embora esses artistas tenham, em grande parte, definido o modo como a arte contemporânea é entendida em âmbito nacional, a contribuição de Guy ajudou a tecer suas produções dentro de uma narrativa histórica da arte mais ampla, colaborando para os inscrever, ainda que parcialmente, nos cânones hegemônicos e institucionais. Seria, no entanto, limitado considerar a relevância de Guy mediante essa única, embora importante, perspectiva. Este artigo, não é tanto um ensaio, mas uma série de citações em busca de lançar luz sobre a trajetória intelectual de Guy, focalizando a maneira particular como ele veio a articular, por meio de sua escrita e práticas curatoriais, a produção de arte pela qual estava interessado. O que realmente o interessou variou desde a experiência subjetiva singular com o objeto de arte até sua relação mais ampla com o mundo. Ao se referir ao seu interesse por assuntos tão diversificados no campo da arte, Guy frequentemente invocava a ideia de energias cósmicas, forças de campo, às vezes em um sentido literal, como no caso da força eletromagnética existente na obra do artista grego Takis, outras vezes de forma mais metafórica. Tais invocações, sejam cosmologias arcaicas, conhecimentos milenares ou pensamentos científicos, nunca tentaram determinar ou impor suas próprias perspectivas sobre os outros ou implicaram qualquer senso de superioridade de um tipo de arte sobre outro. Na própria compreensão de Guy, o universal parecia antitético à maneira como é normalmente prescrito dentro da história do modernismo. Na verdade, Guy nunca teve problema com o modernismo, mas com a forma limitada pela qual tem sido considerado. Sua crítica era dirigida principalmente ao modo como o modernismo tem sido historicizado e instrumentalizado dentro das estruturas institucionais da arte.Palavras-chave: Guy Brett; arte cinética; Signals Gallery; Magiciens de la Terre; decolonial.

Assemblage technique in creating modern wooden sculptures

This article demonstrates the manifestation of assemblage technique in modern wooden sculpture. The author describes the essence of this method. Special attention is given to another novelty of avant-garde culture – organic art, according to the philosophy of which, the world is depicted as organic whole, the uniform system with its own laws. The pedagogical system of M. Matyushin allows demonstrating the natural bound of man and nature in the artworks. Based on the developed creative method, the author indicates that contemporary art may combine such avant-garde trends as organic art and assemblage. Another important methodology that is similar to assemblage technique, and simultaneously verges upon the practices of kinetic art, is the creation of sculptures with spinning elements. The synthesis of techniques and materials allows expanding the boundaries of art by introducing into inartistic materials. The fundamental idea of this approach is to enrich the context of existence of the artwork and its history. It is stated that wooden sculpture allows the artists to experiment. The ideas and plotlines of wooden sculptures embody the artistic diversity of decorative and applied arts.

Vyacheslav Koleichuk as the Engine of the Russian Kinetic Art. Imaginary dialogue at the exhibition

The State Tretyakov Gallery hosts a significant exhibition “Laboratory of the Future. Kinetic Art in Russia”. Its significance, the influence of the artistic phenomenon of kinetic art itself on domestic art of the 20th and 21st centuries has not yet been fully determined. The exhibition emphasizes kinetic art as one of the central national trends in experimental artistic creativity of the 20th century, even as some kind of a tradition. On the one hand, the exhibition would have been impossible without the participation of the creators of the Russian avant-garde, the founders of abstract art, the creators of the first abstract sculptures and dynamic structures: V. V. Kandinsky, K.S. Malevich, El Lissitzky, V. E. Tatlin, A. M. .Rodchenko. On the other hand, recognized masters, inventors of kinetic art in the USSR in the 1960s and 1970s, creators of the synthetic works of art combining the sound, color, form, images and motion are also important: Lev Nusberg’s “Group Movement” in Moscow and “KB Prometheus” under the leadership of Bulat Galeev in Kazan, the first kinetic construction at the USSR Exhibition of Economic Achievements Francisco Infante and the dynamic installation “Atom” by Vyacheslav Koleichuk, experiments with electronic sound and acoustics of the Experimental Studio of Electronic Music of Evgeny Murzin, the Theremen Center, created by Andrei Smirnov, space projects by Vyacheslav Loktev installations with light and sound in Leningrad by August Lanin 1. One of the key figures in this artistic process was the architect, designer, researcher, inventor, constructor and teacher Vyacheslav Fomich Koleichuk (1941–2018). This imaginary dialogue is covering some of the inventions of the artist, developing the traditions of Russian kinetic art, expanding the artistic space of modern design and architecture 2.

THE NATURE OF THE IMAGE WITHIN TECHNOLOGICAL ART IN THE MID – 20TH CENTURY. LUMINO KINETIC EXPERIMENTS BY FRANK MALINA

For the first time in the Russian-speaking academic environment the authors of the paper analyze the creative legacy of the scientist, aeronautical engineer and artist Frank Joseph Malina (1912–1981). His working practices reflected the most important ethic and aesthetic aspirations of the mid-twentieth century, what became an important contribution to the development of modern visual culture. The pioneer of Lumino Kinetic art F.Malina created several unique electromechanical systems for the production of an image, the media infrastructure and technological nature of which would later become the visual standard of the digital age. The discovery of electric light as a new artistic medium allowed him to focus on the production methods, control and processing algorithms for light that produces images. The Lumino Kinetic experiments of F. Malina are based on understanding the new nature of the image, born during the era of scientific discoveries. Several decades before the iconic turn was proclaimed by academic science, they presented the image as a system of relations that is formed in acts of perception and that is not based on visible, but felt, ideated, imagined reality. While creating his works F. Malina dreamed of modeling qualitatively new perceptual conditions for the existence of mankind aimed at further progress and traveling to the stars.