Random Axial Sculpture in an Historical Context:
Beyond Three Dimensional Form
D. Kerslake ©
First published on BronzeSite, January 1998.
Revised September, 2000.
Fontana in his studio. Photo by Ugo Mulas
"...[People are] becoming constantly more insensitive to images nailed down without any indication of vitality. The old immobile images no longer satisfy the needs of the new [person]........" Lucio Fontana, Manifesto blanco (1946)
Fontana - an inventive artist and leading art figure in Milan following WWII, envisioned a new age of art; a four dimensional art which would include time in the form of music and movement.
Time, as discussed by Duchamp, Fontana and many others, has not been proven to be the fourth dimension, yet Fontana's idea of integrating sound or movement with the work, does add another dimension to the experience.
Random-axial sculpture presents a continuation of the creative process beyond the artist's contribution by challenging the viewer to become a participant in much the same way as a literary work challenges the reader to create images alluded to by the author. Encouraging participation - to lift, revolve and reposition the work is clearly what Fontana's Manifesto blanco describes.
Fontana said, "participation is what the public wants". At the turn of the twenty first century, Fontana's manifesto is half a century old. Interactive media (QTVR), new kinds of installation art (movable monument projects) as well as random-axial sculpture, reference Fontana's vision there-by contributing new developments to postmodern art.
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Lucio Fontana. Modified 25 February 2003.© File.01.1003.2898.05
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