Przestrzeń jako środek wyrazu w rzeźbie XX wieku

Abstract

Until the end of the 19th century, sculpture was based around the classical compositional assumptions of Greek sculpture such as: harmony, symmetry, rhythm, as well as the rules of the organic construction of a human body. Experiments with space were revolutionary: crossing the borders of what was understood as sculpture, coherent and pithy, superficially constructed forms and opening sculptural composition to the surrounding space. In the development of 20th century sculpture we can distinguish four main trends in spatial action: a) annexation of the surrounding space, natural phenomena, common objects, b) direct action in a social space, c) exploring the intellectual space and monumentality of form, d) integrating the space into the composition of the sculpture – aiming at unity of idea–form. Establishing new spacial relations, absorbing the surrounding, organising its space was connected with discovering new lexical and technical possibilities of creation. It expanded the thematical areas and enriched the means of expression. That is why we can talk here about multiplicity of styles, attitudes and quickly elapsing trends. Form: Aiming at expressing the heart of the matter sculptors experimented abstractly with form as spacial action, preserving the dynamic balance of mass, rhytmic elements, organised arrangment of tensions, taking into consideration the push and pull functions of harmony and contrast. Expressions of this new awareness were full spacial sculptures. Their common feature was energy. Movement: Cubist origins of sculptural revolution can be observed in the defining of “movement” as the dynamising of form. Negatives, open work, the penetration of forms and levels allowed the permeation of sculptural structure inside to reveal the action of centripetal force. There appear continuous and infinite forms, mobile sculpture, using gravity, electrical and clock/time mechanisms. Open form: According to constructivist principles, instead of a closed mass or block, the loose arrangements of dynamic structures were built in ways that let air come through, giving them organic expression. Because the form open’s to the space new possibilities appeared, creating form by light, movement and action in time. Architecture as sculpture: The spacial actions of sculptors inspired architects to join buildings with their surroundings, with urban structures, communication chains and natural principles. Nature: Apart from the organic trend of joining sculpture with urban and natural neighbourhood, there is a tendency to treat sculpture as a dominant monumental feature annexing the surroundings. Object: At the same time there was a critical trend towards bourgeois culture. The Dadaist trend derided the sublime status of the beauty of a work of art, discovering the expression of ugliness of ordinary objects. Art: Aroused by the progress of civilisation the mood of consumption pushed art into the background of public interest. Artists discovered its intelletcual dimensions and the linguistic structure as an independent creation of an artistic phenomenon which thinks and talks. Towards life: Reacting to the social isolation of art in the sixties brought spectacular artistic actions which were the attempts to escape the ivory tower and to break an artificial barrier between life, audience and art. A clear turn towards an ordinary, non-artistic sphere of life was, through the pop-art trend, directed to mass communication and behavioural stereotypes. Great form: Minimal-art was a denial of the garish stylistics of documenting the iconosphere of consumption. It attempted to disregard and reduce the means of expression in order to achieve a monumental action of geometric forms. Simplifying, cutting and coolness, circumspection of creation and exaggeration of scale induce concentration, to put the senses to sleep and to a more intellectual a perception. Great space: A composition as a purpose of a creative work loses its meaning: what counts is the idea, the process, the action and their documentation. The artists realise their conceptions on land, sea and in the air – in the great spaces which are difficult to take in. Reflections: Sculptors, using space as a means of expression, focus on its psycho-visual meaning in life and in people’s coexistence. A consciousness of the new spatial dimension of the post-consumerist society emerged from the chaos of the impetuos industrial era, poisoning and devastation of the environment. This kind of society awaits experiences, anticipates the development of a culture of a new artisticism: the art present in everyday life, blended with their environment.