Rhythm & Geometry

Took Mrs M to Nottingham train station, so went to this excellent exhibition at Nottingham University. I never studied art  and such was my interest in this exhibition (with struture, process, mathematics and social history) that my many words constitute my learning. Some may even interest you!

Constructivist Art in Britain since 1951

Constructivism originated in Russia in 1915 aimed to redesign society with a utopian view for an industrial world. It became popular in Britain after the Second World War at the time the Labour government invested heavily in the reconstruction of Britain and the arts. The socialist origins of Constructivism in Russia meant that adopting the style was a political statement as much as an artistic one. In Britain a version of this form of geometric abstraction emerged in which materials and techniques were adopted from industry, such as plastics and welding. Many artists also became interested in biology and how forms in nature follow mathematical rules. 

1951 was a pivotal year for Constructivist art in Britain with reliefs, and mobile artworks which could be experienced three-dimensionally as a dynamic part of the environment.

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m: François Morellet - Sphère-trame (1962)
Stainless steel
 
Morellet believed that kinetic art gives control of the experience to the viewer, as the artist no longer dictates a single viewpoint. The movement in this mobile adds to the shifting optical effect of the grid.

e1: Five Regions Relief - Anthony Hill (1960-1962) 
Aluminium, wood, perspex

Hill developed a series of reliefs using a grid of twenty-five squares divided into five 'regions'. He used mathematical formulae to find the possible variations within this system. Hill aimed for his work to 'function and operate with light, space and movement'.

e2: - Jesús Rafael Soto - Kinetic Construction (1965)
Painted wood, nylon thread

By positioning together strands of nylon thread, Soto dematerialises form. He described this as a type of metamorphosis. He wrote, 'We are forced to question our perceptions which seem so reliable.' Originally from Venezuela, Soto lived in Paris and exhibited in experimental galleries, such as the Signals Gallery, in London 

Moving  around this piece there was a striking misperception that the string was moving.

e3: Eric Snell - Cuneiform III (1978)
Aluminium, paint, PVC, resin, electrical motor and components 

This piece moved constantly into seemingly random patterns.

Snell carried out a series of experiments with kites, observing how differences in form affected their flight. His kinetic sculpture relates to his interest in the random movement of connected elements. The title Cuneiform was chosen due to his work's similarity to the triangular marks of ancient Sumerian script, one of the oldest forms of writing.

e4: Takis -Signals Series II (1968)
Steel, tubular chrome-plated steel, acrylic, electrical components, glass 

This light on off combinations and variations changed  constantly.

Takis, used magnets, light and sound as materials for his art. He created a series of Signals sculptures with long poles topped with found objects, lights, or coils of metal. This version was simplified for mass production and manufactured as a multiple by the British company Unlimited. 

e5,6: Gillian Wise - Relief: Sixfold progression on two planes (1968-69) - 
perspex, elastic, metal pegs, hardboard

This piece looked like wire rather than thread and moving round  it's 3d image looked different  as you moved.

Gillian Wise's was part of both the Constructionist and the later Systems groups. In this relief, Wise uses threaded elastic to create three-dimensional line drawings within a grid to encourage the viewer to move around the work.

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Appendix - more detail

Colour & rhythm

In the 1960s and '70s, some artists in Britain began to take a geometric approach to painting and printmaking. Their work was rooted in Constructivism through its basis in geometry or mathematical systems. Unframed canvases were presented as installations, or shaped canvases pushed painting into the territory of sculpture. These developments were often accompanied by a bold use of colour allowing harmonious or contrasting colour combinations to achieve perceptual or emotive effects.
A number of these artists formed groups. The Systems Group took a systematic approach to painting. The Countervail group, was founded in the late 1980s by a group of women artists who wanted to disrupt the view that systems-based art was a purely masculine preoccupation.

Movement & participation 
Some artists developed. Movement had been important to the earliest Constructivist artists, including Vladimir Tatlin, who imagined that sections of his (unrealised) Monument to the Third International would rotate at different speeds.
The interest of some in Kinetic art, involving actual movement in space also gave rise to a type of art that plays with our perception and became known as Op art. Often, through densely packed lines or moiré patterns, Op art compositions seem to shift in front of the viewer's eyes.

Chance & order
One of the fundamental characteristics of Constructivism is the systematic approach to the making of a work of art and many artists work to mathematical or geometrical rules. Often art works are composed of simple squares, rectangles, or triangles, built up into complex forms. Some artists also set up systems that would give an unknown outcome, as they explored the tension between chance and order.
In the 1960s and '70s, some artists began using computer-based systems, even before computers were widely accessible. Like mathematical systems, their computer programmes incorporated an element of unpredictability. Due to the nature of early coding, artworks that were created using computers were often linear or geometric.

Constructionism
The Constructionists (as opposed to Constructivists) were a group of artists based in London who began exhibiting and publishing their work together in the 1950s. They were united by their shared interest in constructing non-figurative art works using geometric forms.
The term Constructionism was coined by the American artist Charles Biederman, particularly his confidence in the constructed relief as an important new art form.
A number of the Constructionists collaborated with architects on the design of exhibitions as well as on architectural commissions, creating total environments, though often their work was on a domestic scale.