Rectangular
01
38 MDF boards, black finish
218 cm x 135 cm
2008
Rectangular 01 was developed from the artist’s study in proportions. The study is a clear reference to the principle of the “golden section”, a principle made popular by Andreas Palladio’s work in architectural history. Against this background, Rectangular 01 can be seen as an artwork that operates within the context of Palladio’s rules of aesthetics and harmony.
In contrast to Palladio, however, the artist is not creating architecture, but rather concrete art. Concrete art is not the same as representational art, for it does not depict anything - neither visible nor invisible reality. Unlike architecture, it has no practical utilitarian value, but instead aims at the possibility of experience and insight. Piet Mondrian said, “What do I wish to express with my work? I want to achieve beauty at all levels and harmony through the balance of relations between lines, colors and surfaces. But only in the most clear and stark way possible.” Concrete art is a style of modern art that is based on principles of mathematical and geometric aesthetics. Typical of this style is a reduction down to a few basic geometric forms such as squares, rectangles and lines, as well as the use of only few primary colors or, as in the case of Rectangular 01, the reduction down to black and white.
The artist describes the artwork’s composition using terms from the world of music: balance, rhythm and harmony. It is the essential simplicity of this structure from which works of lasting and universal appeal come about, the experience of which extends beyond the artworks’ particular time and context. Max Bill wrote in 1947, “Concrete art makes the abstract notion itself visible using purely artistic means, and for this purpose creates new objects. The goal of concrete art is to develop objects for intellectual use, similar to the way humans create objects for material use.” (Wolf Guenter Thiel)
Text by Wolf Guenter Thiel in German (PDF)
Photos
Jan Bitter
Rectangular 01 exhibited at "Projekt Barnimkante",
Berlin