ANOTHER GEOMETRY Gego's Retculrea, 1969-77 Adit sly eed the veer hands he coy ofthe constucive ‘haracterofth frms les oe work tre and abandoning perception oF the modes in which twas conurd oat soehing or shown ete then in tht momen oes emerge an dap cone configuration, ays inthe ating, 4 wor prone toro rare waceathe meandeing Be. mn Gogo’ artistic trajectory only the spatial displacement ofthe geometric plane, the ‘increasing materaization of the line, and her interes in experimental engineering hints at the radical eap represented by her Rticulres The Spanish word reteula eters toa network oflines or amet, and this work—first exhibited in June 1969 tthe Museo de Bellas Artes de Caracas (fig. 52) and reiastlled and re-created several times there: after consisted of metal meshes and nets connected and dispersed irregularly within room, The Reiculdrea rehearsed a paradig of artistic production that, in its refusal ofthe conventions of sulptute mass, volun, surface), made line and space the means fara eiique of szchitectural enclosure and sculptural monumentality. In its system atic undoing ofthe calculated geometries snd gridike structures favored by postwar geometric abstraction, Gego's work interrogated idealiaed models of representation snd ther illusory cefletion of moderiagd urban space. Her "weaving" of nets—as she called the production process implied bythe design ofthe Reticuldrea—was putt snd parcel of the constructive ethos that hid fueled Venezuela artistic imaginary in ‘the 19508 but which by the late 190s had been domesticated bythe government and the economic elite 38 a symbol of the country’s wealth and international aspirations? In its attack on form and cubic spatality, Gego’s Reticuldrea went against che grain of standard sculptural bodies to engage marginal spacet—such as the peripheries of roms that she was at pins to activate in herinstallations—and to respond tothe erratic ‘urban landscape of Caracas, This chapter argues forthe zlevance ofthe Rete in the context ofa continental postwar esse geometric aberaction that questioned the ego, Reels, Museo de Hellas Arte de Caracas 195, coxventions of mediums. It also pays close attention to how Gegos geographical and professional displacements from Germany and from architecture; to Veneziela and to the visual arts) informed the intermedia aspect of her practice. (ego (Gertrude Goldschmidh), born in Hamburg in 29ta, was a niece ofthe art histo "an Adolph Goldschmidt (who taught the like of Alexander Dorner, Ewin, Panofsy, and Rudolph Witkower a the University of Resin). In the winter semester of 1952-33, she began her studies in achitectare and engineering at the Technische Hochschule of Statgart under the tutelage of Paul Bonatz. Bona was one of the main exponents ofthe modernist masonry style that emerged in Germany between the wats. He had ‘ben influenced by Theodor Fischer's matonry buildings and had put into practice a ‘modernized version of hs mentors approach inthe railroad station of Stuttgart, which Donate dengue i cllabuttion wilt FE. Scholes fom gts #9 1938, Bt Bont ssofavored more traditional forms and methods of constuction and was a major advocate of ‘he so-called Heimat (regina! style), which was derived from the rural German ver nacular architecture of the ninetenth century.) Under his leadership, the Technische Hochschule putin place reforms that emphasized a practical attitude toward architec ture, As consequence, the school expanded it coursesin clementary construction and required al students to have six months of experience at aconstructon site before enter ing the program. Halfay through ther studies, allowing thei seond year, students ‘worked in an architect's ofce for a ful eat. Bonatz described this “comprehensive education for young architects” as one in which students hada fixed curriculum daring ne fet hau hes slice en fice Uniaeo unuaes and profesors only in the second partof theic training.* Under Bonatz the school emphasized group work as a means for arriving a standard solutions to architectural problems, and all professors were nvoled in the critique of final projec, reducing the risk of unr evaluation. Gego earned a double degree in atchtecture and engineering from the Technische Hochschule, and ‘wth that credential and experience from ane ofthe few institutions among Germany's polytechnics structured as an architecture school, she arived inthe port of La Guaira, ‘Venezuela, in August 1939. ‘The country that Gego encountered, although undevdlopd from an urban and cul tural perspective, was undergoing rapid transformation. Indeed, her arvval coincided with the presentation of the Plan Rotival (Monumental Pan), the fst professional pro posal o remake Caracas into 2 modern and regulated urban space’ The twenty-seven: year dictatorship of Juan Vicente Gémiez had ended wits death in 195, unleashing an era of dependency on the oll industry that came to define the country’s identity. politics, and econony-as it has to this day. Venezuela thus became a rentier state whose economy grew exponentially from the policies ef and concessions granted to foreign oil companies. By the late ro30s, Standard Oil ind Shell had come o contol 85 percent of the oil extraction in the country and the Venezuelan government had becomes “istrbstor fell wealth? The death ofthe dicta also fueled a public debate ‘on derocracy, foreign interests, and national wealth, A generation of young intellect als and professionals, some of whom had experienced exile, argued that a democratic ‘government would allow Venezuela to reclaim ts naturalresources to the benefit of the socal progress ofthe nation wile atthe same time fighting imperialism. This ground. ‘well ed toa coup in 1945, fashioned as revolutionary and pro-umiversal suffrage, that ‘brought the Accién Democratic (AD) party to head the government until 1948, As the ‘Venezuelan historian Fernando Cotonl observed, during this bref democratic expert ‘ment AD was able to expand is socal base, which now mcluded the lower and mile lasses, Profiting fom its contro ofthe ol indusry however, the party (ike the dictator ‘hips it fllowed and preceded) became centralized and Hierarchical. Most importantly, Coronil adds, “carved by the low of ol wealth, unususl socal edifice was being built in Venezuela one modeled after the Wester ideals which Venezuela sought to ata: 4 productive civil sacety and a representative state, although with inverted structural cements in which the top supported the bace. With the continuous expansion of the ol Indust an increasingly wealthy state, financially independent fom domestic agents, ‘was making the people dependent on i."* The democratic overnment orchestrated by AD proved to be precarious: afer the 1945 coup the ADs candidate, the novelist Rémulo Gallegos, was elected president in 1647 bat remained in power for only nine moths. military junta followed in Novem: ‘ber 1948, with is leaders seeking to restore order and contol the popular political ‘expansion that AD had encouraged. The transition to dictatorship was swift, abetted by politicians resentment of AD and by a society subject to those in contol of the stare apparatus and, thus ts ol weal). Venezuela's government-—under the varius niltary and civilian juntas and ding the interregnum of Accién Democtica estab lished a patern in which the political and economic clas of the state were not backed _up by substantial development inthe areas of industry and social services, Later, the ‘main gol of the dictatorship of Colonel Marcos Pérez Jiménez (1952-58) ws to be the transformation ofthe country’s urban environment, Asa result, under the aegis of his increasingly strict regime and within a discredited politcal envionment, the country “witnessed urban transformation that had no historical precedent, Revenues from the cll industy and, toa lesser degree, the iron industry, pated with the momemental aspirations ofthe Pérez Jiménez government, transformed the capital of Caracas into an ‘urban centr featuring moder architecture and infrastructure for approximately eight Inunded thousand inhabitants, Office buildings residential centers, low-income housing, hotels, commercial cen ters, military installations, theaters, and highways changed the face ofthe city fg. 5.3). ‘As noted bythe minister of internal relations daring PétezJimséneas dictatorship. “IF anything characterizes the current political regime in Venezuel, tis the bulldozer “The bulldozer isthe best collaborator ofthe government, the most precise interpreter ofthe elevated and noble objective to transform the physical environment... The current government believes that the majority of our problems can be solved by eng neering. Housing, water, communications are demands tha technicians must analyze and satis. The new national dali based on rationally oriented work. This corel tion between material construction, progress, and rationality pervaded the carefully constructed and managed image of modernity that Pére Jiménez sought o establish ‘The ideological program under which thie technocatic agenda was set forth, called [Nuevo deal Nacional (New National Ideal, articulated “he regime's fetishisticvsion of ‘modernity asa collection of grand material achievements” as Coronil puts it?” Indeed, in 1954 Architectural Forum described Caracas as “the buidingest city in South America” and “one ofthe fastest growing cies in the world and afew yeare later Architectural Record published an atile entitled “Highlights of Venezuela's Bur geoning New Architecture"? In 1956 the Paris journal LArchitecture wound ha? dedicated fifty four poges to commercial ad residential buildings throughout Venez la (fig. 53). Suessng the problems produced by uncontrolled rural migrations and theConstruction of Heke Caracas e196 ‘chaos of unplanned construction," the magizine described the virtues of new buildings that would provide all sorts of services tothe new communities of rural migrant. In time, it coneluded, Caracas would be an exemplary case of habia planning. That was surely one ofthe aspirations of the Nuevo Ideal Nacional espoused by Pérez Jiméne2, ‘whose focus on the physical transformation ofthe country was an updated version of ‘the ideal of order and progress that characterized regimes throughout the continent Influenced by nineteenth-century pestvim, this program aimed to transform the natural habitat (the cause of underdevelopment in the view ofthe government) and, ‘through atonalityand planning, todominsethe whims of mature. But ifthe urban and architectural achievements ofthe regime—ith its emphasis on professional planning and embrace of architectural and design experimentation—were to make Venezuela “continental reference of functionalist medernism” they also exposed a tendency to _uncritcally appropriate foreign models, and poor planning tha contributed tothe rapid spread ofa periphery of shantytowns—a “belt of misery"—whose growth was acceler sted by the promise of city lights Gogo’ architectural and engineering training in Stuttgart predisposed her toward an architectural reading of sculptural space and an awarenest of the urban contradictions ofthe built environment she observed in Caracas during its phase of rapid moderniza- Archie uous 67-88, Octer 95, speci fs on Venezan ciel tion in the 19508 and beyond, Influenced by the polemics surrounding the downfall of ‘moder architecture and aant garde culture n Nazi Germany, alter the optimistic presence of geometric abstraction in Venezuelan the 19508 and 19608, Gego was caget to embrace a sculptural practice that would recaptte, and later redefine, sculpture’s use of real—architectural—space. It seems only logical that at some point she would go beyond an object based at practice to engage more complex situations trough works that would develop modes of public address in which viewers collectively confronted a spatiotemporal field organized according tothe matrix of spatial and material dedi: {ferentiation that can also be recognized in the work of Eva Hesse, whose Right fier fig, 5:4) came t fruition in 1969, the same year Gego'sRetiuldra was first shown. ‘Seholars have observed that Reticuldea bears the influence ofthe American engineer ‘Buckminster Fuller, particularly his geodesic domes—sphercal lightweight structures based on a tetrahedral module, As early a 1969, the Veneeucln at critic and historian Lourdes Blanco, i her shor, isightil text on the Reticuléra, mentioned Fuller and ‘Alexander Calder as inBluential antecedents forthe work For Gego (and a whole ge tation of artists in the 19603). engineering, like architecture, was a compelling feldin Which radical reconceptualizations and experiments with structures and urban space ‘were taking place, Gegos 1968 work Flechas (Arrows) commissioned by the Estudiora ete. ight After 969, ber, pases, nd wie, 6052448, thre econ. Actual art gallery fran interior courtyard ofthe Centro Comercial Chacaito(Chacalto Malin Caracas—was suspended inthe open space between two floors (fig. 53}. It gen crated a matrix of triangles made of metal tes that were echoed by triangular metal Viades aed conected by aslou pen, The work’ tecanique relied on “tensegtily” « steutural system in which compression elements (here, metal rds) are linked throngh tensioned members (inthis ease, ropes and wires) and attests to Gego's taining and imorest in engineering, Tensegrity was developed in 1948 by the American artist Ken: neth Snelson during a sesnnar with Fuller at Black Mountain College, and, according to Michael John Gorman, it “demonstrated that tension structures could be extended in all directions to create networks of forces thitcountecbalanced each othe A small Sculpture made by Snelson atthe end of 948 tle Early plece rudimentary but aptly demonstrates the system (ig. 55) Its verticlconfiguration—rwo X-shaped wooden Pisces, one suspended on tp ofthe other through at axa course of nylon conds—lkely inspired the radial structure of Fuller's geodesic domes, which relied onthe modular ‘muidirectonaity suggested by the scupture!* Follers masterpiece was geodesic dome seventy sit meters in diameter builton the occasion of the 1967 Universal Exposition in Montreal forthe American Paylin, This (ego, Flaha(rro) 1968 alain so yap. 354354 work (of which Gego was probaly aware) embodied a “futuristic optimism" divectly ‘connected tothe new structural and spatial challenges ofthe period. Geodesic dames, slong with other lightweight structures that offered an alternative to mainsteeam ‘modernist architecture, were widely publicized in architectural magazines duting the "9508 and 1960s, Fuller’s work so found its way nto art venues from September 1959Kenneth Soon, Ey Xp, 948 mond aod lon, aes ‘through 1960, the Museum of Modern Artin New Yerk mounted Thre Structures by Bucinster Fuller, wich featured a geodesic radome, an octet truss, and 3 tensegity ‘mast2” Gogo could have seen the MoMA exibition when she and her partner, the Lithuanian-Venezuelan artist and designer Gerd Leufer, visited New York that year the presence ofthe exhibition brochure in the aris home library in Caracas suggests this, Two years ater, in 1962, the editor of Architecture dAujourdhl, the artist André Bloc who had widely publicized Caslos Rail Vlanuevas Universidad Central in Caracas (i945-58) where Gego was professor in the school of architecture—publshed an issue on architectures ontastiques, which featured many experimental projets that reconceved the city dwellers relationship to the urban metropolis, These projects shared a fluid conception of space in which stractual systems characterized by open ‘modularity encouraged “unpredictable patterns of living™ and, according tothe archi ‘ectural historian Mark Wigley, were indebted tothe pioneering work of Buckminster Fullerand Konrad Wachsmann. Both men were associated with the Institute of Design in Chicago and thee work must have been familiar to Gego de to her interest n ‘perimental engineering and her growing interest in the Bauhaus pedagogy and is legacies. This interest was prompted by the opening ofa new building fo the school of architecture atthe Universidad Cental in Caracas in 1957-58, where Gego taught 8 course on the foundations of composition fom 1959 to 1966. It was precisely in 1962, when talkof spatial architectures and space frames was at its peakin France, that ego spe ture programs ‘Asan architecture student in Stttgart, Gego mast have been acquainted with the Bauhaus-—or at least the debates on rationalization, standardization, internationl- fsm, and tradition it had provoked and the work it produced and inspired, And she ould surely have been famillar with the Weissenhof Settlement, the exhibition of ‘experimental housing built ona hill overlooking Stattgat in 1927. This proundreak ng complex of buildings featured the work of such prominent modernist architects as Ladwig Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius, J.P. Oud, and Bruno Taut, among others. The ambitious exhibition was organized by the German Werk bbund—an association of architects and designers founded in 2907 to promote modern industrial design—and sponsored by the city of Stuttgart. The project was intended to demonstrate the advantages of the Neues Bauen for New Building, a tem that Jncreasngly defined the modern architectural movement ofthe 1920s in Gert) and its methods of rationalization and standardization. The Sedan however, proved «extremely controversial, as it cast light on tensions between internationalism and local: {sm, experimentalism and tradition. These negotiations were relevant as the Weis- ‘enh Settlement was part of an effort bythe city of Stutigart to boost is national prominence. Friction between the indigenous and the international would be replayed in Venezuela, though on very different terms, Modern architecture and the variants of geometric abstraction that circulate inthe Caracas ofthe 19508 and 1960s would highlight the stresses between local culture and what was perceived as its total opposite: 8 universalism generally associated with the canonical artistic trajectories of European tsince the nineteenth century. ego's familiarity with Bauhaus pedagogy was evident inher teaching at the archi tecture school ofthe Universidad Central. The foundation course she taught there in ‘he 1960s introduced students to concepts such as lin, space, volun, form, structure, and texture, and the bases of spatial representation. This course was knowns theo. ‘entation cycle it was followed by an analytic eyce, concerned with the husnan element ‘nd the habitat; and the series concluded witha synthetic cele, which investigated and Studied “architectonic groups that respond to topics of urban anor rural planning," Photographs of her students’ work at both the Universidad Cente and the Instituto de year in the United States and Europe wo sidy various frstyear achitecute 59 Stier work fom Gepe'serinaon thee dimension fom at Instat de Diseno,Fundacén Neumann, where she began to teach in 1964 ig, 57). demonstrate that bythe 1960s Gego had become steeped in the pedagogic practice of the Bauhaus's Vorkurs (the Foundational couzse that was the school’s most distinctive educational {eatuce) as well asf the more contemporary iterations and exercises associated with preliminary courses in Bauhavs.infuenced institutions (fg. 58). These photographs show an impressiverange of student work that encompasses Bauhaus inspired interest in modularity as wel as more recent experiments with tensegrity. Fo example, 31968 tensegity mast made by «student atthe Universidad Central attests to knowledge of this fascinating strvctute (fg 59) Gogo seems to lave been attracted to the aesthetic possibilities ofthese Bauhaus related exercises and expansive, nelike mocphologies of space frames during these years of intense teaching, And given the fc that neither her Flechas nor the Retieldeea were meant to encloe or cover space as Fuller's geodesic domes dd itis tempting o see Gege’s work as a merphologcal and structural pose tothe German architect Konrad ‘aschmanns largemetl space frames ofthe erly 19505. Based on 2 modular system of standardized elements that allow for multiple combinations, Waschmann’s struc tures rerave aroun a “universal connector” which consists of anode from which upto twenty secondaty tubular elements can radiate in any direction allowing for unlimited ‘adaptability to al possible geometric systems.” A similar configuration was used as 3 ‘connecting device by Gego in the Reticulaea, where sbe attached metal rods toa large ring, While her nets echo the muiditectional network of Fuller's geodesic domes, they also invoke the infinite modularity and open quality of Waschmana’s space fames (ig 510 ‘Yet Gego's work clearly behaved in a radically different manner. While she uilized Suen Wok fs Jor Aer’ preliminary ‘ours:sudies in the nee inestons eof pea. 5m7, Stentor fom Gog ase composton workin, Unters Cental de Vener, Carcan6Geo, Reta, Muse line Aes de Carica, 195. «variation ofthe “key components of the space ferme—node and connecting bar."* the Reicaldre bypassed its functional cncerrs (rigidity and stength) as well as its ‘onumentality. Moreover, while these international references were important to Gego, ‘ore pliant and poetic treatments of space and structure had been available tothe artist in Venezuela since the eal 1950 in the for oan architectural and engineering tour de force at the Universidad Central in Caracas the architect Carlos Ra Villanuew's Plaza Cubierta (Coveted Plaza, r95) and the linked Aula Magna auditorium, the latter Aesigned in collaboration with Alexander Calder (pate 20). Gego’s spatial and archi ‘ectural sensibilities and her involvement with ‘he Universidad Gentral—of which the ‘Avala Magna and Plaza Cubert are the cultura social, and aesthetic heart—mnst have ‘prompted her to absorb the airiness, pliancy and distinctive spatiotemporaity that this architectural complex embodied. Moreover, not only was the university the locus of 7 (aro aa vitancevs, cro leading lara Cables, Cina Universal, Cars, 1958 important experiment in the integration ofthe arts, architecture, nd urban desig, batt was also the ste ofan exchange between local and international aesthetic models ‘that gave ample visibility to the constructivist trends of the postar period that would influence and flourish among a number of Venezuelan artists in the tosos. ‘The Universidad Central was and stil sone ofthe most important interventions in the urban fabri of Caracas. Despite its primary role san educational institution, it has been the pubic site for numerous ultra, social, and politcal encounters, debates, and conflicts. Commissioned in 1944 by the administration of the Venezuelan president lsaias Medina Angas, the project was fully supported by and came tobe identified with the Pérez fiméne regime and ts desire to eapily “modernize” Caracas and project. 4 positive international public image. Iwas the government's eagerness o nish the core ofthe Universidad Central—the Aula Magna and surrounding Plaza Cuierta—for ‘he Inter-American Conference in March 1954 that guaranteed funding forthe involve ‘ment ofthe artist Alexander Calder inthe design of the Aula Magna as wells forthe ‘many murals and sculptures tha fil the Plsza Cubierta® Conceived a8 a public space topped by a roof protect students and passersby from ‘sun and rain, the Pliza Cubiera is Hanked by perforated concrete screens that agent ‘the sunlight (fg 5.1). It is punctuated by fee standing mural, patos bursting with ‘topical vegetation, and ramps lading to the Aula Magna, The Venezuelan architectural historian William Nino Arague characterized the Plaza Cubiertaas an open plan thatreune 512 a Ra Vier, pln for Plaza Caer does not comply with the rigid scheme associated with the stasis ind holistic organiza tion of elasical architecture." The resuiing ambiguous space is predicated on a very simple postandtintel structure, in which an jregulaly shaped concrete roof is sup ported by simple columns distributed on an orthogonal grid tha meets, but does nat ‘correspond toa grid of concrete bands onthe floor ofthe plaza “The Plaza Cuibieta links the most significant buildings ofthe university: a rectory. 3 concert hall ai brary, shall of honor and the Aula Magna. Aplan of tis grouping (Ga, 5.12)revealsan ums flenibiltyin the treatment of architectural demarcation and ‘conveys a disunified feling of dispersal Like a formless mass «preading amongst times embrecingand connecting—buildings and interstitial spaces, the slab ofconcrete that forms the roof ofthe plaza faciitates multiple apertures and virtual Boundaries created ly the sunlight. The topological figure ofthe “insides the outside” exemplified by the Mabius strip, is embodied in the Plaza Guberta by an intimate public space that Gaylight alter, disorienting the visitor. The passerby moves, wrote the architectral historian Sibyl Moholy-Nagy, fom “lw shelter areas to lofty halls, from narrow pa sages through dense vegetation to generous plazas, inviting public assembly” The fickleness of the space is acentuated by the small gardens, murals, and works of at scattered throughout. The continuous sifting of boundaries is accentuated by the light ‘hat passes through the screens of perforated concrete that borer the outer edge ofthe plaza and bythe ramps that lead toward the auditorium, The patterned projections of light on the ground and the repetition of columns transform architect into weight: less space. The unregulated coordinates of this environmental teatment of architec ture—an architecture that disperses itself through the crucial elements of suslight and the void—wasa counterpoint to the skysrapers rising in Caracas atthe time asa ‘manifestation of the achievements ofthe dictatorial regime” Villanuers’s Universidad Central has been led as an unprecedented example of ‘he integration ofthe arts, and its infuence ona generation of Venezuelan artsts— Gogo among themn—has yet to be properly assessed. By placing abstract atin dislogue with his dynamic architecture, Villanueva helped to fortify the constructivist path that artwas taking in Venezuela This art was integrated into the diferent buildings and areas ofthe university in diverse ways, with some instances more effective than others. Freestanding sculptures suchas Jean Arp's Cloud Shepherd 953) interact with Mateo Manaures Mural (1954). while freestanding curved murals such as Fernand Léger’s las mosaic Bimural (1954) and Victor Vasarely's Homage to Malevich tosh, done ‘enameled ceramics, punctuate the fractured space ofthe plaza. Other morals cover the walls ofthe buildings. such as the one on the fcadeof the school of engineering by Alejandro Otero (1954). Also incorporated into the architecture are oorto-elling stained-glass rindows by Léger in the Cental Library and Otero in the school of eng neering). Internal reas feature Figurative murals, most by Venezselan and other Latin ‘American artists, and earlier commissions from 1950 feature allegorical sculptares by Francisco Narvdez, with whom Villanueva had collaborated on previous projects Although this figurative component has been considered a compromise on Villaniers= pat, it is also an indication of the divided artistic terain in which geometric abstrac: tion was developing. Moreover, the greatest achievement of Villaneva'scampus—and ‘ofthe Plaza Cubier’s—lay notin its individual works of art but inthe perceptual and spatial richness ofthe site In the Aula Magna—designed in collaboration with the acoustical engineer Robert 'B. Newman and Alexander Caldes—Villanueva paralleled the spatial complexity ofthe Plaza Cuberta, The fanshaped auditorium has a large vaulted ceiling and curved rear walls. Special acoustic panels distribute sound evenly Unroughout the vast space. These reflecting elements were designed by Calder and are sometimes referred to 25 “Bying sauces" or “clouds” in the rich epistolary dialogue between the architect and the arts. ‘Ther correspondence fom June 1952 reveals the uncertainty of Calder’ participation ‘but by Novernber 1952, detailed technical drawings ofthe ceiling panels were being redrafed in Newman's ofc. In these drawings, twenty-nine acoustic panel are class feds fat, convex, or concave In the end, a total of thirty-one panels (nine onthe walls,twenty-two on the ceiling consisting ofstel frames cowered by metal ath and gypsum plaster were distributed irregularly along the space ofthe auditorium. ‘The fasion of tite effect and functionality, surprise and practicality artand indus- try achieved in the Aula Magna provided Villanueva with an opportunity to rethink decoration under the auspices of synthesis ofthe ars tat aspired to combine architec tue, printing, and sculpture, But beyond intermedial plasticity, the auitoriam project susttined an effective integration of frm, function, andsite based on a "more profound structural conection between plastic activity’ in generaland the techno-cientific socal base” This integration was extended through the architectural continuum created between the Aula Magna and the Plaza Cubiets. From the open dilated space of the plaza, visitors to these spaces could acces the radial auditorium and experience the kinetic pulsations ofthe acoustic ‘clouds'—which conveyed sense of lightness despite ‘heir large size—and the constantly shifting views ofthe space all ofwhich echoed the hat governs these pieces? system in which geometric planes dissolve into parallel lines that turn slide, fd, or spiral to complicate the source shape identified by titles sich as Sphere (2955), Ocho ‘cuadeades (Eight Squates, 1961), and Cubo en exes (Cube Within Sphere, 1966). nan undated manuscript, Gego typed out a short chronology her work, most ikely far herselfand the poet Hann Ossotin preparation for her zetiospectve exhibition of 977 (the chronology tops in 1976). According to this ehronalogs.n 1957 she was searching fortransparencyand the integration of space an both sides of the Hinear matrix that con stituted the work. The kinetic effet created through the superimposition and intersec- tion ofliner planes was not her original gal, wrote Gego, hut an unavoidable result of her investigations int the dissolution ofthe plane and enclosed space. Ths observation signals an effort on Gego's part to distance herself from the kinetic art cintisme) to which her ever wrk was indeed indebted ‘By the ate 190s (and certainly bythe 1970s) kinetic arta identified in Venezuela with government and corporate commissions and with 2 visible monumentality that punctuated the urban noise ofthe city:® Thus, Gego's prefered term to define the ego, es 196, non pape, 394 98 vibrating effet produced in these objectbound, gometricabstract works was “para Tactic charm” a phrase coined by Alfied H. Bar J, the Fist director of New York’s Museum of Modem Art to describe the transformations ofthe visual fed caused by the spectator's movement in relation tothe artis work * However, thanks tothe “paral lactic charm” of which she was so fond during this period 1957-67), the abject bound nature of Gegot work could not help but be related othe kinetic works of Jess Rafel Soto. Many ofthe kinetic vibrations produced by Soto's work relied precisely on the ‘minute perceptual changes produced by “binocular parallax” Inthe word of he critic James Smith Perce: ‘This smal disparity in viewpoint between the eyes is enough ose nearby cbc into pparent motion, we do no more than lose one eye, then close the open eye, end open‘the closed one. This will st up what peychologas call the “phi phenomenon,” a the objet appears to shif om one pointo another. This akernatecleting and opening of the separate eyes is often enougl to ctvate the simple forms of ‘arallcic at” (i. ‘works which encourage observation from mote than ane point of view), The snaller “payphone tableau” of Agam of Sot striped boxes will begin 10 work this way bt ‘more movement willbe induced by thing the head from side sde, or by walking part ‘the work the tempo and sequence of the transformations being divecty dependent pon the movement of he perceiver! In these “rigidly prescribed” works, a Smith Pierce describes them, the visual effect is determined bythe narrowly defined lateral reading that they demand, The result is limited, characteristiallyformulaie isa configuration —one that, 28 the ar his torian Luis Enrique Pécez-Oramas observed, is determined bya linear reading “from eft to right (or vice versa. as if we were reading a "ext!™ This isnot strictly the case ‘with Gego’s early work, which can be sewed from different perspectives and encour ages viewers to circle around objects, Paallacic effets ae pat of these works—they ‘occur whet linear planes intersect—bat their structural complexity is just as impor tant Certain pices, such as Vibracién ew negro (Vibration in Black, 1957; fg, $16) favor the creation of virtual volumes. This hanging pieces made of approximately forty ‘bands of tack painted aluminum that spa in on themselves atthe base an fd onto themselves a the top, Mebive stripe, creating optical vibrations where the bands sual intersect—an effect enfsnced bythe rotation ofthe piece and the movement ofthe viewer. ‘A piece such as Vibracin en nero car be compared to Alexander Rodchenko's Spatial CConsrutons (a. 1920; see fig, 14), butin Gego's work the geometric shape is veplaced bya linear structure that curves and folds, actions that obscure the transparency of the geometrical model. If Gegos early work relied on “parallactc charms” and was con nected to the optical eects f kinetic ar, then the turns and foldings of er linear planes were obviously related to her interest in Kine 38.2 malleable element—an element that facilitates spatial inversions and ta, inher drawings, undermined the limits of form shape. Gego's explorations in this ate, heavily limited i the rgso8 and 1960s by her use of welding and ion, reached ther fll ealization in the ary weaving of nets that constituted the Reticle, Inthe late summer of 1959 Gego acompanied Gerd Leufert othe United States, \herehehad been awarded ellowshipat la State University. The fllowing yea they spent sometime in New York and, after rising Gego's family in California, returned to Caracas in August 1960. These were productive rips, highlighted by encounters with artists engaged with abstraction © In May 1960 Gego exhibited workat David Herbert's tallery in New Yorkin a group show entitled Recent Sculpture. That year Gego and lLeufert also met Betty Parsons, who in turn invited thom to show in her New Names exhibition from December 20,1960, toanuary 7, 1961. Here, Gego showed two metal ogo, ac on ng ton ‘Blac 95s, 54 ax 7in pieces in the spvitofher 1959 Sphere. This work suggested its tla form by means of imersectingsemictcular linear planes of black iron organized sound three different inclined axee—a strategy Gego employed again in her The Folded Triangles of 1960, ‘one ofthe pieces she probaly shipped to New York forthe New Name show! Little in these welded works prepares us for the weblike distigurations of her nets of the late 19608 DEFYING STRUCTURES: THE RETICULAREA OF 1969 Gogo started working onthe three-dimensional nets that formed the Reticldrea prob: ably during the frst half of 169, but their ultimate environmental scope was inf enced by Miguel Arroyo's invitation to exhibit atthe Museo de Bella Artes de Caracas in June ofthat year Arzoyo, an artistas wellas the ditecorof the museum, was. st¥ong presence in Venezuelan cultural life and a supporter of the corstructvistinfiuenced antistic trends that had swept the country inthe 19508 and 1960s, Hle was also Gego and Leufer’s next-door neighbor and was filly involved in fllaming and supporting ‘he artstic careers ofhis friends and colleagues. A small brochure published by Gego'staller, Galeria Conkight.® after the inaugural installation ofthe Reticularea defined the piece as an envizonmental installation done by Gego in eallaboration with Arroyo ‘He observed in later interview that Gego was very much on er own when planning the layout ofthe pice.” 25 the loor plans and installation drawings left bythe artist prove. Nevertheless, the dialogue with Arroyo was evidently intense enough that Gego chose to fcaly acknowledge her friends input in this publication, Several smal paces made in 1969 based on the triangular mode that we identify in the larger nets ofthe environmental Reiculirea ser to have served a8 prototypes forthe pieces that formed the cre ofthe june installation. Arroyo owned one ofthese small pieces (known today 2s Appliqué for Retiulrea) in which Gego relished in an artisanal modularity that denied mechanical techniques and pristine fnishes° This “unusual standing piee is made of thin fois wire: transparent, regular structure of interconnected tangles. A similar work attaches tothe wall and includes a hang. ing wire with a ball fled (fig 57); despite its small size it enters the viewer's space aggressively, exploring the geometrical deformations for which the Rticuléea would ‘be know. This effect is produced by the different sizes ofthe triangular modules and the precarious quality ofthe florist wie, which s easly deformed Berween 1962 and 1967 Gego produced smal-scale work in which she increasingly ‘incorporated assembling, a echnique tha llowel hero manipulate er materinls more freely, Several ofthese are made of elements of steel, ion, and plastic. These pieces resemble doodles, sketches, remnants, idle scribbling, and graft, and are closely allied to the playful contortions ofthe line in Gego'sgapic repertoire. She further explore assemblage in a series of works from 1969, probably produced justbeforeorat the same time as work onthe pecs that made up the Reliculare started. Inthese works—called Leas (Lines) or Serie de Nuew (Series of Nine) o eft untitled — rilimeter thick steel wires (he same typeof wire would appear in the Reiculdrea) are ‘headed through hols in transparent aerpic boxes or simply sit on them). Some of these works present 2 U-shaped configuration, while others twist and zigrag upward ‘Most are thirty-five centimeters in height. The smal scale ofthe works and their rejec: tion of volume, mas, delineation, and form i fxr of linea irregularity facilitated the displacement of drawing into space that had became 2 trademark of Gepos work ‘After more than a decade of interest in geometric abstraction, Gego managed — in dialogue with her architectural and engineering training and her intrest in linear lunruliness—to undo its rigidness and idealist: from within. The small Retculreas described above were the fist works in which the artist explored the structural system of spatial demarcation that would allow her to perform a dramatic attack on Carle- sian space and Fuclidean geometry, those tradtional conceptual pillars of geometric abstraction. The reticular system that facilitates this ruplute was carefully described ‘by Manni Ossot, in close dialogue with Gego, inthe artist's retrospective exhibition bookcatalogue of 1977: “Its name was given bythe art critic Roberto Guevara, ‘Rei cule’ designates a weaving in the form of a net. Reticule are: area of nets. These ets] 96 anornen ceomrtay ego, United Appl Recline wie eed ah at ‘emerge fom the liberation ofthe scheme of parallel, or almost parallel lines that Gego had developed since 1956. The drawing of crisscrossed lines forming nets and planes of nets ed to the concept ofthe three dimensional triangular modules andthe different configueations of nets." Roberto Guevara confirmed nan interview thatthe name Reticuléres had been sug- tested by him in studio visit prior wits presentation othe public" Gego met Guevara not ong before the opening to discuss the work and brainstorm ate. Guevara nated the grouping of nets according to its lticelke structure and appearance, Undated notes (using English and Spanish found in Gego’s les show the artist paying with the word retcule by adding prefises and sufixes—including rom, mul, and ply, amongA € PeTievecen Revitvaao ———— rite! ‘ego. wockingreson the naming th Rtn 1965. others—to amplify its meaning. Words such as hablable, entangled, and deployment ‘were also noted by Gego and suggest that she was interested inthe conceptual, and not merely morphological, resonances ofthe work (fi. 58) “The Reticaldrea was installed in Gallery 8 ofthe Nuseo de Bellas Artes, 2ectangular space measuring approsimately eight and a half meters long, fous and a half meters ‘wide, and four and half meters high and which could be accessed from Galleries 9 and 7. Photograps, checklists, and sketches that Gego produced fr the instalation name ‘he constitutive pieces according other orientationin relation tothe ceiling and walls “columns” “sreens, “horizontals,” and “appliqués. “These terms distinguished the ‘various iangulacheragonal modular nets made of Rorist wire, stainless stel, and lurninum wie that hung fiom the ceiling and were distributed iergulary through ‘out the gallery space. The individual pices there were thirty-six, according to one of Gego’s checklists) varied in density, size, materials and color, and while enumerated and described, they were never tiled, Checklists stat thatthe “screens” refered to the larger, more two-dimensional nets that Gego situated atiregular intervals around the Perimeter ofthe room. The “columns” hung frm the ceiling vertically and were gen Stability through plumb lines attached tothe bottom ofthe sructures. The “appliqués? and “horizontals” designated smaller pieces tht wer attached tothe wal or hung paral lett the ceiling Ike “louds”or “beehives, to use Ossot's terminology ‘These sources offer approximate documentation ofthe work, andthe nomenclature ‘used to describe the pieces is nt consistent. Gego's note ani sketches reveal her habit of organizing and recordingall spect of her work while also mieroring the unregulated ‘way in which she distributed the nets in the space. In subsequent installations, ont ‘gency went hand in hand with the unpredictable metamorphosis and fuid boundaries ofthe work. Is identity was constantly destabilized, not only bythe diferent spaces in which it was shown and by ts dismissal of conventional supports, but also because the constitutive pieces changed—some accidentally destroyed, some sold, ome given as, some made anew to adequately occupy the corresponding space” Indeed, Gego's sketches and checklist, ike the Reiculdrea tet, were constantly being transformed. Words and instuetions were crossed out; new units, new shapes, and new positions were added: and various modes of organization forthe piece wete rehearsed. Despite Gego's detailed planning, everything about these documents ind cates the fluid structure of the work. The documents oscillate between an orientational plan andthe diagrammatic representation of a zone of indeterminacy that testifies to Gego'siresolute attempt to bridge the gap between dea and representation, knowledge snd understanding In introductory nots for one of courses, she stated, “Doing is fone thing, and understanding is another. But one understands only when one knows and one knows when one has experience. lived." The ability oie knowing tommaking had been key to Gegos architectural training (and tothe Bauhaus Vrkurs that she had assimilated into er teaching), but her attempt to te knowing to ie experiences reso nated with the affective aesthetic peojcts of het Brarilian neighbor, In Gego's hands, artim its postwar geometric abstract incarnation, would not Function a a template for harmony between the techno-ational andthe asic. Order, s advocated by Geg's ‘igorous architectural traning, proved unsustainable inthe content of the Retcuarea 28 it pinged into excess and disarray: terms, diagrams, and sketches could not map, roject, or rationalize the spatial and linear inversions a work in Geo’ practice. The decentralized, anthierrchical, layered, and manifold logic of the Reticulrea defied a ror order and knowiedge in favor of fect and perception, advancing the rhizamatic associations that the work would later generate Preliminary sketches indicate that Gego frst designed a frame forthe ceiling. This fame, measuring approximately seven and a quarter by three and a half meters, was enveloped by two piccesoffibric sewn along a vertical axis o create a suspended ce Sng from which mos of the pices hung; others were secured to Uh wall of the gl: ery Gogo employed different forms of linkage inthe Reicaldea, ln one of the most‘common, steel wires ending in loops were hooked together. making the resulting nets partially or totally collapsible. The loops were created with pliers a proces that required ‘intense labor. In another type of joint-—the one most visible in pictures ofthe 1969) Retculirea—the wires and steel rods were hooked to rings of various sizes allowing these nets to bend and modulate in space. A version ofthis connecting stractute tes rods to a circle with internal hoops: as a result, deformation ofthe triangular grid structure was not only possible but desirable. The stel rods within each net tended ‘ovard material uniformity, but at times Gego introduced a discordant note through ‘he random incorporation of metal tubes, painted reds, or the doubling of wires, which farther inflected the open configuration ofthe piece. Similatly, the ary quality ofthe ‘Resiculdea was countered by small lad weights that hung a the bottom of some nets, palling them toward the oor Several sketches lay out the distribution of the nets ofthe 196 Reticuldea and show an iregular organizational pattern marked by fuidty and determined by the spatial relaxation that the artist was interested in producing. One lage sketch ”A") on brown ‘wrapping paper numbers and classifies the pieces a6 “screns. “individual vertical.” and “horizontals and appliqués" (fi. 5.9). A complementary sketch made onthe sare revee 520 Gepost"? 1965, kind of paper indicates the approximate shape ofeach pice its price, notations on con: figuration in Spanish ané German, and in tome cases the size ofthe pieces and how ‘they were to intersect, since Gogo sometimes envisioned pieces within pieces. "The plan proposed bythe above sketch suggests a configuration in which the artist 28 “These were published inthe December -4, 1960, sve ofthe Suplemento Dominica de Jornal do Bras and reprinted in Aracy A. Atal, Prt constratv basi ne ate: 1950-1962, 8-8. Ferra Gulla “Dislogo sobre onso-objeto” For the most recent ethibition and publication in accord with this model, see Osbel Suite, ed, Cold Ameria: Geometric Aaction n Latin America (943-1973) ex. ca (Made: Fundacion Juan Match, s01, Donald Prezios “Epllogue: The Art of Art Mistry The Atof Ae History (New Yor Oxford University Pres, 2009) 8. Aside from numerous exhibitions presented inthe Americas and more secety in Europe, the CPPC has sponsored numerous sympesiums, conferences, eves, and publications Cabrel Pere Barco, introduction to The Geomary of Hoe. i i nrigue ére-Oramas, “Caracas A Constctive Stein Tht Geom of Hope, 79. Mara Taba, "Gogo. Caracss 000," 7* Dia no. Api 1973). Juan Ledezma, The Sits of Latin American Abstraction exh cat. (Miami: Cisneros Fon ‘anals Art Foundation, 2007), 29-4. This edition too was based ona priate cll on, hat of Fla Fontana Cisneros. See Caso Favareto, A inven de Hae Otis (Sto Paulo: Editors da Universidade de S20 Paulo, 1992); Maria Alice Mile, ya Clark: Obrarajeto (Sto Paulo: Editors da Universidade de Sto Paulo, 1993) and Riardo Nascimento Fabbrin, Opa de Lia (lark (S30 Paulo: As, 1994) ‘jgia Clark exh cat; and Guy Bret etal, Hi Otc, enh cat (Roterdan: Wite de With; Minneapolis: Walker Art Center, 1992) Her, by nono! I refer not specifically to Gulls proposition but tothe sbundon sient of transl material supports pursued, fr example, in Car’ “Propositions Intated in 1963, and in Otis Paranglé of 1964 and subsequent work—a gesture ‘hats consistent with the move away ftom painting snd sculpture that the Gullarian nonebject mapped. Mari Carmen Ramier tal. Geo: Between Tronsrency andthe Inkl, exh cat (Gouston: Museum of Fine Ars, 2006}, 25; nd Mari Carmen Rae and Luciano Figueiredo, Halo Oca: The Boy of Clr, exh. at. (Houston Museum of Fite At London: Tate Modern, 2007) As [finish eisions othe manuscript of his book, Cor rela H, Ble and Lu Brique Perez Oramas, Lia Clark The Abandonment of Ar, 1948-1988, eh. cat (New York: Museum of Modern At, 204 asus been published to acompany the retrospective exhibition ofthe ars at MoMA. Like Gulla, Mio Pedrosa i hey figure in understanding the theoretical alsnces and cltural configurations hat fctated concrete and neoconcrete at in Brazil. Aer the end of World War Il and the dictatorship of Geto Vargas, Pedrosa retumed fam ile to wrt ar criticism forthe prestigious newspaper Cerio da Mer (owned by Paulo Bitencour fare founder ofthe Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro} Dring the 19s, Pedrosa was involved with the Sto Paulo Binal, the Museu de Arte ‘Moderna do Rio e Janio, andthe interaaionl congress ofthe sociation of at2 x. a 2 o Me cites in Bras (which explored the theme af the symthesis of he arts and wae a key supporter ofthe constructivist tendencies and geometric abtact at that polifersted in Bra during the decade ‘See my “Displaced Boundaries: Geomtrc Abstraction from Pi:tures to Objects” Ar Margins 3, 0.2 une 2014) "bortow the term fram Sergio B, Martine’ recent assessment o these debates they concerned the Braran avant gird, Contruting on Avant-Garde At in Bri 1949 1979 (Cambridge, MA, and London: MIT Pres, 202). 1-2. ‘A small sampling ofthe diverse studies that posit minimalism a the source ofthe ‘experimental artistic practices tat caracteriad thea ofthe 1950s, 19708, and some: times ros ncides Miwon Keon, One Pace Aer Anat: Sit-Spectic Ar and Lac ‘ional deny (Cambridge, MA: MIT Prest, 2002); Frazer Ward, No Innocent Bystand = Peformance Art and Audience (Dartmouth, NH: Dartmoutt College Press, 201) ‘Martha Buskirk, The Coningent Obj of Contoporary Art (Cambedge, MA: MIT ress, 2005; Nancy Spec, Flix Gorzle-Tores (New York: Cuggenelzn Museum, 1993) Gill Pery and Pasl Wood, Thome ir Contemporary Art (New Haven, CT, and London: Yale Univesity Pres in asocation with the Open Universi, 2004) Hal Foster, “The Cx of Minimalism,” in The Return ofthe Real (Cambidge, MA: MIT Press, 1996), 35-7tand Andre Fast “Its Art When Say 10 et Or... f2995) Museum Highlights: The Writing of Andres Fraser ed. Aleande- Alber (Cambridge, MA: MIT Pres, 2005) 35-44 ‘A sapling would include Guy Beet, “Fut sur le comps: Le Paango de Helo Oit ea Les Cahios du must national dart modeme, no. 52 (Speingr995): 32-45; Simone Otho “Helio Osea Parangols: Nomadic Experience in Enlless Motion, in Dias po and Visual Cate: Representing Aftians and vse. Nicholas Mizoef (London ‘nd New York: Routledge, 2000), 234-35 Pala Braga, “Helio Oicea andthe Paran ps (Adydresing Nietzsche Obermensch’ Thin Text 7, no. (2003) 43-52; Anna Dezeuze, “Tactile Demstersization, Sensory Pls: Hao Oeics Parangolés Art Journal 63, 0,3 (Summee 2004): 59-71: Renato Rodrigues da Sa, “Heli Otcica’s| Parangolo the Artof Transgression” Third Text 9, 3 (May 2005) 23-3: Michael Asbury, “Helio Coulda® Dance,” in Lose Threads The Art of illo Oca, ed Paula ‘raga (Sto Paulo: Perspect, 2008) Sergio B. Martins, “Helio Oitcic: Mapping the Constructive? Thind Test 24, 0.4 ly 2010) 409-22; and Hermano Vianna, "Nto quero que a vida me faga de otro! Ho Oiica como metlador cultural entre 0 asflto eo moro" Overmundo (Brazil), Janvary 152007, pew overmundo.com, /bancobelovitics comomediadorentreasfallo-emero ‘One important omission, for example, has been concrete and neoconcret poe. Ferzeira Gullit was a renowned poet and hie neoconerete experiments with poetry vanced the notion of the nanobjec tht he claborated in relationship t Cas work. See for example Paulo Herkenhof, Divergent Parallels: Toward a Comparative Stuly ‘of Neo-concretsm and Minimalism,” in YvcAlain Boi eal, Geometric Abaco: Latin American Ar from the Patricia Pl de Cimeres Cleon ex, cat (Cambridge, MA Harvard University Art Mussums, 200%) Lt Easique Pérez Oramas, “La poéia el Pentrable ya scena Minimalist: Ls pazadoas de aabeowén absolut” etre 55 6. we 8. ° + delivered tthe Fogg Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachucets, March 3, 3008 Ménica Amor, “Between Spaces: The Retcalrea and ts Pace in History” in (Geo, 955-199, eh, eat dee Peruga Caracas: Museo de Bela Artes, 2003) 32° 26; Michael Asbury, “Neoconcetsm and Minimalism: Cosmapoianist at a Local {evel and a Canonical Proincilism” in Casmopalan Modervons, ed. Kobena Mercer (andon: Instte of Intemational Visual Arts; Cambridge, MA MIT Pres, 2005), 485i ad Anna Dezeuze, “Minimalism and Neoconcretism” paper delivered as ptf the October 2006 talks series “Bran A Sie and Subject fr Sculpture” Henry Moore Instiute, Leeds, England, Inp/fwwthenry-mooreorg/hmifonline papers pupersanna-dezeuze Donald ud, “Specie Objects." Arts Yahoo (19655 74-82. Ii, 222 id, 9, id 20. wi. ‘yg Car, “Lyla Clak eo espagoconcreto exprssional” Suplemento Domina do Joma do Bros july 2195. Robert Monts, "Notes on Sculpture, Par" Arum (October 196): 20-2, printed in Robert Moris, Continuous Project Aled Dah The Writings of Robert Mores (Cans bridge, MA: MIT Bess 093) 1-28ubsequent page citations refer to this reprinted ‘esi. An eal essay, "Notes on Seulpure, Part 2nimroduction tothe issues that peeoccupied artis 3 the time, engaged as they were in contesting or complying swith the modernist paradige put in place mainy though the formals art entcism ‘of Clement Greenberg. preecupaton with defining the terms and the nature of the new salpare rns tronghost the essay Morr looks hack at contrucvsn ad ‘mentions Vidimie Tain, Mkolais Pevsner, nd Georges Vantongerlo as produces ‘of a “nomimagitic sculpture” 2 condition “esgental” to the sculpture ofthe time in ‘which Morss was wring Ina gesture that evoked the emphasis on sefreferentialty fn tmuch constructivist sculpture and particularly in concrete at's seston the use of concrete material im the 19308, Motes posited the autonomous and the Ktral 2s prerequisites othe type of sculpture cathe presented, See Robert Moris, “Notes fn Seat, Pat.” Aryrum (Ecbeuary 1966) 43-44, reprinted in Robert Mores, ‘Continous Pot Altered Daily, 8 Inthe sme yea that Mores plished his three part “Notes on Sculpture" adessing the viewer's body engagement withthe new sculpture (see note 4 above), Rosalind “Kauss explored the phenomenclogial rading offs work in Allusion and Uh son in Donald Jud” Arf (May 1966): 24-26. During the 1960s, phenomenology ‘merged aes model ofspectatorship identified with the new work through an implicit logue with Michael Fries notion of "theaticality” which refered negatively to the anspictoval stance of minimalism, is we of real space, and its lack of disciplinary specifiy, See Annette Michelson, “Robert Mortis: An Aesthetics of Transgression” In Robert Mor, Rober: Moris exh cat (Washington, DC: Corcoran Galery of Art Detroit: tri neue of Arts, 1969): and Michael Fried, Ast and Obectood” Are. ran ne 1967, eprnted in GegoryBatoc,e, Minimal Ar: Crit Anhaagy4 45 “ ” 4“ 8 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 995. Dring the 1970s, Krause’ wings were instrumental in securing thie ssacation between minimalism and phenome: nology. particulary an essay ented “Sense and Sensibility: Reflections on Post Got Sculpture” Aryfora November 173 149-56:and he book Pastas ia Moder Sul ture (Boston: MIT Press, 1977). More recent phenomensogicll inflected readings of Jud ho was not partially interested in sch apprsches) chad Yoe-Alsin Bois, "The Inflection” in YeAlain Bois, Donal ud Seupare 199, ans. Gregory Sims (ew York: Pace Gallery, 1990 Briony Fer, “judas Specific Object” in On Abstract Art (ew Haven, CT Yale Univesity Pres, rog7): and Alex Pots, “Objects and Spaces,” ‘in The Selpurl imagination: Figurine, Moers, Minimal (New Haven, CT. Yale University Press, 2000) Robert Moris, "Notes on Sculpt, Fart 6 i, ‘This piece, made of wooden cubes ered by Plexiglas mirrors, was fist shown at ‘Green Gallery in New York in 1965, The mirored cubes reflected the gallerys Hors and wall, works hanging nearby, and viewer. The work merged and reflected its sur. ‘oundings while disolving the rome precision ofthe cube This potential suspension of a more bodily interscton with the work that wee come to associat with minimalism was alsoeaboratedin the reception of o-aled minimal Ist work. The eric Barbara Rose for example, in 2 1969 essay on the new cule, summed up the dese for “immediacy of mpact: “From wherever we fst approach 4 ud, a Bel, ora Mortis, we can immediatly withou necessary walking around it) understand that we ate looking 3 a cetsin kind of known three-dimensional shape Unlike sculpture ‘inthesound which requires a sequence of cs of loking, We can perience transparent or firs orn mel as gestalt I takes us much ess le, én other words, to process the information regarding sch forms because we ‘esther see or can sense them ll t once” Barbara Ror, “Sculpir, Intimacy and Per ception” in Martin L Friedman etal. 2g Selo: The Indusal Ee, exh cat. (Min respi: Walker Art Center, 1969) 8. Robert Moris, “Notes on Scr, Pat a5 ‘Thistur aay fom the immediacy ht the known get (the cube) could rigger on related tothe spatiatyaticalted in Mori's ol exhibition at Green Gallery in New York i 1953-54 (ee fg oh thi exhibition, seven diferent geometric volumes ‘made of punted pywood engaged the space ofthe gallery in ways tht undermined the independent denties of object viewer and space. The plcementof the works—ether resting on theft hanging fom the ceiling, or wedged into comers—problematizt the selfsuiceney ofthe object and fregrounded is iaterdependence with architec: ‘ural space in ways that recall Occ colorful, byrinthine Nac made hee years cerler The architectural dimension ofthese works coincided with a move away fom ‘eeditional sculpture and contemplative modes of ening, leading Mores and Oticica ‘o actively engage wth situational pres, See for example Miro Pedros, “Refletes em troda nora capital” Bras, Argue CConzempordnea (io de janet), no. 0 (e957 "Itrodugto’ Arteta Brasileira” Jornal do Bras (Rio de Janeeo, May 25-24, 1939; and “Bras, a Cidade Nora” Joe 5. = 3 56 nal do Bra, September 19, 1959. All are reprinted in Miri Pedros, Das Mus de Patna as spas de Baca (Sto Palo: EtoraPerspectiva, 18), 303-16 321-27 35-55 See Maro Pedros, “Refleatesem toro da nor capital Invencion Integral Arte Concer Iveco. (August 1546) 10 See Aftedo Hlto,"Representacin einvencié,” Blain dela Acai de Arte Concreo ven, no, 2 December 945)7. Carlos Altamitano, Hao espn de las mass (Buenos Ate: Grupo Eton Planets, 2001) 42-43 ‘na Longoni and Daniela Lucena (2004), “De emo el jailo creado se tocé en Aesfackatez El paste de Maldonado y los concrete por el Partido Comsnit,1945- 1948" Polis dela memaria (Buenos Aires) no 4, CEDINCI,r8-aBy Masia Amalia Cacia, “Le constrccn del arte absteacte: Interconecciones ene el inernacions ‘smo cultural pauls ya escena aristica Argentina, 1949-1953" and Maria Citing Rossi, "En el fuego cruzadoenze el ealsmo y la abstwacen’ both in Maria Amis (Garcia, Maria Cestina Ross and Lisa Fabiana Serviio, Arte aptina ylatinoamer can det slo XX: Sus irtrlaciones (Buenos Aires: Fundscién Fspigas, 2004) 17-54 85-125 Mara Amalia Gari, Hare asret:Imercambis cultural etre Angina y Bra (Buenos Airs: Siglo Veintiun Eéitores, 201), and Alelandeo Ceigpan, Ob ‘05 po transormar cl mundo: ayecoras da arte concretiventin, Argentina y Chie, 2949-1970 (Bucnos Aires: Universidad Nacional de Quiles, 201) See Maria Amalia Garcia, “Max Bill onthe Map of Argentine Brain Goncrete At” in Bung @ Construct: The Adspho Lerner Colton of Grin Construcve Art at the Museum of Fine Ars exh cat, ed. Mari Carmen Remiez and Histor Olea (Hous ton: Museunn of Fine Ars; New Haven, CT, and London: Yale University Press, 32009) 53-68; Maria Amalia Garcia, “Tensiones ente wad e innova: ak erica de Max Billa la aruitctira moderna brs” Concnnts, Universidad do Estado do Rio de Janet, ao 1, va 1, na. 16 (June aot: 448-65; Alec Le Blan, “Palmeiras sd Pilots: Promoting Brazil with Modem Atecture” Third Text 26, no. anny 3012): 103-46; and Adele Nelon, "Monumental and Ephemeral: The Early Sto Paulo Bienis."in Consracve Spit: Abarac Artin South and Nort Americ, 1920-195, fh at, ed. Mary Kate O'Hare (Newark, Nj: Newark Museum of Art Fort Wort Anion Carte Museum, 2010) 139, note 8, Garcia’ essy “Max Billon the Map" also patcalarly useflin understanding Billa link between the AACL and concrete snd reoconcrte atin Bra Ferera Gulla etal, “Manifesto Neocancret”Suplemento Dominica dorsal do Be si, March ar-a, 1959, Though sigue and conceptualized by Amica de Castro, Fer reira Gull, Frane Weise yg Cat, Lyla Pape, Reynaldo Jardin, and Theon Spanddis, the manifesto was ctsly writen by Gull. A facsimile ofthe essay in English appear in Neco Experience, 6-7 Ferrera Gullaret al, "Manifesto Neoconcreta” This project wa delinesed by Oita in 1963 though a reference to Pos’ notion ofa "new constructive” See Heo Oia, “A tanigt da cr do quaro pata © ‘epago eo sentido de constutvdade” Habitat no. 70 (December 1963} 5459: To Gull, concrete ars reduction ofform toa ‘pure et of perception” ignored histo- sic. This revealed theieaist dimension af the movement, which conceived of tse as above history and contingency. So Ferreira Gull, “Ate Neoconcrea”Supemento Donic do Jornal do Bras, October 2, 1960. Go. Ferra Gulla ta, "Manifesto Neoeoncret 6. Merleau-Ponty himsel sa the reduction apart of an attempt, on the purt of Huse, to graep essences based on our conte experiences and to consider essence aco ingen asthe fact. See Maurice Mere: Ponty, “Phenomenology andthe Sciences of Man’ in The Primacy of Pocepion and Other Essay on Pheromenalgl clay the Philosophy of Art, Hisory and Palit, ed. Fares M. Edie (Evanston, I: Northwestern ‘University Press, 1964), 72 2. FereiraGullar“O Tempo ea Obra Suplemento Dominica da formal do Bras, February 181961 6 Onthe meaning o the word parang, sce chaper 4 9-9. 54 “Wedonot conceive ofa workof at ata 'achine or object uta a qusstcorpus hat is. eing whose realty isnot exhatsted in the exteral relationships among its ee sent abn tha ss tr agh analysis ony delivers tel up wholly hough diet. phenomenological approach erera Galata, "Manifesto Neoconereto” 5. Gego spoke Spanish with a heayy acent and never displayed a fll command ofthe language. Although the handsome publication of her working notes—see Marla Elena Hull and Josefina Manique es, Shira y tas textos de Geo (Houston: Interna ‘ional Center forthe Ars of the Amaricas, Museum of Fine Ars; Caracas: Fundacin Gego, 2005)—might suggest otherwise, these to my view, are notations that ievite Interpretation but are very different fm the discursive muscle displayed bythe Arges tine and Brazilian att, 1. AT PAINTING'S EDGE: ARTE CONCRETO INVENCION, 1944-46 1 Balen det Asian de Ate Conte Invencin (Buenos ites) no. 2 (December 9467. The Asciacin Arte ConeztoInvencinpublithed two sues ofthis mag “ine in 1946: one in August called Are CancetaInencié,no and one in December Called ole de la Ascace de Arte Concrta Imei, no. 2. Subsequent cations ‘he notes and the main teat retain this wording 2, Tomds Maldonado, "Los Artistas Coreretos el realise! y la veaiad” Arte Concrete Iver, no (August 1946) 1. 5 Eagar Bayley etal, untied tet, a» Expsiin dels Ascacion Arte Cone Iveco, ceah cat Buenos Aires: Slén Peusr, 1046), reprinted a “Manifesto lnvencioit” ‘Arte Conrt Iveco. August 946} 8 Citations willbe from his ater version ofthe text, 4 Many arts who pattcpated in Arua went om to become members a the AACK and [Arte Mad which became discrete movements by the end of 1945 or ay 1946. Atha ‘group grew out ofthe AAC! called prceptsmoit was founded in 1949 by Ral Loz wo zemined is oly member. Inthe mito the atts of the AACI drew on Eo ean concrete art as source: by the ro they dented wit it unreservedly 226 - moves ro cHarren e Classic accounts include Jorge 8 Rivera, Madly ls vanguard Argentina (Buenos Ais: Prides, 1976) Gyula Kosice, Mad Buenos Aires: Ediciones de Art Gagnone, 1982) 1nd Nelly Perszzo, arte concreto en la Anprtina en la dé dl 40 (Buenos Aires -licones de Art Gagiznon, 1983). Inthe 19908, Agnts de Maistre “Les Groupes ‘eNbsraction Géométrigque: Art Canere-favention et Madi, Buenos Aires, 1940~ 2948" (PAD dies, Université de Pris 1V-La Sorbonne lstiut Art et Archécogi, 994) and Gabriel Pére-Barrcir, “The Aapesine Avant-Garde, 1944-1950" (PhD diss, University of Essen, UK, 1996) expanded these eer accounts and clarified the development of events and artistic production ding the movement's ative perio, ‘Most recent this project hasbeen refined in such works as Andres Giunts's “Erte ‘moderne en Tot mdsyenes del Reronimo” in her ook Vanguard, intercionalsme pica: Are Argrting els aor seen (Buenos Altes: Pads, 2001, 45-85 Ana [ongoni and Daniela Lacena (2004), ‘De como ei reaor'se wasted en dest hater El pasje de Maldonado yor concretos pore Partido Comanista, 1945-1948 Palicas de la memoria, no. 4 (Buenos Aires, CEDINCI} 18-28; Maria Amalia Gar, “La construcién del arte abstract: Intercaneciones ene el ntenacinaismo cule tural palsy Ta esceraanistica Argentina, 1949-1955” and Maria Cristina Rosi, “Be fuego eruzado ene el realsmo yl abstracin.” oth in Mart Amaia Gatl, Marfa Cristina Rosi and Luisa Fabiana Serviio, Ate anpetino yltnoamericana de Silo Sus ineracions (Buenos Ate: Fundacién Espigas, 2004). 17-54. 85-25 Maria Amalia Carca, Fl are ahsracte: Itecemios auras te Argentina y Bras (Buenos Aires: Siglo Veintuno Editores, ou) and Alejandro Crispin, Obes para trongformar el mando: toyctorias del arte concretosmencin, Argentina y Chile, 1949 1970 Buenos Ares: Universidad Nacional de Qualmes, 201) [Alejandeo Crigpian, Ober pera tanga mand, 84 Cispiani mapped the philosophical makeup ofthis eal, humanist Marx (ranslted| into Spanish inthe 1920s andeay 19308) that influence the Argentine artists and ‘that would be rejected bythe Saini tate and more orthodox forms of Mare inthe 1908 This so-called humanist Manis particultly evant in the contextof the ACI, sit adverts the creation of objet and highlights the Liberating capacity of eeaive production. Many of Mar’ texts, Cvspiani wrote, were reprinted in Argentina ina solume enitled Carlos Mare y Federico Ege: sobre arte y Berar, tas. Jan rele (Buenos Ares: Problemas, 940). Another txt that could have been an important refer fence tothe youngartits was Rodolfo Mondo, Feverback y Mars La datos yl con- ‘epto marasa de a hisora (Buenos Ate: Chidad, 1933). And in 1946, Aledo Hlito cexplicly discussed Mars “Theses on Feuerbach” (184s) n “Representacion einen {ido fee note above). However, 1845 marked turing plat in Man's work, one that ‘Benne Balla defines asa distancing frm his eae “theoretical huttarisin” This shift was caused, says Babar, by 2 series of “polit experiences in particular, (Mar ‘encounter with the German snd French proletaiats «ad his active re-entry into social struggles (which as 2 duce counterpart in his] ex frou academic philoso ‘hy Esenne Baar, The Philosophy of Mar (Landon: Verso, 1995) 7. For Cepia’ ‘mapping ofthe AACIs theoreti makeup, is reading of Mary, and contemporary ‘references availabe to thse artis, see Alejandro Caispla, Objtor pra transirmer6. 18, 9 dl mundo, 94. For & detalled account of ow he aesthetic dimension infuenced “Mary's eaty propositions onthe natare of unaiested labor and production, see Wil liam Adams, Aesthetics: Liberating the Sense," in The Cambrge Companion to Mas, ‘ Terell Carver (Cambridge, New York and Melbourn: Cambridge Univesity res, 1991) 246-74 Etienne Bab, The Philosphy of Mar 2, According to Orie, the oficial pubiation of the Argentine Communist Paty, the atts who joined the party were Edgar Bayle, Manuel Espnos, Claudio Girl, Alfedo Hit, Toms Maldonado, and Aldo Priot “Artists adheren al comunismo Loe atts y escritores del movimiento arte concreto se aflian al partido communist” Oriental, September r9 1945, cited in Ans Longo and Daniela Lucena, “De como bilo cesdor se tartocsen defachate" 18; and Alejandro Cespani, bjs pars trosfrmar el mando, ot While these ets trace the relonship between the Argentine concrete artists and the Communist Party, they de not addess the elaonship ofthe party o contemporary politcal even ‘Wilt Adams, Aesthets: Liberating the Senses’ 29. Here Adams discusses Marts ronomic and Philosophical Manuscript (4, which delineate the economic theory that concerned hth thoughout his oeuve, Te weitings ofthe AACI by Tomas Ma nado, Edgar Bayle, and Aledo Hlito, to name the most prolife members) donot slays fer to specific tes, butidens and concepts elaborated by Marcin the ionomi ‘and Philsophical Manuscripts, “Theses on Feuerbach” e845). and The Germ day (084s) resonate throughout their manifestos, decltions and aries writen between 1944 and 1946 [1 Romero, Lainamerica:Las dade las ies (Buenos Aes: Siglo XX edtores, 1986) 37. Carlos Altamirano, Peroni y ala de quire (1935-4963 Latin American Stud fee Cente Series, no. 6 (College Park Unversity «Marland, 1992), 30-38. Favia Foruci, ntlecuals y Reronismo, 945-1955 (Buenos Aires: Eto Bites, 2o1t), 20. On the early lance between Argentine nationalists and Pern, see Carlos ‘Altamiran, aj signe de as masa (945-973) (Buenos Ales: Grupo Editorial Pl ‘nets, 2003), 2-22. Fava Frucci nlecualesy Peon, 2. Jonge Abelardo Ramos, Revluiny conrarevlun en la Arpentina Historia de bx ‘Argentina endl silo XX, vol. 2 (Buenos Altes: Editorial Plas Ua 1965) 565; and Pavia orci, Intakes y Proiono, 23, ‘See fr exarape Americ Gholi editorial forthe Soils newspaper La Vanguard, collected in Plebras a nacin: A tras de lo etriales de “La Vanguard" (Buenos Aires: Editorial de La Vanguard, 1945, “ois Maldonado,“ dénde va la pitura? nos Aires). 3 (Apr 945) 1. Manuel Espinosa, A dénde va spat?” Contre 20.5 June 1945) 2. Gabriel Pérez Basel, “The Argentine Avant-Gatde, 1044-1950" 103 See Andee Glut, “El arte riodero en los msryens del Peronismn 45-8 and Fa via Floruei InetualesyPeonsmo, 1-65, Contrapunt: Literatura ciao (Bue » 3 5 26 29. se. Andrea Giunta, “Nacionales y populares” in Tras lor par dels norma: Salone naci- ales de alas artes (291-98), Marta Penhos and Diana Wechsler (Buenos Altes: Iilgueto CALA), 39-6. Bid. 48 See for example Karl Mare, Theses on Feuerbach 84), in Karl Marx and Freich Engels, The German lel (Amherst, NewYork: Pennetheus Books 1998) Jorge Abelardo Ramos, Revue ycontrarealucn lt Apetina, 484, This view was ‘iso put forward by Angel Perelman in his openly biased account of the period Cine Ficimosel 7 de Oenbre (Buenos Ate: Ediciones Coyoain, 1961), 535,59, Aconding 1 Rodolo Pagar, a member ofthe Comuanst Paty until his expulsion ia 1946 (due this desire to eedzect the party's positon toward Pen) the Argentine Com _munist Party's indifference to loa elites was long standing andhad ben associated ‘nce the 19205 wih a Moscow-based power structure that did nttolerte dissent See Rodolfo Pigg, Hora eric dela pari polics Arpntno (Buenos Altes: Eds torial Arguments, 1956), 6-76. Alber Gra summarizes the sian: “OF couse, alltactial and fundamental interpretations followed the intermatinal ine that guide. local Communism, This lin joined the fae ofthe Soviet Union under Sti’ com ‘mand to clotely (and aot exactly dialectical to our own fate, without realiing that the pablem was ell the opposite fom the particu othe univers, and that the ‘national question’ was what was urgent and had pricy Alberto Citi, Parties end ower in Moders Argentina (1930-1046), tans. Carlos A. Asta with Mary F McCarthy {Albany State Univesity of New York Pres, 1974) 14. Juan Carlos Tore, La vja para sinical y Peri: Sls ng dl pros (Bue- os Aires: tora Sudamericana, 1990), 74. ‘Onthe various interpretations ofthe proletarian base hat supported Perénin the Argen tine imaginary, soe Federico, Neiburg. Los incall vec del peroniona (Buenos Aires: Alansa Editorial, 1988), 122-52, For sigorous historia accounts, see Juan Carls Tore, La via oar sina y Pr, 7-73; nd Carlos Altanirano, Bajo sign delas sas, 19-49, Peri summarized the goals and accomplishments of the snowy crested Secretaria de Trabajo y Previn (Secreta of Labor and Socal Sec ry ina radio addess on Workeré Day (May) in 944 68 Juan . Per, “Trae jamos para todos los agentinos. mensaje alos tabsjadores ede Mayo de 19447 reprinted in Caos Atamirano, jo sgn de ae mesa, 7-3. Carls Altamiano, Bajo! signa de lar mas, 43-43, Maria Cistna Ross, “Enel fuego eruzao entre el resis yl aber” 85-125; {nd Maria Cristina Rosi, "Mirando l Futuro: Maldonado ene las voces emesgentes” | Tomas Malanada: Un madero em acin, ed Masi H. Gradowczyk Buenos Ate: dune, Editorial de la Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero, 2009), As is well known, by the ealy 1936, socialist vais had become theofcilaethetie doctrine In the Soviet Union, so itis not surprising that inmates of aesthetics Maldonado ‘would look west to Pass. “Tomis Maidonad, “Sobre umanismo Bolen dela Asan de Are Cones Ive. in, no. 2 December 1946): 6 ti,