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The 16 Sides of the Square
2001
François Morellet
Mixed media
300 x 315 cm (carré 200 x 200)
Canvas on wood, 16 tubes of white argon
In this work, he uses the empty canvas to place a system of simple elements based on a kind of naval battle game. The coordinates of the system are provided by the random figures taking from a telephone book. Each pair of numbers randomly drawn is turned into coordinates on the imaginary grid of the canvas, for a line of white neon equal to one side of the square canvas.
The artist allows fate to decide how the work will turn out and what aesthetic attraction it will have.
© Adagp, Paris, 2001
In this work, he uses the empty canvas to place a system of simple elements based on a kind of naval battle game. The coordinates of the system are provided by the random figures taking from a telephone book. Each pair of numbers randomly drawn is turned into coordinates on the imaginary grid of the canvas, for a line of white neon equal to one side of the square canvas.
The artist allows fate to decide how the work will turn out and what aesthetic attraction it will have.
© Adagp, Paris, 2001
François Morellet
France
Born in 1926
François Morellet was one of the major figures of research in post-war France of style of art inherited from constructivism.
Both individually and as part of a group of artists (the Research in Visual Arts group), he developed an art combining rigor, complexity and irony. As one of the first artists to use neon (in 1962), he always sought to bring his personal research together with his work on architecture and space.
In this work, he uses the empty canvas to place a system of simple elements based on a kind of naval battle game. The coordinates of the system are provided by the random figures taking from a telephone book. Each pair of numbers randomly drawn is turned into coordinates on the imaginary grid of the canvas, for a line of white neon equal to one side of the square canvas.
The artist allows fate to decide how the work will turn out and what aesthetic attraction it will have.
Both individually and as part of a group of artists (the Research in Visual Arts group), he developed an art combining rigor, complexity and irony. As one of the first artists to use neon (in 1962), he always sought to bring his personal research together with his work on architecture and space.
In this work, he uses the empty canvas to place a system of simple elements based on a kind of naval battle game. The coordinates of the system are provided by the random figures taking from a telephone book. Each pair of numbers randomly drawn is turned into coordinates on the imaginary grid of the canvas, for a line of white neon equal to one side of the square canvas.
The artist allows fate to decide how the work will turn out and what aesthetic attraction it will have.
Artwork of
François Morellet
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