CC BY
10
https ://doi.org/10.29013/EJA-21-1-197-200
Bryzhachenko Natalia, PhD, Associate professor, the Department of Fine Arts, Musicology and Cultural Studies Sumy State Pedagogical University named after A. S. Makarenko
E-mail: bryzhachenko@gmail.com Mironenko Nadezhda, PhD, Lecturer, the Department of Multimedia design Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Arts E-mail: mironenko_n@gmail.com Verhovodova Yanina, postgraduate student Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Arts E-mail: yaverx@gmail.com
THE THEATRALISATION OF OBJECT-SPATIAL ENVIRONMENT: THE KINETIC EXPERIMENTS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Abstract. The article focuses on the theatralisation and visual attractiveness of object-spatial environment by application of kinetic art objects and structures. The objective of the study is to consider the origins of kinetic art and its implementation in the sphere of avant-garde experiments and theatrical art at the second half of twentieth century.
Keywords: avant-garde, kinetic art, object-spatial environment, theater.
In recent years, there has been an increasing in- cially original. The dynamism of these objects, their terest in the implementation of innovation technolo- large size and vivid image became the reasons for gies in the formation of object-spatial environment their application in the design of public spaces. The ofpublic use. A comprehensive study of modern de- wave-like movement of the constituent elements of sign practice suggests that one of the most important the structure helps to attract the attention ofvisitors tasks facing at architect and designer is the formation to kinetic structures. Their attractiveness has a cer-of an attractive space. This characteristic becomes tain theatricality, which manifests itself at the level of the most important factor in attracting the attention remote visual perception and direct human involve-of visitors to public facilities. ment in interaction with the game space.
Attractiveness is the property of an object to The theatricality of an attractive object-spatial
arouse interest, attract attention. The attractiveness environment saturated with kinetic technologies of the object-spatial environment is formed by creat- is the result of a long-term union of architecture, ing original artistic and imaginative space solutions, art and engineering. The indicated relationship is using traditional tools and techniques, as well as ap- manifested in the creation of single objects and in plying a variety of innovative technologies. Among the formation of a holistic space. Here a large role the innovative technologies used in architecture and played experiments in theatrical art which became a environmental design, kinetic structures are espe- platform for plastic experiments and searches for the
emotional expressiveness of various artistic images. They took place in two phases: the 1920s - 1930s of the Russian avant-garde and the end of the 1960s -the first half of the 1970s the confirmation of the principles of effective scenography.
Due to the use of innovative opportune technologies, a search is made for new compositional tools and techniques that are subsequently transformed and applied in practice in the design of the object-spatial environment for public use.
One of the origins of the interconnection and interaction of innovative technologies and art was the experiments of avant-garde artists aimed at creating dynamic, moving designs.
The scientific and technological revolution of the early twentieth century influenced at art, which was forced to look for new forms of artistic expression. In 1909 in the French magazine "Figaro" was published the document "The justification and the manifesto of futurism". Its author F. Marinetti proclaimed the cult of the future and the destruction of the past. The manifesto extolled the desire for speed, dynamism and the search for unusual new forms. Supporters of futurism praised technological progress, the power and pulsating motion of a new life [1].
Technological art is based on the concept of combining technology and art, which has been embraced and expanded by constructivism and Italian futurism. Art experiments and new technical means connected in the aesthetics ofthe plastic avant-garde. A huge contribution to the development of a new system of shaping in art and the creation of a new aesthetics belong to T. van Dusburg, A. Exter, N. Gabo, V. Kandinsky, K. Malevich, P. Mondrian, L. Popova, A. Rodchenko, V. Tatlin, A. Vesnin, designers of the Bauhaus school and other famous constructivist artists.
The main principles of constructivism are the expedient organization ofthe form ofthe structure (as a certain object, structure, thing), which determines the style-forming significance of constructivism in the artistic culture of the twentieth century. The second principle is the functional need of the structure and its
elements for their practical application [2]. Precisely from the theatrical environment constructivism, similar to cubism, futurism and suprematism, began to spread in the field of industrialism.
The theater scene itself is a complex mechanical object, where the movement of the constituent elements is a necessity for a change of scenery during the performance. Theatrical constructivism in stage space was embodied in two types of performance design: a single installation and functional scenography.
The appearance of constructivist theatrical decoration ("single installations") is associated with the desire to separate the spectacle from the building, bring it out into the street and dissolve in mass action. Constructivist installations turned into an autonomous stage, which could work as part of the interior space or in the exterior. The most interesting, characteristic, and fundamentally new were the five Constructivist theater sets for performances: "The Magnanimous Cuckold" based on the play by F. Krommelink (1922) by L. Popova; "Tapelkin's death" based on the comedy by A. Sukhovo-Kobylin (1922) by V. Stepanova; "Earth on end" based on the play from S. Tretyakov (1923) by L. Popova; "Lake Lul" based on the melodrama by A. Fayko (1923) by V Shestakov; "The Man Who Was Thursday" based on the novel by G. Chesterton (1923) by A. Vesnin [3].
Constructive artists, directed by V. Meyerhold, continue to experiment with creating a new scene - an extraportal, with platforms that were moved around the horizontal and vertical directions. They used the techniques of transforming the acting and the movement of kinetic constructions.
The creation of original constructivist forms in theatrical productions realized the concept of attractiveness of the object-spatial environment. It is especially on the theater stage the attraction of the audience attention plays a crucial. The experiments of plastic avant-garde artists formed the basis for a new aesthetics of sculptural compositions. They formed the foundation for the development of such arts as installation art, kinetic art and cybernetic art.
Artists of the second half of the twentieth century combined sculptural compositions into various art installations, filling the exposition space. Refusing from classical forms, the masters equipped the sculpture with modern technological elements and new means of artistic expression, thereby endowing the art-objects with other properties.
Through the use of innovative technological means of the twentieth century, the sculpture became dynamic. Elements of the general composition began to physically move in space and time.
These processes can be traced in such a direction as cybernetic sculpture, the recognized leaders of which are E. Ignatovich, N. Negroponte, G. Pask and N. Schöffer. The works and aesthetic views of these masters formed new trends and new terminology of the art of robotic sculpture in the mid-twentieth century. For example, the sculptures of N. Schöffer performed musical compositions, produced various lighting effects, interacting with the environment. The cybernetic sculptures of G. Pask ("The Colloquy of Mobiles" of 1968) demonstrated the interactive connection with visitors by using different audio and visual effects. In 1970 E. Ignatovich by application of microphones and motion sensors created the electromechanical compositions that moved under the influence of sound vibrations. The basis of the concept of his work was the physical contact of the viewer and the object of art - sculpture-machine. The work of E. Ignatovich denotes the phase of changing the position of a passive spectator to interact with the environment through the tactile sensations [4].
From 1960 to 1968, kinetic artists united in a group - G.R.A.V. (Groupe de Recherche d'Art Visuel - Visual Arts Research Group) with the goal
of providing everyone with the opportunity to experience their art. The group included: F. Morelli, O. Rossi, F. Sobrino, D. Stein. Members of G.R.A.V. were inspired by kinetic art and sought to convey it to the audience. In their works the viewer became an active participant in the events - the actor of installation works. In art objects artists created a game of images, textures, light and rhythm. The experiments of this group become a "plastic offers", where viewers are in direct contact with art objects [5].
Kinetic effects in the former post-Soviet space were actively dealt with by the group "Movement" (1962-1976). The first participants were V. Akulinin, M. Dorokhov, F. Infante, A. Krivchikov, V. Shcherba-kov, R. Zanevskaya. Representatives of this group developed the program "Manifest of Russian Kineti-cism" (1966) and turned to new forms of creativity. Artists designed synthetic mysteries using the movement of light, gas, three-dimensional elements and video projections, where the basis was the combination of various technical means and forms of art [6].
In the second half of the XX century kinetic art from artistic experiments was transformed into the sphere of the object-spatial environment organization. The experience of masters of kinetic art of the second half of the twentieth century - P. Bari, F. Benton, A. Calder, N. Gabo, J. Tengli, H. Soto and others became the foundation for the creative pursuit of the end of XX - beginning of XXI century.
Theatralisation of object-spatial environment created by the use of kinetic objects is determined by the mobility of kinetic structures and possibility of their interaction. The combination of innovative technologies and the vivid visual effect of kinetic objects attract attention of the humans in public spaces.
References:
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