BERNAR VENET, who, among many other elements, included
mathematical formulas in his paintings, once invited a young man to his studio.
“So, what do you think about them?” he asked, indicating his
paintings with his arm.
The student looked at them for a while, then exclaimed, “But...
But this is not art, it’s mathematics!”
Rightfully so, given that Bernar Venet’s paintings often
feature diagonals, circles and triangles with mathematical equations sprinkled
in here and there.
The artist replied:
“Imagine there was no figurative art in the past hundreds
of years, and people got used to seeing colours and shapes, often arranged
into random combinations. One day, the artist accidentally painted a circle.
After taking a brief glance at his wife, he added two spots, a line and another
one, slightly curved, representing her mouth. He then invited a young man to
his studio:
“So, what do you think about them?” he asked, showing his
paintings.
The student looked at them for a while, then exclaimed, “But...
But this is not art, it’s your wife!”
This very simple example shows the relative nature of the
definition and perception of art.
The story also explains the essence of Venet's work. For the artist, MATHEMATICS is the same thing as
BOTANICS
RELIGION
in traditional art – a means of expression, material, a
component. Even though they are not art on their own, they expand its meaning
and scope.
Art is a field in itself; however, it draws upon other
fields. In his works, Venet draws upon mathematics, taking advantage
of its linguistic aspect. He creates MONOSEMOUS art. According to the artist himself, to date, art
was POLYSEMOUS – ambiguous, with multiple meanings. For example, in his
paintings, Andy Warhol depicts Marilyn Monroe as Marilyn or simply as a woman.
Art can also be PANSEMOUS – it can carry an infinite number of meanings. While
looking at Kandinsky’s paintings
one may look for an infinite number of meanings. Here, I
can see a helmet, a knight, a miner, a sailboat, a snake, compasses, a tower, a
magnifying glass, chaos and order, and so on, and so forth.
Striving to broaden the field of art, Venet came to the
conclusion that his works would only mean what they actually mean, that they would
be MONOSEMOUS.
ARC 225,5 x 5 Chatsworth
Kmtextor / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0).
A 225.5° arc is just that. A 225.5° arc. Nothing more. For
any nationality - Chinese, American, European - a 225.5° arc means exactly the
same thing.
In fact, Venet’s approach to mathematics can be comforting
to students of humanities, struggling with the demons of hard sciences. Isn’t
his “Two Arcs of 245.5 Degrees Each” sculpture simply awesome
TWO ARCS 245,5
Jeangagnon / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)
Some claim that mathematics is the queen of all sciences. Venet turned
this claim on its head and crowned art as the queen, while stripping it of all
the unbearable pompousness, characteristic of all the mathematicians in the
known, as well as their confusing language. He subordinated it to art, without
leaving it completely bare. Instead, he dressed it in the artistic matter and
gave it a noble greatness in both metaphorical and literal sense of the word.
His works, entitled
Frank Vincentz / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)
88.5° ARC x 8, New Zealand
Andym5855 / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)
ARC 89° Bonn
By Oliver Rockstedt - Own work, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=81233280
ARC 115,5 Nice
ARC 115,5 Nice
are sculptures weighing several tonnes each, and they get
up to dozens of metres tall, leaving a lasting impression on those who
encounter them outdoors. Installed in front of the Versailles in 2011, they
sparked outrage and protests of the association of Parisians, which called upon
Bernar Venet to remove the installation.
By Groume - Flickr: Panorama de Versailles, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19951137
Axion23 / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)
Unfortunately, only this photo was publicly available, but
below you can see the making-of of the car, which you can also see from every
perspective.
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