Exploring “space” is not just to reform sculpture art itself. This also helps to push contemporary art forward. A Space Andante derives from observations of the contemporary sculpture. By reviewing Taipei Fine Arts Museum’s collections, the exhibition highlights the evolutionary context of contemporary sculpture since Minimalism. The exhibition focuses on the “space” factor and tries to evoke the viewers’ space perception. By exploring the changes of space concepts and space expressions, the sophisticated reasoning about space and spatiality becomes clear, showing the connections among sculpture, installation art and new media art.
When Lucio Fontana (1899-1968) slashed canvases, he revealed the illusory presentations of three-dimensional space in two-dimensional art. The canvases instantly become sculptures. Slashed canvases are Fontana’s representative “Spatialism works,” which amaze spectators. His cutting-canvases-open blurs the boundary between the two art types, while setting the form of art free. Naturally, he became a predecessor of art who valued concepts more than actual creations.
When it first appeared, “Spatialism” dealt with the fundamental elements of art, such as light, color, line, rhythm and space, in addition to proposing a new, pure art form. It not only symbolized the continuation of the “no pedestal” sculpture art, but also the expansion of the form and content of sculpture art. Then, there emerged Minimalism and landscape art which brought out subjects such as objecthood, specific objects, theatricality, and site. Thereafter, installation art and new media art, which arose through artists’ search for new forms of art, also answered questions on space.
It can therefore be said that, regarding the essence of space, the “being” of space, and the occupying of space in art, when concepts are put into practice, new momentum can be gained. Just like water can slowly change landscape, the explorations of space in art shape the looks of today’s art, enriching people’s understanding of and experience in contemporary art. Viewers are encouraged to feel the differences among imagined space, conceptual space, and space in reality.