Fluid Structure

"I admired the organic shapes in Hans Arp's works and tried to create an environment where mutability, flexibility and tension breathe life into the cold metal."

Aluminum tape propelled by an electric motor creates endless variations of curves in Colombo's "fluid" sculpture. The smooth, sensually slow, yet sometimes spastic movement of the elastic metal evokes an irregular rhythm, a sense of confinement, and also a subconscious expectation of a stabilization or "resolution" that will never come.

The kinetic object is one of the ironically named "useless machines" that the artist used during the 1960s to explore ways of introducing the dimension of time into the artistic image. In a pragmatic world where machines must be precise and productive, Colombo's were meant to bring about a poetic experience.

While his earlier works often required viewer interaction, Fluid structure composes shapes automatically. Thus, it shows that even a very simple mechanical program can create unlimited random mutations of space.

The SNG restoration studio completely restored the work for the exhibition. They removed dust, rust and degraded rubber parts, added protective glass, plastic trim and also a felt layer on the spring flap.

lab.SNG ● Atlas SNG, Content for the exhibition The Art That Remains: Collection – International Biennial of Young Artists Danuvius 1968.