Texts by Conceptual Artists from Eastern Europe: Slovakia

Physical and Optical Manifesto

Authors Peter Bartoš
Date 1970
Publication Výtvarný život
Language Slovak

Physical and Optical Manifesto. Contrast: white-black, White–black acoustic space, undelineated, Weightless environment (an abstract solution), Concentration, accumulation, dispersal. The smallest comprehensible spatiotemporal determinant. What also plays an important role when pouring or scattering material is gravitation. It would be worthwhile to try this with fluids while in a state of weightlessness in space.

Concentration. Existential interpretation of the substance of visible and tangible nature: (1) a single point in the form of a light signal or a plastic cluster of matter, (2) a number of concentrations/determinacies configured around the epicenter, and (3) the activity in a concentrated or clearly defined part of nature. My definition of concentration is based on distinguishing it from accumulation. While the notion of accumulationis applied to the accumulation of goods, the notion of concentration relates to the fundamental states of existence of matter (dust, water, snow).

Some actions and manifestations related to concentrations: Egg Action (1966, private action): (1) being, (2) destruction, (3) new being. The breaking of an egg in stages, and its mutation into a new primary meaning. A Substance: “Natural-Colored Juice” (1966). A concentration of color existing in nature, independent of art (beetroot juice in a vessel). “Colored Ice Melting in a Vessel” (1969). Solid substance and its changes in state when heated. Leaflet Announcement: We Would Like to Bring to Your Attention This Action in Nature: The Behavior of Snow in the Air and on the Ground (Winter, 1969–70). Program: (1) the falling of snowflakes, (2) the landing of snowflakes when they hit the ground and create a pattern on the ground, (3) the swirling and layering of snow, (4) the footprints and other tracks left in the snow, (5) the crushing of snow underfoot, spreading and pushing the snow around, and (6) the melting of snow. This action in nature will resume next year.

Duration: 1 day