Modernizm i estetyzm
Modernism and the Aesthetisation of Life

Summary/Abstract: Ives-Alain Bois wrote in 1984 that Katarzyna Kobro and W³adys³¹w Strzemiñski probably were the only artists who separately defined four kinds of art: painting, sculpture, architecture and typography. In 1924, the two artists wrote their manifesto entitled ‘The Composition of Space: the Calculation of Fine Time, Space and Rhythm’. They considered sculpture in terms of its outer and inner limits. They believed that real sculpture limited (opened and closed) space. Sculpture is not limited to its own form, but, rather, it is as limitless as space. They wrote that we could feel space when we felt borders (limits), which exist in space. Sculpture is not determined by its relations to space. Gothic cathedrals were considered as home of all arts (painting, music, poetry, theatre, etc). The idea of universal sculpture is connected with the idea of openness (we should keep that home open, and we should take art out to the world). Cathedral doors should close and open, and should unify the outer and inner space. Universal sculpture includes the rhythm, which refers to time and space. Modern sculpture is a dynamic from. Artists should consider the relations between time and space, and they should calculate the relations. They should be able to design spatial divisions. Strzemiñski and Kobro believed that harmony was the manifestation of numeric relations. They referred to Platonic and Pitagorean ideas related to numbers. Plato and Pitagoras considered numeric code as the highest form of rational thinking. In contemporary art, unfortunately, the role of geometry is limited to ‘commercial aggression’.

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