Leonardo
Volume 27, Number 5
October/November 1994
Leonardo is a print journal, edited by Leonardo/the International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology, and published by the MIT Press. Subscriptions and individual issues can be ordered from the MIT Press.
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Special Issue
Prometheus: Art, Science and Technology in the Former Soviet Union
Guest Editor: Bulat M. Galeyev
Pages 367-370
Introduction
Bulat M. Galeyev
Pages 371-378
Gateway
Significant events, including conferences and expositions;
news of interesting developments in technology and science as they
relate to the arts; news about people of interest to the Leonardo
audience; and tutorial-level discussions of important technologies and
science for the nonexpert.
Marina Baskakova, Anatoly Kisselev, Alexander Lavrentiev, Yuri Linnik,
T. Pertseva, Mark Rais, Mikhail S. Zalivadny
Pages 379-381
Yury Alekseyevich Pravdyuk
Musical Light-Painting and the Phenomenon of Form-Movement
Abstract
This article is devoted to a discussion of musical light-
painting, an art form created through the synthesis of music and dynamic
light-painting. The author has worked in this field and given concerts
for more than 25 years. He presents a general introduction to music
light-painting, describing the technology on which it is based and the
peculiarities of its expressive means: form-movements. He discusses
the proven principles of the synthesis of two artistic structures that
are simultaneously grasped with one's eyes and ears.
Pages 383-386
Alexander Lavrentiev
Inventions from Photography: Light, Shadow and Optical Transformations
Abstract
The author analyzes the experiments he conducted in
photography and kinetic art during the 1970s and 1980s. Through
exploring the visual effects of three-dimensional (3D) montage, he came
to construct photo-objects and photo-installations. He regards
photography as a tool of preliminary design, which refers not only to
the production of objects, but also to the creation of a situation or a
visual trick documented by the camera. After a series of kinetic
compositions with light, he came to the conclusion that light needs to
be structured (by means of lenses, masks, etc.) in order to create
further visually interesting transformations through motion, colour and
overlay.
Pages 387-390
Valdis Clems
The Dialectic of Motion and Stasis in Kinetic Art
Abstract
Kinetic art and design, which make use of motion and light,
are able to organize space and the human being in space by virtue of
their physical forms and psychophysiological impacts on humans. The
author's concept of the kinetic artwork, based on observations of
natural objects, posits the kinetic processes themselves as interpretive
of the structures that artists create.
Pages 391-393
Arturs Rinkis
Kinetic Experiments
Abstract
In 1973 the author became interested in working with motion
in art. In this article, he describes his path from producing simple
photodynamic effects to solving serious problems of kinetic art and
finally realizing his artistic intentions and the possibilities of a new
art.
Pages 395-398
Vyacheslav F. Koleychuk with V. Polyakoff
The Evolution of My Kinetic Work
Abstract
The artist comments on a series of his artworks that show an
evolution from minimal self-tensile constructions to the artistic
exploration of the principles of visual perception. Various kinetic and
transformable structures, including "self-erected" constructions, are
described. His techniques of manipulating flat images are shown in a
series of collages in which geometric patterns define the forms of cut
elements and phantom objects emerge inside the source picture. Working
with new constructive or visual principles, the artist looks for the
most elementary ways of realizing methods of achieving particular forms.
Pages 399-402
Bulat M. Galeyev
The First Experiments of SKB "Prometei" in Video Art
Abstract
The author provides a short description of the first video
artworks of the group SKB "Prometei" (Kazan, USSR) as well as several
artworks created by himself with the help of his colleagues during the
period 1990-1991.
Pages 403-404
Roman Ilinski with Marina Iskander
Interactive Graphics: The Quasi-Infernal Aspect of Creation and
Perception
Abstract
Roman Ilinski's synthesized pictures provide the basis for a
discussion of the specific influence of computer technology on the
development of graphic art. The unpredictable character of computer art
gives rise to extraordinary visual effects; however, the search for
these effects cannot replace the traditional act of creation.
Pages 405-408
Bulat M. Galeyev
Laser Experiments of SKB "Prometei"
Abstract
The author presents information about laser apparatuses used
in performances and classifies them according to their physical
principles, using examples of work from his own studio.
Pages 409-411
Moisei Kagan
Art, Science and Technoloty in the Past, Present and Future
Abstract
This paper presents a discussion of tendencies in the
relationships between art, science and technology. The author analyzes
the ways in which the interactions of these disciplines led to the
creation of synthetic forms, and argues that these syntheses are
conditioned mainly by the spiritual needs of a given society and
culture.
Pages 413-415
Igor Yevin
The Synergetic Approach to Art Theory: Recent Investigations
Abstract
The author discusses a new approach to art theory based on
synergetics--the theory of self-organization. Some aspects of the
temporal ordering of periodic processes in artworks, the evolution of
art and emotional reactions to art are examined. New possibilities in
art theory enabled by the synergetic approach are explored.
Pages 417-421
Pavel B. Ivanov
A Hierarchical Theory of Aesthitic Perception: Musical Scales
Abstract
The creation and perception of a work of art implies the
construction of a hierarchy of scales, from the large to the small and
detailed. The author develops a general hierarchical approach and makes
use of the concepts of information theory and quantum mechanics to build
a mathematical model of aesthetic perception that allows him to find all
the possible musical scales. Each scale is represented by a collection
of zones such that a variation of a sound inside a zone does not change
its function. When a stimulus does not belong to any of the zones, the
impression of dissonance occurs. It is shown how the "structuredness"--
their formant nature--is connected to the hierarchy of pitch relations
in music.
Pages 423-425
Yevgeny N. Lazarev
The Art of Metadesign
Abstract
Electronic culture microminiaturizes the world of objects,
thereby indirectly increasing human values. Thus industrial design will
give way to metadesign--a specific trend of art-image modelling of the
essence, manifestations and relations of people. Metadesigners from the
Mukhina College of Art and Design use non-traditional methods and
materials to experimentally present the spirit, environmental interface
and human image in an aesthetic form.
Pages 427-432
Elena Shelestova
Linking Image and Idea: The Artwork of Oleg Sokolov
Abstract
The artistic heritage of Oleg Sokolov, Ukrainian artist and
poet, is reviewed by his widow, Elena Shelestova. She focuses on his
experiments, begun in the 1950s, with the visualization of music and
poetry--not on the level of traditional illustration, but rather on that
of synthesizing different artistic forms and genres on the basis of a
united rhythmic pattern of spatial and temporal structures found by
intuition.
Pages 433-436
Vyacheslav F. Koleychuk
The Dvizheniye Group: Toward a Synthetic Kinetic Art
Abstract
The author discusses the artistic and theoretical works of
the Dvizheniye Group. He traces the group's development from its
founding in the early 1960s to its demise int eh 1970s, describing
activities ranging from early, static works in painting and sculpture to
kinetic constructions, performance, installations and projects related
to urban planning.
Pages 437-439
Irina L. Vanechkina
"Musical Graphics" as an Instrument for Musicologists and Educatiors
Abstract
This article describes experiments held in Kazan, Russia, in
which children "draw" music. The results of the experiments are
considered from educational and psychological points of view.
Pages 440-441
Bulat M. Galeyev
"Prometei" in the Stalin Catacombs
Festival of Light, Prague, CSFR, 28
July-August 1 1991
Pages 442-445
Abstracts
Francisco Infante: An Artifact for the Rhein-Main-Dounan Canal
Kamil N. Gimazutdinov and Rustem F. Saifullin: Magical Kaleidophony
Daina Berzina: Daina
Boris Stuchebrjukov: Razor Fabric: The Concept of a Flexible Razor-
Blade Structure
August Lanin: The Temple of All Saints Project
Pages 446-452
REVIEWS
Vladislav Bazov, Vladimir Choudnovsky, Bulat M. Galeyev, Edward
Khakimov, Evgeny V. Mikheyev, Irina L. Vanechkina, A. Voloshinoff, Stan
Voronin
Pages 453-456
Soviet Bibliography (in English)
Pages 457-460
Soviet Bibliography (in Russian)
Pages 461-462
Leonardo Bibliography
