Membranes
/5
- Membranes
- 1976
- 49 color and b&w slides
Thanks to its unusual interplay between artistic research and pedagogy, the Sigma Group (1969–1978) is viewed as one of the seminal phenomena in Romanian art. Cofounded in Timișoara by Ștefan Bertalan and Constantin Flondor, the group also came to include the artists Ioan Gaita, Elisei Rusu, and Doru Tulcan, as well as the mathematician Lucian Codreanu. Sigma’s activities were triggered by the belief that linking art with science and technology would directly impact society’s behaviors. 1974 saw the Sigma Group take part in the exhibition "Art and Energy," which had been organized by art critic Dan Hăulică at Galeria Nouă (New Gallery), a newly opened art space in Bucharest managed by the art critics’ section of the Romanian Union of Fine Artists. This venue was devoted to developing a pilot program of a prospective nature that would be dedicated to the examination and presentation of the newest tendencies in Romanian art in close contact with then-current international theoretical discussions. The "Art & Energy" exhibition (April–July 1974) brought the theme of science and technology and their interactions with various areas of culture to the fore. There, the Sigma Group presented a set of individual installations that occupied the entire attic of the gallery. Ștefan Bertalan created a web-like ambient made of threads that was reminiscent of his biological observations of spiderwebs as well as his own and Sigma’s open-air actions at the Timiș River. And as part of the exhibition’s accompanying program, Bertalan and Constantin Flondor joined forces with art critic Octavian Barbosa to organize the public discussion “A Threefold Problem: Form-Function-Environment” on 24 April at the Galeria Nouă. A.Se.