Immersion: Gianni Colombo, Spazio elastico (1967)

Gianni Colombo had created optico-geometric and kinetic works as a member of Gruppo T, which he had cofounded in 1959 in Milan. In the summer of 1967, he took part in “trigon 67”, the Graz Biennial, and for the event created Spazio elastico [Elastic Space], a space plunged in darkness in which lengths of elastic string covered in a phosphorescent paint were illuminated with ultraviolet light. These strings formed a grid pattern whose right-angled shapes were regularly distorted by two motors. For anyone experiencing Spazio elastico, the geometric regularity of the grid became a kind of spiderweb. Like a trap, it imprisoned viewers’ bodies and minds in a network of light whose lines were endlessly rearticulated and elastically reshaped. Crossing these cubic cells formed by elastic strings, visitors experienced a network that turned out to be a confusing device that made them lose their bearings. The piece was such a success that it was exhibited once again at the Galleria L’Attico in Rome in 1968 and earned the artist a first prize in painting at the 34th Venice Biennale.

An installation presented as part of the exhibition
Immersion. The Origins: 1949-1969
Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts de Lausanne, 4.11.2023-3.3.2024