Spacial-mobiles
“My first spatial work dates back to 1961. In reality, it was initially a collage-relief. I had made it with small side panels that moved, and I showed it to Honegger, who became passionate about it. He took it with him and brought it back to me mounted on a small pedestal.” (1)
A “spatial” is a construction in space, a structural model for a sculpture, a piece of “constructive abstraction”—an abstract sculpture that opens up space and engages the viewer’s imagination.
Daniel Abadie wrote about them:
“… the entire painting becomes relief; each element no longer merely animates the surface but actively creates it: colors, reliefs, the articulation of planes with one another—everything works together to eliminate the concept of the ‘background’ inherent to painted canvas. The artist’s work becomes an intense speculation on shapes, positions, shadows, interactions, as well as the anticipated movement of the spectator… In this way, these sign-artworks reveal their deep connection to architecture and their secret ambition: to move beyond individual art and open up to the city, to invent a space and make it habitable.” (2)
Two of Marcelle Cahn’s “spatial works” were realized as large-scale sculptures during her lifetime, funded by the ‘1% artistique’ program for public buildings, with the support of Gottfried Honegger and Serge Lemoine.
Click on the thumbnails of the spatial works to enlarge them.
H: 1.62 m; W: 3.17 m; D: 1.67 m (excluding pedestal). Created in 1976.
Collège Le Parc, Dijon.
This abstract sculpture consists of a grouping of four interlocking structures made of irregular geometric planes, accompanied by a sphere. These planes are arranged vertically or positioned at a 45° angle relative to the horizontal axis and assembled at right angles. However, their extremely diverse cutouts complicate any immediate visual reading. Positioned closely together, grouped like a family, these forms complement, oppose, and rhyme with one another, creating an array of virtual volumes and structuring the surrounding space in every direction.
Text attributed to Serge Lemoine
H: 2.50 m; W: 2.30 m; D: 0.35 m. Created in 1976.
Collège Paul Fort, Is-sur-Tille (Côte-d’Or).
“The sculpture Spatial C is composed of a rectangular plane with cut corners, standing vertically, its final appearance resulting from the folding and cutting of its surface. Despite the frontal presentation given by its screen-like shape, this sculpture asserts its presence over the surrounding environment and offers a true structuring of space through the articulation of planes and the openings carved into them… The smooth, white appearance of these surfaces, their varying orientations, the circular forms in relief, and the deliberate openings within the planes subtly guide the light and offer a magnificent variety of tonal values. This work was the very first large-scale construction that Marcelle Cahn was finally able to see completed, at the age of 81…”
Text attributed to Serge Lemoine
(1) Autobiographical account by Marcelle Cahn, published in the 1972 catalogue for the traveling exhibition of her work organized by the Centre National d’Art Contemporain.
(2) ‘Les espaces de Marcelle Cahn’ in the catalogue published for the traveling exhibition of Marcelle Cahn’s works by the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dijon, 1972.