The Anasculpture -- An Alternative to Visual Perception

I define anasculpture as a composite canon with the purpose of portraying reality. It simultaneously features painting, sculpting and lacunae.

An anasculpture is the ultimate result of my painting canon 3½ D's (executed in the late 1990s): Imagine spreading on the surface of a real object a multitude of black circles of randomly varying diameter, which cover most of the object, yet are arranged so that none of the said circles touch one another, thus preserving the continuity of the original surface—one can "travel" from/to any point of the surface without crossing into the inside of any circle and while remaining on the uncircled surface.

The real object having been almost completely covered with black circles, it is subsequently represented in the classical way, by applying shading, perspective, coloring, etc. Any representation process consists in the projection of the real object on the flat surface of the painting. Our circles become generalized ellipses as a result of this projection; their parameters—eccentricity, direction and warping of main axis—are related to the spatial orientation of their "parent circle" and provide an eloquent and reliable topological tool for rendering the plasticity of the painted object. Indeed chiaroscuro (shading) and selective coloring may be applied only to the uncircled surface (it is meaningless to apply them on the black ellipses), which is a fraction of the total surface; however, it features continuity: Its overall plasticity is conventionally perceived. We can refer to two modes of complementary plastic renderings: the conventional (optical) plasticity of the uncircled surface and the "stereometric" (intelligible) plasticity conveyed by the complex of the ellipses. The 3½ D's painting achieves an unprecedented appearance, enhancing its mimetic features (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1.

Leo Contini, Lovers, 3½ D's canon painting, egg tempera/linen, 32 x 49 in, 1998. This painting is the origin of the anasculpture in Color Plate D No. 1, and may be considered the origin of anasculpture in general. The two figures were transferred onto a copper plate and their dark dots physically cut out to increase contrast and plastic values.

© Leo Contini

Contemporary technologies (laser, photoetching, water jet) allow us to perform complex cutouts on sheets of different materials. I transfer the 3½ D's painting onto a metal sheet and cut out its ellipses; this sheet—whose surface area is reduced to approximately 25% of its original size owing to the cutouts—is subsequently placed (using hardly visible fasteners) within a hollow shell featuring a highly photo-absorbent internal finish in order to minimize light reflection at the appropriate viewing distance (Color Plate D No. 1).

The shells are normally realized in cast fiberglass. The cutouts are made each time in not more than eight specimens according to the practice of bronze art sculpture, and each is subsequently painted by hand. Although each piece is different, due to the handwork, each specimen is identified by a letter of the alphabet (from a/h to h/h) and photographically recorded. Copper photoetched plates are punched, and the plate and shell are sealed together with epoxy. No counterfeiting is possible.

The cutout "hovers" within the shell, and the enigma of the artifact, which presents dramatically mimetic features, is emphasized by the perceptively indistinctive space surrounding it and behind it, perceivable through the holes.

Visual perception and mental habit clash: watchers are seen approaching suspiciously, extending fingers toward a dark ellipse and pulling them quickly back, as they suddenly realize their "holy" immateriality. If we refer to active (matter) and passive (lacunae) perception-conveying elements, we can say both that anasculpture is the most economical way of conveying perception materially and that a representation does not require the feature of physical integrity to be satisfactorily conveyed.

The result is a 3D object, having a flat, almost immaterial soul, levitating within the precarious space around it and pretending to have a strong affinity with reality: an anasculpture.