Response to Comments by Pawlowski and Morawski

son, those interested in this matter should establish mutual contact to analyze and plan how to organize ourselvesand what we can accomplish. TOMAS GAR^ SLCADO Palacio de Versalles. No. 200 Col. Loma Reforma, C.P. 11020 Mixico, D.F. Mixico References 1. L. G.Serrano, Una n m a perspediva;Lapersperliva culvilinea (A New Perspective: Curvilinear Perspective) (MexicoCity:Cultura, 1934). 2. A. Barre and A. Flocon, LapPrspertrvP ruruiligne (Pans:Hammanon, 1968) ALBERT FRISCLA: 1911-2 OCTOBER 1989 KINETIC ARTIST, 22JULY We were sorrowed to hear of the death of Albert Friscia on 2 October 1989in Italy. Albert Friscia was an artist of wide interests and accomplishments . Born in New York City,he painted a number of murals before the Second World War and his work was widely exhibited. He worked on murals with Siqueiros in Mexico during 1949. In 1937 he created works using kaleidoscope projectors, and from 1947to 1950he invented the kinetichrome system,which made use of polarisers to create changing color in kinetic artworks. In 1967in Rome he exhibited his kinetichromes in self-contained boxes suitable for gallery display (See ‘The Kinetichrome and Its Use of Polarised Light”,Albert Friscia, Leonurdo21, No. 2, 145-149, 1988).In the last years of his life he developed a new projection system for new kinds of kinetic art and created series of images using many new effects through -adouble variation of color configurations and light intensities. Friscia was also a very successfulsculptor whose work included the main altar in bronze for Saint Peter’s Basilica, Bernini Apse, in Rome. He served as a Lemurdo Editorial Adviser and Co-Editor during the 1980s.Readers interested in more information on Albert Friscia’swork may contact his widow, Lidia Friscia, at Via delle Muratte 94, 00187, Rome, Italy. ROGER MALINA Executive Editor RESPONSE TO COMMENTS BY PAWLOWSKI AND MORAWSKI My article “Concrete Elements and Abstract Thought: Problems in NonMimetic Composition of Pictorial Elements in Paintings and Drawings” (Z~onurdo21, No. 2,155-160, 1988) became the subject of two comments. Tadeusz Pawlowski (Leonardo22, No. 1, 144-145, 1989) recalled some other types of my works which I had not mentioned in my article and which are also connected with the operations conducted on some wellknown symbols like the cross or Solomon ’s seal. Pawlowski pointed out that my work as a whole is closely related to the problems of semiotics. Stefan Morawski (Zrlonardo22, No. 2, 280-281,1989) also widened the circle of associations that could be used to examine my work when he stressed its relations with the Polish tradition in avantgarde art. On the one hand, it is the continuation of the constructivist ideas of Strzeminski that Morawski has in mind; on the other hand, it is my attempt to combine art and philosophy as in the works of L. Chwistek and S. I. Witkiewicz. I agree with the opinions expressed in these comments and I am grateful to the authors for pointing out problems which I failed to discuss in my essay. However, Morawski formulated also some critical remarks in his text. The first of these remarks concerns the fact that I concentrated exclusivelyon the artistic process and ignored the structure of a finished work together with its evocative power. This is true, but I must say that my choice was intentional and conscious . I felt that to speak of my own works and their influence would be a rather tactless thing to do. But there was also another reason, more theoretically significant: I believe that an artist commenting on his or her own work is seldom able to distinguish between the original intentions and the final result. A completed work of art is always to a greater or lesser degree different from the author’s intentions . Accidental and unintentional elements intervene in the process of creation; moreover, not all of the qualities of the material used may be recognized in the finished work even if it was planned to the last detail. Artists who comment on their work usually speak of their aims and aspirations , which are not always in accord with the structure created. And as far as its evocative powers are concerned, the artist can say very little...