Projects for the Reconstruction of the Firmament

SPACE ART Projects for the Reconstruction of the Firmament Francisco Infante Francisco Infante wasborn in 1943 in Russia ofa Russian motherand a Spanishfather. He attendedMoscow Art Schoolfrom 1956 until 1962, when hebecame a member of theMovement Groupand began producingmobile and kineticartworks inspired bytheautonomous ideaofinfinity. Since1968, hehas constructed environmental installationswith his wife, artistNonna Goriunova. In 1970 heorganized theArgoGroup, whichhasrealized eightprojects involving artificialkineticenvironments placed in nature.Since1976 hehasbeen working withprojects that he calls Artifacts. He livesand works in Moscow.-Ed. Fig. 1. Projectsfor the Reconstruction of the Finnament, gouache and tempera on paper, 50 x 32 em (ea print), 1965-1967. RECONSTRUCTION OF THE FIRMAMENT During the 1960s I worked with geometric art. I tried to extrapolate my ideas concerning the visible world to the stellar firmament, following the traditions of the Russian avant-garde. As a result, in 1965 I formulated a conceptual arrangement of the stars-a reconstruction of the heavens-that I illustrated in my artwork. In this work, I have organized the stars into exclusive geometric systems (Fig. 1). My conception makes no claim to authentic realism; my work does not describe some kind of pictorial representation of a new stellar distribution. However, my own personal conception ofworld reconstruction is authentic. My viewing the sky in this way is not especially different from any other sky-interpretation system , e.g. the signs of the zodiac. True, there is one difference : the signs of the zodiac are linked to an existing distribution of stars, whereas in my geometric reconstruc-©19921SAST Pergamon Press pic.Printed inGreat Britain. 0024-(94)(,192 $3.00+0.00 tion the stars are redistributed. There lies an element ofthe absurd in my work, because it is the affirmation of the work of an artist other than the true creator of the cosmos. Still, these projects reveal the structure and implementation of an idea; if we allow this idea to exist, then we must admit its reality. Moreover, this is a discrete, conceptual reality that transcends the conventional ability ofcognition ofthe surroundingworld. Malevich's tendency to regard the soaring of supremacist cities and planity as perspectival is a gesture of the 1920s avant-garde that is close to us. At the same time, my projects for the reconstruction of the surrounding universe are in accord with the criteria of artistic form. It is a reconstruction that was characteristic of the .work of the Constructivists of the Russian avant-garde. Francisco Infante (artist), Brodnikov per. d. 10, kv.2, Moscow 109180. USSR. Received 5 April 1991. LEONARDO. Vol. 25. No.1. p. 11, 1992 11 ...