Endless Ribbon from a Ring I by Max Bill and Conrete Art

       Endless Ribbon from a Ring I by Max Bill is what is known as a "Mobius Strip."

Endless Ribbon from a Ring I, Max Bill, Gilded copper on crystalline base, 14.5" * 27" * 7.5". 1949.

      


       At the time Endless Ribbon From a Ring I was created, Europe was still reeling from the recent trauma of World War II, which was so profound that it created the movements of Existentialism in Europe and Abstract Expressionism in America. These two movements express vivid and chaotic art to symbolize the shock, disillusionment, and shattered faith of the artistic world at the time. Essentially a three-dimensional infinity symbol, my instructor described Endless Ribbon from a Ring I as a "resistance to chaos." He told us that Max Bill's solution to the postwar trauma was to create mathematical art and sculptures, which can only have one correct answer.
       As someone who has gotten a C in every math class since high school Pre-Calculus, I was very impressed by the mention of Endless Ribbon from a Ring I in the midst of a lecture whose primary focus was Abstract Expressionism and Existentialism. I did some more research and discovered another movement known as Concrete Art. While Abstract Art expresses the inner workings of the imagination, Concrete Art works to create objects and works of perfect mathematical symmetry.
       The other Concrete Artist that our instructor told us about was Richard Paul Lohse, who worked alongside Max Bill. Lohse painted Serial Elements Concentrated in Rhythmic Groups.

Serial Elements concentrated in Rhythmic Groups, Richard Paul Lohse, oil on canvas, 35.375" * 35.375". 1949/1956.

        Like Endless Ribbon from a Ring I, this work is also perfectly symmetrical, but features multicolored bars painted meticulously onto the canvas. Even the canvas itself is perfectly square, having an equal length and width.
       Concrete art helped pave the way for Optical Art, the art of optical illusions.

A sample optical illusion. It's kind of similar to a tessellation...

For more on the works of Richard Paul Lohse, visit

       http://www.lohse.ch/bio_e.html

For an introduction to Optical Art, visit

       http://arthistory.about.com/cs/arthistory10one/a/op_art.htm

For more on Concrete Art and links to other Concrete Artists, visit

       http://www.art-directory.info/fine-art/concrete-art/index.shtml