Friday 8 October 2010

Going Round Again

On a (most likely) cold Russian night in 1915, Ukraine-born artist Kasimir Malevich would have his perceptions forever marked with a revelation:
I felt only night within me and it was then that I conceived the new art, which I called Suprematism.
Suprematism would become an art movement focused primarily on the square and circle. Visually, Malevich's revelation would become something like this:



Kasimir Malevich, Black Circle (ca. 1920s)

Not exactly a Road to Damascus moment, still, it was a revelation that'd indelibly mark the history of art to follow. Ninety-five years forward and the inspiration of Suprematism continues; this time name-dropped as an influence by the German couturier Wunderkind:





It looks as if the circle is coming 'round again.





A constellation of orbiting pavers above, and a labyrinth of barrel cactus below.





A wedding bouquet:









Wherever it may be, the circle/sphere will always find itself acting as a satellite in a rectilinear universe. Its gift to any setting is its ambient tension.









It's shape is both a footprint and a radiation: An homage to its symbol of strength and eternity as well as the ever-present goddess Luna.





It can be the comforting image of the egg or the royal lineage of a formal garden.