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Parallel Avant-Gardes

By Syd Krochmalny (2018 - ongoing)

In the history of art, each movement has left an

indelible mark that shapes our perception of the

past and informs our understanding of the present.

But what about the movements that never fully

materialized? My work delves into a compelling

question: What might have happened if certain

avant-garde movements, only briefly sketched in

their time, had been fully realized? By speculating

on these “alternate pasts,” I not only imagine

parallel artistic worlds but also seek to challenge

and expand our notions of what is possible in

contemporary art.

Art has always been a struggle against time,

whether in the pursuit of the eternal, as in

classical art, or in capturing the present moment,

as in contemporary art. By suspending judgment

on the reality of art, what remains is its intrinsic

relationship with time. I believe that art is not

merely a reflection of its era; it is an ongoing

dialogue with the past, present, and future.

This leads me to ask: How might artistic movements

have evolved if they had taken different paths?

Engaging in an exercise of counterfactual

speculation, my work asks: What if certain

avant-garde movements, conceived during

moments of intellectual fervor, had fully

developed? I consider the radical efforts of the

late 19th and early 20th centuries in Paris, where

numerous aesthetic ideas emerged but never fully

crystallized—movements like Scientifism,

Magism, Pluralism, among others. These

movements, though fleeting, contained the seeds

of an aesthetic revolution that was never realized.

For instance, Scientifism could have merged

scientific principles with artistic creation,

producing works where mathematical precision and

emotional expression coexist in perfect harmony.

Imagine sculptures that not only capture the

human form but also reveal the internal structure

of cells, using materials that respond to external

stimuli such as heat or light.

Pluralism, on the other hand, might have

advocated for the simultaneous inclusion of

multiple styles and techniques within a single work,

challenging the notion of stylistic purity. In this

movement, a painting could blend Impressionism,

 

Cubism, and Surrealism on a single canvas, creat-

ing a visual experience that reflects the complexity and diversity of reality.

Magism, in contrast, would have fused mysticism

with the visual arts, creating works that functioned

as amulets or portals to other dimensions. These

pieces, laden with esoteric symbolism, would have

challenged not only aesthetic conventions but also

the boundaries between art and religion,

suggesting a deeper connection between the

material and the spiritual.

These hypothetical movements not only broaden

our understanding of what art could have been but

also prompt us to reflect on what art lost by not

following these paths. How might our perception

of contemporary art have changed if these

movements had influenced the course of history?

Perhaps we would live in a world where the

boundaries between science, magic, and art had

dissolved, resulting in a cultural synthesis that

defied established categories.

Drawing from manifestos, poems, and critical texts

of the time, my work constructs counterfactual

representations of these unrealized movements.

These pieces are not mere exercises in imagination;

they are attempts to fill the gaps in art history,

creating visions of what might have been. In doing

so, I momentarily suspend the official narrative of

art history, presenting an alternative version of

reality.

Imagining these parallel artistic worlds is not just an

intellectual exercise; it is a way to expand our

understanding of art and its possibilities. These

“alternate pasts,” though never realized, invite us

to reconsider what is possible in contemporary art.

By exploring what never was, I seek to uncover new

ways of seeing, creating, and understanding art in

its relationship with time and history.

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