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.