Takis, The Fourth Dimension

Magnetic energies are his primary, unseen material, which he stages in all manner of ways so as to render them visible. Takis has consistently translated this poetic approach to science into works that sensitively deploy the forces of nature.

In 1968-1969 Takis was invited to work as a fellow at the Centre for Advanced Visual Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to investigate magnetism in an artistic way. For Takis, science and art are closely related. It is perhaps not so much the nature of the results obtained, but the starting point, the very act of questioning, which makes artists and scientists similar. Both artists and scientists are looking for answers to universal questions. They both engage in research, which involves venturing into the unknown. The results of their creative processes can reveal the beauty that lies beneath the surface.

Though he carefully works with matter, with respect for its nature, the material aspect is not the most important dimension of Takis’ work. The artist believes that the essential does not reside in the visual but in what cannot be seen, in the space-between.

With his Signals, Magnetic Walls and Musicales, Takis makes invisible energies palpable and invites the spectator to enter into a wordless, energetic dialogue with the sculptures. In a way he both literally and figuratively charges the void, in order to make it eloquent. Instead of working with representations, the works are presentations of energies for us to engage with directly. Instead of communicating via symbolisation and language, the works’ impact is immediate. Takis also makes us aware of our fragility: the works have a tangible effect on the viewer, who is touched by energies emitting from the work, which the artist claims can have a harmonizing effect.

Rendering the void positive as a director of energies, Takis invites viewers to engage with the Fourth Dimension in his works.