Davide Boriani

Davide Boriani, Superficie magnetica (Magnetic surface) or Ohne Titel (Objekt mit Magnet) (Untitled [object with magnet]), 1965

Davide Boriani was a member of the Milan-based Gruppo T (1959–62), a kinetic art collective that explored issues of time (hence the “T” in the group’s name) and space. To create Superficie magnetica Boriani enclosed iron shavings within a circular Plexiglas and aluminum container. Driven by a motor, magnets hidden behind the container’s black backing move in circles, pulling the shavings into evolving configurations. Although the magnets move along regular paths, the activity of the iron shavings―carried up by the magnets and falling when they become too heavy―is largely unforeseeable. Boriani’s aim with this work and others like it was to use the inherent repetition of the motor to produce irregular, unpredictable results. Boriani also hoped that the complexity of the work, with its multiple centers of action, would prevent viewers from ever assuming that they had perceived it completely and instead create an experience marked by a heightened sense of duration and incompleteness.

Image credit

Davide Boriani (Italian, b. 1936), Superficie magnetica (Magnetic surface) or Ohne Titel (Objekt mit Magnet) (Untitled [object with magnet]), 1965. Iron shavings and magnets in aluminum and Plexiglas container with electric motor, 61/100, 13 x 11 7/8 x 3 15/16 in. (33 x 30.2 x 10 cm). Published by Edition MAT / Galerie Der Spiegel, Cologne. Kern Collection, Großmaischeid.