Details

Catalog summary

Alexander Konstantinov Forms signed and dated 96 l.r. scraped photo film, paper and pencil on paper each sheet 29.8 by 23.7cm., 11 3/4 by 9 1/4 in. Condition In good overall condition. The individual sheets are held between two panes of glass and within matching wooden frames. "In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue. NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE." Catalogue Note In the final years of the twentieth century, Aleksander Konstantinov combined and compared various methods of formal thought that transpose the focus of a person's daily activity from the physical realm to the realm of virtual thought and achievements. Blank systems of coordinates, variants of 'prepared' surfaces, are concepts made visible. The coordinates are reminiscent of bureaucratic forms, graph paper, rulers, radar screens, and digital displays - all everyday objects, unified only by being the tools for the fixation, measurement, or registration of something individual or significant. Forms may be conceived as fields loaded with social implications, intended for the placement of ideas, texts, facts, numerical data, and so forth, while blank graph paper may imply the very possibility of image creation. The artist's approach to integrating the newest ideas with tradition, postmodernist irony with the historical achievements of European culture, unifies a logical, structural, and scientific way of thought with the free and unpredictable nature of the human intellect.