Max Bill

doppelfläche mit sechs rechtwinkligen ecken, 1948-78

Max Bill – architect, designer, painter, sculptor, commentator and lecturer –  defined concrete art as being ultimately “the pure expression of harmonic dimensions and laws” for a mathematical approach to creative design in order to maintain controllable results. The mathematical discovery of the Möbius strip, which apparently has only one edge and one surface, interested Max Bill as a sculptor for years. Bill’s analysis of Constantin Brancusi’s Infinite Column, 1918/38, led to the sculptural idea of an endless loop as 1935. With doppelfläche mit sechs rechtwinkligen ecken [double surface with six rectangular corners], 1948-78,  Bill successfully formalizes a mathematical idea elegantly and lightly, making us forget how heavy the white granite is. In this way, Bill lent infinity to a form that is nevertheless limited.