Natural Phenomena as Art       Table of Contents "Algorithmic Art & A.I."       IAAA       


"What should we do without fire and death?"                           
                       
 Nathaniel Hawthorne, American Notebooks, March 9, 1853.


The Art of Fire: Burning, Melting & Smoke


             John Latham



Book Fragment, 1958


Untitled, 1958


Skoob Tower, 1964

        Alberto Burri



Combustione Plastica, 1958


Composition en Film de PVC


Grande Rosso P18, 1964



Bianco Plastica B3, 1972


Henk Peeters



Pyrography, 1959


La Monte Young

Composition 1960 #2

Build a fire in front of the audience. Preferably, use wood although other combustibles may be used as necessary for starting the fire or controlling the kind of smoke. The fire ay be of any size, but it should not be the kind which is associated with another object, such as a candle or a cigarette lighter. The lights may be turned out.
After the fire is burning, the builder(s) may sit by and watch it for the duration of the composition; however, he (they) should not sit between the fire and the audience in order that its members will be able to see and enjoy the fire.
The composition may be of any duration.
In the event that the performance is broadcast, the microphone may be brought up close to the fire.

5 - 5 - 60


Otto Piene



Rauchbild, 1961


Schwarze Sonne, 1965


Fire (Red and Black on White)
1962


Rauchgold auf Goldgrund, 1963


Ohne Titel, 1962


Sesame 2, 1974


Slow Motion, 1982


High Noon, 1986-1987


Aetna, 1988-1992


Honey Moon, 2000


Yves Klein: Peintures de Feu, 1961


Rêve de Feu (1960)


# 3


# 27-I


# 31



# 74


# 80


Empreinté par
l'Eau et le Feu


Peinture Feu Couleur # 1


Ben Vautier


Burn the Louvre.

 


From: Projects for Events, 1962.

Houses that burn, towns that burn, forests that burn, old ladies that burn, fire that burns — the pyromaniac is ME.


Fires, 1962.



Total Art Matchbox, 1966


Bernard Aubertin



Livre Brûlé et à Brûler, 1962-1970


Livre Brûlé
 


Dessin de Feu, 1973


Dessin de Feu, 1973


Combustion


Livre Brûlé, 1974


Arman



"Paganini's Funeral"
1966



"To Hell with Paganini"
1966



"Tortured Violin"
1969


Burnt Violin

 


Burnt Violin II

Robert Longo


Arena Brains, 1986


Werner Herzog: Lektionen in Finsterniss, 1992





Marco Breuer


Untitled (Cloth).
Silver Gelatin Paper, Burned. 1996.


Untitled (Coals).
Silver Gelatin Paper, Burned. 1996.


Bibliography

Ben Vautier: Me Ben I Sign. Surrey (UK): Beau Geste Press, 1975).

"Brandspuren. Das Element Feuer in der neueren Skulptur." Folkwang Museum, Essen, 1991.

H. Draxler (ed.): DAS BRENNENDE BILD: Eine Kunstgeschichte des Feuers in der Neueren Zeit. Special Issue of Kunstforum International, 2001, Vol. 87.Ê

Assignments
  •    (Computational:) Design and implement a computer simulation of fire and its effects. (First decide which effects you intend to focus on, and develop a mathematical model of them.)
  •    (Theoretical:) Write an essay analysing the meaning of these art forms.