Clifford Singer
“Geometrical Clouds” is reimagined as a major theme in my life’s work,
with the earliest pieces of that name dating back to 1974. This
current iteration represents what I call “48 years of process,” which,
in principle, references the 19th century Neuberg cubic [named after
Joseph Jean Baptiste Neuberg (30 October 1840 – 22 March 1926), a
Luxembourger mathematician], with geometry of the plane curve, which
describes a correlation between variables based on the usage,
expressing a linear relationship when modeled, making a mathematical
picture. Collinear points are key. It is my idea to form the Neuberg
cubics of a sufficient plane curve that passes through the circular
points at infinity.
The new “Geometrical Clouds” are produced in laser-cut steel and
powder-coated with vibrant colors. Geometrical Clouds is a
mathematical perspective to surrealism. I credit Man Ray’s 1938
piece “La Fortune” as an inspiration for this exhibition. The
Whitney Museum of American Art describes this piece, showing a
billiard table stretching toward the horizon with different
colored clouds in the sky, as “a landscape of the mind, a product
of the artist’s vivid imagination” that also evokes games of luck
and chance. Like other surrealist artists, Man Ray thought of the
creative process like a game, espousing a playful approach to
problem-solving.