Michel Tombroff

Artist
Brussels, Belgium

My work presents a critique of the analytical tradition of conceptual art, and more specifically the tautological drift (as theorized by Ad Reinhardt, Joseph Kosuth, and others) that caused conceptual art to distance itself from the minimal and essential aesthetic conditions required for a democratic experience of the work of art. I propose to add an ontological framework based on the concepts of set theory and transfinite numbers, and in particular the principles defined by Alain Badiou in "Being and Event", to conceptual art's foundations. My works of art are aimed at empirically testing the validity and coherence of this theory.

Sectio Aurea I
Sectio Aurea I
60 x 90 cm
Acrylic paint and wood
2017

This work represents the number known as the “Golden Ratio”, or phi,or the divine proportion. The wood sticks in Section Aurea I & II represent the first 6.955 decimals of phi . The panel is sized in the golden ratio proportions and the ‘hole’ in the panel is also in the golden ratio proportion.

Sectio Aurea II
Sectio Aurea II
60 x 90 cm
Acrylic paint and wood
2017

This work represents the number known as the “Golden Ratio”, or phi,or the divine proportion. The wood sticks in Section Aurea I & II represent the first 6.955 decimals of phi . The panel is sized in the golden ratio proportions and the rectangle delimited by the sticks is also in the golden ratio proportion.