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Nicolas Schöffer (; 6 September 1912 — 8 January 1992) was a Hungarian-born French
cybernetic art Cybernetic art is contemporary art that builds upon the legacy of cybernetics, where feedback involved in the work takes precedence over traditional aesthetic and material concerns. The relationship between cybernetics and art can be summarised ...
ist. Schöffer was born in Kalocsa,
Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
and lived in
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
from 1936 until his death in
Montmartre Montmartre ( , , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement of Paris, 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Rive Droite, Right Bank. Montmartre is primarily known for its a ...
,
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
in 1992. He built his artworks on
cybernetic Cybernetics is the transdisciplinary study of circular causal processes such as feedback and recursion, where the effects of a system's actions (its outputs) return as inputs to that system, influencing subsequent action. It is concerned with ...
theories of control and
feedback Feedback occurs when outputs of a system are routed back as inputs as part of a chain of cause and effect that forms a circuit or loop. The system can then be said to ''feed back'' into itself. The notion of cause-and-effect has to be handle ...
primarily based on the ideas of
Norbert Wiener Norbert Wiener (November 26, 1894 – March 18, 1964) was an American computer scientist, mathematician, and philosopher. He became a professor of mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ( MIT). A child prodigy, Wiener late ...
. Wiener's work suggested to Schöffer an artistic process in terms of the circular causality of feedback loops that he used in a wide range of art genres. His career spanned painting, sculpture, architecture, urbanism, film, theatre, television and music. The quest for dematerialisation of the artwork and the pursuit of movement and dynamics became central themes of his work. He worked with the immaterial media
space Space is a three-dimensional continuum containing positions and directions. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions. Modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless ...
,
time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
,
light Light, visible light, or visible radiation is electromagnetic radiation that can be visual perception, perceived by the human eye. Visible light spans the visible spectrum and is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400– ...
,
sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the br ...
and
climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in a region, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteoro ...
that he called the five topologies. He liberated art genres from their spatial and temporal constraints by creating never-ending sound structures that can be heard all over the cybernetic city of the future, and by designing SCAM1, an automobile sculpture. Schöffer declared the
socialization In sociology, socialization (also socialisation – see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is the process of Internalisation (sociology), internalizing the Norm (social), norm ...
of art as an important goal. According to his ideas, art should be available as a cultural asset equally to everyone without limitations. The playful and spectacular aspects of his works served the goal of gaining the attention of the audience and involving the viewer through participation in the creative processes. To make art universally available, he explored the possibilities of serial production.


Life and career

Schöffer was born in Kalocsa in the south of Hungary. His mother was a violinist and took care of his musical education, and encouraged him to draw. He took piano lessons from the age of seven. The father was a lawyer. After elementary school, Schöffer continued to study with the
Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
, despite his
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
descent. This duality of religious education led to an openness towards other religious attitudes that is expressed by his idea of a
universal religion Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company that is a subsidiary of Comcast ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of ...
in the cybernetic city of the future. Thanks to the influence of his father, Schöffer left home to study law at the Royal Hungarian Pázmány Péter University in
Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
. After graduating as a doctor in law, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts. In 1932 he took part in the winter exhibition of the national salon in Budapest. It was his only public appearance before the war in Hungary. In 1936 he left Hungary and settled in Paris. Here, Schöffer continued his studies in the atelier Fernand Sabatté at the
École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in nor ...
. In 1937 he participated in the Salon d'Automne and in 1938 in the
Salon des Indépendants Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room A drawing room is a room in a house where visitors may be entertained, and an alternative name for a living room. The name i ...
. The
Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne The ''Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne'' (International Exposition of Art and Technology in Modern Life) was held from 25 May to 25 November 1937 in Paris, France. Both the Palais de Chaillot, housing the Mu ...
(international exposition of art and technology in modern life) in 1937 had a decisive influence on Schöffer's career. The main attraction of the international exhibition, the palace of discoveries in the west wing of the
Grand Palais The (; ), commonly known as the , is a historic site, exhibition hall and museum complex located in the 8th arrondissement of Paris between the Champs-Élysées and the Seine, France. Construction of the began in 1897 following the demolitio ...
aroused Schöffer's interest in scientific research and technical innovations. It was thanks to this interest that, just over a decade later, he came across Norbert Wiener's book about cybernetic principles that would radically change his views on art and induce an abrupt change in his artistic practice. On 14 June 1940,
Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...
units marched into Paris. Schöffer fled to southern France and lived in the
Aveyron Aveyron (; ) is a Departments of France, department in the Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Southern France. It was named after the river Aveyron (river), Aveyron. Its inhabitants are known as ''Aveyro ...
area until his return after the liberation of Paris. During this period he met his first wife, Marie Rose Marguerite Orlhac. They married on February 22, 1945 in Capdenac. After the war Schöffer and his wife returned to Paris. They lived at 12 rue de Paris in Clichy, and his wife ran an antique shop. Between 1945 and 1949 Schöffer experimented with painting and graphics until he came across Norbert Wiener's book. Schöffer lived in the Villa des Arts from 1954, first on the fourth floor and later on the ground floor. La Villa des Arts was built on a site separated from the
Montmartre Cemetery The Cemetery of Montmartre () is a cemetery in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, France, that dates to the early 19th century. Officially known as the Cimetière du Nord, it is the third largest necropolis in Paris, after the Père Lachaise Cemet ...
. In 1890, King Louis XV had a series of 67 studios built here for artists using materials dismantled from the Universal Exhibition. The stairs of the old Gare Saint Lazare were reused here. Numerous artists lived and worked in the ateliers, among them Cézanne, Sisley,
Marcoussis Marcoussis () is a Communes of France, commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris. Marcoussis is the location of the CNR (National Centre of Rugby) where the France national rugby u ...
and Renoir. In his most active years Schöffer had two studios here, one of which previously belonged to Cézanne. Atelier No. 5, the former studio of an equestrian statue sculptor was renovated in 1964. It is the most spectacular atelier of the Villa des Arts. From 1964 Schöffer worked in studio no. 5 and also used studio no. 2. His artistic breakthrough came in the 1950s. He took part in Documenta II (1959) and Documenta III (1964) in Kassel. In 1968 he took part in the
Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...
and was awarded the
Grand Prize A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements.
. He has achieved both international media exposure and institutional recognition. In 1982, in recognition of his rich body of work, he was elected a member of the French Academy of fine arts. He was promoted to the rank of officer in the
Légion d'Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
in 1983. He was promoted to the rank of officer in the
Ordre des Arts et Lettres The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order (distinction), order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Ministry of Culture (France), Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President of France, President Cha ...
in 1985. The award of the rank of commander in the
Ordre National du Mérite The (; ) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's establishment was twofold: to replace the large number of ...
followed in 1990. In 1986, the artist suffered a brain haemorrhage and never recovered. During the last seven years of his life he used a wheelchair. He was cared for by his second wife, Eléonore de Lavandeyra, whom he married after Orlhac's death. Schöffer died in 1992, but his artworks were kept for decades in his original studio and Schöffer's intellectual legacy maintained. Eléonore de Lavandeyra Schöffer died on 15 January 2020.


Creative periods

Schöffer's artistic career can be divided into three major periods by two clear turning points. He experimented and systematically sought his own artistic position during the early part of his career. The main body of his work belongs to the second period. Art historians distinguish three stages of the second creative period that are related to the theories Schöffer elaborated during these time spans. The third main creative period is marked by his return to two-dimensional works due to his incurable illness which impeded his free movement.


First creative period (1931-1950)

The stylistic diversity of his first creative period is striking. This comes from a desire to try different techniques and subjects. Cathedrals, depictions of Jesus, nude scenes with Turkish figures, portraits of men, surrealistic creatures with double faces, animals that are only depicted with their characteristic features, various still lifes and rare humorous drawings can be found in the repertoire. He did not make exact copies but he imitated masters of art history to understand their creative methods. Since works of this period were rarely dated it is difficult to establish a chronology, but a development from figurative to abstract works and an approach from the surface into space can be discovered. The transition went from figurative works through a phase of lyric abstraction to geometric abstraction. About the end of this phase Schöffer experimented with a painting pendulum and with a paint gun. On his way from the surface of a canvas into space the first step was thinking in three dimensions. He imagined an abstract three-dimensional construction and drew its projection onto the surface of the two-dimensional support material. The background was no longer to be viewed as such, but as the space in which the objects depicted exist in three dimensions. The image was only its projection onto a screen. The second step was to execute the constructions imagined in three dimensions as
relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...
images. The reliefs have a main view and the parts stand out only moderately. A back surface supports the relief. The influence of Mondrian's Neoplasticism can already be felt in these relief images. The elements of this artistic language were the pairs of opposites horizontal/vertical, large/small, light/dark and the reduction of colours to the three
primary colours Primary colors are colorants or colored lights that can be mixed in varying amounts to produce a gamut of colors. This is the essential method used to create the perception of a broad range of colors in, e.g., electronic displays, color printin ...
: red, yellow and blue as well as the non-colours: black, gray and white. Later the rear support disappears and the reliefs leave the wall to enter space as sculptural works but still with a single main view. They mark the transition to the second artistic period.


Second creative period (1950-1986)

Schöffer's main achievements emerged during the second creative period. The rapid execution of the idea, the speed of creation was his central concern. Cybernetics enabled the automation of the creative process and secured a satisfying speed of artistic production. The perception of the viewer was central to the concept of the works. His artistic practise is characterized by a harmonious combination of art, technology and science which requires teamwork. He left part of the creative process to his colleagues. In several cases he only created the
algorithm In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of Rigour#Mathematics, mathematically rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific Computational problem, problems or to perform a computation. Algo ...
and let the program conjure up the
spectacle In general, spectacle refers to an event that is memorable for the appearance it creates. Derived in Middle English from c. 1340 as "specially prepared or arranged display" it was borrowed from Old French ''spectacle'', itself a reflection of the ...
. On the other hand, he also envisaged a participatory art in which the recipient changes the work of art, redesigns it and thus becomes the creator of the work himself. He did not shy away from having some of his artworks mass-produced. He questioned the traditional function of art and designed a cybernetic city where art plays the major role and is the organisational principle of its functioning.


''Spatiodynamism'' (1950-1957)

After a few initial sculptural works, Schöffer gave up the emphasized main view and created sculptures in which all views were of equal importance. He concentrated on the negative space within the sculpture and on the dynamic perception of the viewer as he/she moves around. The first sculptural works have a functionalist approach. Similar to the Russian constructivists, Schöffer took industrial tasks as a source of inspiration. He planned semaphores, traffic signals, airport flight control signalling systems, clocks, power line pylons, among others. Later he abandoned real tasks and shaped the rhythm of the space. He concentrated on the negative space between the vertical and horizontal steel parts of the structure that was holding permanently fixed rectangular and circular plates. These were at first coloured, later uncoloured polished steel. All views of the sculptures became equally important. Schöffer was able to present himself to the public in his new role as a sculptor as early as 1950. The ''Galerie des deux Iles'' organized an exhibition entitled ''Schöffer Plasticien'', the ''Galerie Harriet Hubbard Ayer'' presented the work of Schöffer and J.M. Savage entitled ''Les mobiles de l'Amour''. In 1951 Schöffer took part in the ''Salon de la Jeune Sculpture''. In 1952, the ''Gallery Mai'' showed an exhibitionthe to the public the title of which, ''Oeuvres Spatiodynamic'', already contains the expression Spatiodynamic. He worked out the extensive theory of ''Spatiodynamism'' (1950-1957) that he explains in his first book. Most of the ''spaciodynamic'' Sculptures were still static, only a few of them were works of
kinetic art Kinetic art is art from any medium that contains movement perceivable by the viewer or that depends on motion for its effects. Canvas paintings that extend the viewer's perspective of the artwork and incorporate multidimensional movement are ...
. Spatiodynamic 27 called CYSP0 was the last piece of the series and a preparation to the creation of the first cybernetic sculpture of art history.


''Luminodynamism'' (1957-1959)

The basic concept of the LUX series is similar to that of the ''light-space-modulator'' created by Moholy-Nagy, but the structure of the sculpture is different. The sculptures consist of a construction with horizontal and vertical square profiles and of the permanently fixed discs and plates. The ratio of the structure is based on the
golden section In mathematics, two quantities are in the golden ratio if their ratio is the same as the ratio of their summation, sum to the larger of the two quantities. Expressed algebraically, for quantities and with , is in a golden ratio to if \fr ...
. The construction is illuminated by colored and white light sources and the shadows on the walls are considered as part of the work. Schöffer also used a semi-transparent screen. This resulted in multiple possible readings of the work. Schöffer submitted the basic principle on April 14, 1956 to the patent office and it was registered on August 25, 1958 as a
patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...
. Schöffer elaborated the theory of ''Luminodynamism'' (1957-1959) . In these works, the play of movement and coloured lights provided an attraction that gave a completely original effect even when filmed. Schöffer shot several short films of these.


''Chronodynamism'' (1959-)

The ''Microtemps'' (1960-1966) series challenges the capabilities of human
visual perception Visual perception is the ability to detect light and use it to form an image of the surrounding Biophysical environment, environment. Photodetection without image formation is classified as ''light sensing''. In most vertebrates, visual percept ...
and assesses the limitations of the related cognitive capacities. The ''Microtemps'' are small boxes, the inside of which is either painted black or white, or lined with a reflective material. Various discs, hemispherical shells and plates made of stainless steel are set in motion inside the box by a programmed motor. The speed of their rotations was adapted to the speed of the perception of an image, i.e. thirty thousandths of a second, in such a way that it challenged the recipient's cognitive capacities. The ''Luminos'' were similar with the difference that the rotating parts were shaded by a transparent screen. They were the first mass-produced works of art. These works represent a transition from ''Luminodynamism'' to ''Chronodynamism''. After space and light time got into the focus of the artist's attention. However, the program of the microtemps and luminos repeated itself endlessly in the same way, because it was not yet based on an algorithm. During his further artistic activity, Schöffer created sculptures using cybernetics program patterns which are never repeated. Schöffer elaborated the theory of ''Chronodynamism'' in 1959. With the five topologies and cybernetics together, Schöffer had his full artistic arsenal ready, and the dimensions of his works began to grow. He created cybernetic light towers, the ''Chronos'' series. They can be found in several cities around the world. ''Chronos 8'' stands in his home town near the house where he was born. Although the most accomplished and tallest cybernetic light tower that he planned for Paris was never built it is still considered as his masterpiece. It would have been taller than the
Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower from 1887 to 1889. Locally nicknamed "''La dame de fe ...
and an information source for the inhabitants of Paris. It took ten years to design. The first oil crisis and the death of Pompidou thwarted the plan.


Final phase of the second creative period

Schöffer began to plan several series of cybernetic sculptures and ''Hydro-Thermo-Chronos Fountains'' to socialize art and enhance the aesthetic quality of the surroundings in the city. Several of these new ideas remained in the planning phase, after he fell ill. He planned the first of the series ''Les Tour Soleil'' for
Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
. These monumental solar towers consisted of sun reliefs mounted on a vertical axis. They could move around this axis on a spiral path. They stored the sun's energy during the day to use it at night. The innovation was the use of solar energy to supply the sculpture's light sources and motors with power. Plans for a 600 m high solar tower were completed for the
Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...
in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
that took place in 1984. ''Les Basculantes'' (1982–83) (Tumbling Sculptures) are cybernetic sculptures that lean at every moment to one side like the Tower of Pisa but they are continuously changing the direction and angle of their inclination. The idea of the ''Hydro-Thermo-Chronos Fountains'' also dates back to 1983. These fountains would have used water, fire and lasers to evoke a spectacle on a monumental scale that would have been accompanied by strong sound effects. The purpose of the works called ''Les Percussonor'' (1984–85) was to relieve mental tension caused by stress as a consequence of urban life. They are participatory works of art where the audience is encouraged to hit parts of the sculpture to produce sound effects. These plans have remained in different stages of development but the ideas are clearly expressed. Posthumous realization is possible as the example of LUX 10 shows: this was built decades after Schöffer's death, in 2016 in
Busan Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...
, South-Korea. Some of Schöffer's works that were never realized, or lost, (Hydro-Thermo-Chronos Fountains, CYSP 1, SCAM1 and the TLC for Paris) were digitally reconstructed by Naomi Devil for the film ''Extraordinary World of Nicolas Schöffer''. This was shown in the Hungarian Pavilion at the
Expo 2015 Expo 2015 was a World's fair, World Expo hosted by Milan, Italy. It opened on May 1 at 10:00 Central European Summer Time, CEST and closed on October 31. Milan hosted an exposition for the second time; the first was the 1906 Milan Internation ...
in Milano, and directed by Sándor Gerebics.


Third creative period

The third creative period began after a sudden stroke of fate. After a brain hemorrhage, Schöffer's right side remained paralyzed and he used a wheelchair. Due to his deteriorating state of health, he was no longer able to handle large projects on his own. Although two projects that had already started were completed, no new works of art were created on a city scale. During this last period he created graphic works, using his left hand or with the computer. This was not a return to the ideas of the first period, which is also characterized by graphic and painterly work, but rather a synthesis of his entire career.


Main works


CYSP1

With CYSP1 Schöffer created the first cybernetic sculpture in art history in 1956. The name CYSP1 refers to the cybernetic and spatiodynamic features of the sculpture that had total autonomy of movement (travel in all directions at two speeds) as well as axial and eccentric rotation setting in motion its 16 pivoting poly-chromed plates. The sculpture made used electronic computations developed by the
Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...
Company. It was set on a base mounted on four rollers, which contained the mechanism and the electronic brain. The plates were operated by small motors located under their axis.
Phototube A phototube or photoelectric cell is a type of gas filled tube, gas-filled or vacuum tube that is sensitive to light. Such a tube is more correctly called a 'photoemissive cell' to distinguish it from photovoltaic or photoconductive cells. Photo ...
s and a
microphone A microphone, colloquially called a mic (), or mike, is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and publi ...
built into the sculpture caught all the variations in the fields of color, light and sound intensity. All these changes occasioned reactions on the part of the responsive sculpture. The sculpture was first presented in 1956 at the Sarah Bernhardt Theater in Paris during a night of poetry. That same year, at the avant-garde art festival, the dancers of
Maurice Béjart Maurice Béjart (; 1 January 1927 – 22 November 2007) was a French dancer, choreographer and Theatre director, opera director who ran the Béjart Ballet Lausanne in Switzerland. He developed a popular expressionistic form of modern ballet, tac ...
's ballet company performed a ballet with CYSP1 on the terrace of
Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , ; ), was a Swiss-French architectural designer, painter, urban planner and writer, who was one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture ...
's Cité Radieuse complex in
Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...
. The sculpture reacted to the movements of the dancers. The spectacle was accompanied by concrete music by Pierre Henry. Further performances followed in the studio of the artist at the Villa des Arts in Paris.


SCAM1

SCAM1 was the first automobile sculpture of the art history. Traditionally, sculptures were site-specific, immobile works of art. At the beginning of the 20th century, kinetic artists created sculptures with moving parts but these still remained in the same place. CYSP1 moved around in a confined space that was marked by a black circle on the ground, but could not leave it. SCAM1 was liberated of every confinement and could travel around the city at notable speed because the 3.93 m high sculpture was mounted on a custom-made automobile financed by the gallery owner Denise René and produced by the
Renault Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English), is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company curr ...
Company. SCAM1 appeared on the streets of Milan and Paris in 1973 and the spectacle attracted considerable attention. It does not exist any more; it had to be dismantled due to difficulties of parking and storage.


TLC Paris

Numerous smaller towers have been created in cities in Europe and America. The first 25 m high spatiodynamic tower was built in 1950 in Biot (France) as part of the exposition du Groupe Espace. The first spatiodynamic, cybernetic and acoustic tower was built in 1954 for the International Exhibition of Public Works in the Parc de Saint Cloud near Paris and reached a height of 50 m. The sound structure was composed by
Pierre Henry Henry at his home (January 2008) Pierre Georges Albert François Henry (; 9 December 1927 – 5 July 2017) was a French composer known for his significant contributions to musique concrète. Biography Henry was born in Paris, France, and bega ...
. These first towers were dismantled after the exhibition. The tallest tower to date is 52 m high and was built in
Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...
in 1961 in front of the Congress Palace. At the same time, Schöffer created a 1500 m2 light façade on the Congress Palace. Other towers followed in 1968 in Washington (Spatiodynamique 17), 1969 in
Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...
(Chronos 8), 1974 in
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
at the
Embarcadero Center Embarcadero Center is a commercial complex of four office towers, two hotels, and a shopping center located in San Francisco. An outdoor ice skating rink is open in the center during winter months. Embarcadero Center sits on a site largely bo ...
(Chronos 14), 1977 in
Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...
(Chronos 15), 1980 in
Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
(Chronos 10B), in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
(Chronos 10), 1982 in Kalocsa (Chronos 8), 1988 Tour d'Ain at Pont-d'Ain (Lux 16) and Lyoneon in
Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...
. These towers differ from the tower that Schöffer planned for
La Défense La Défense () is a major business district in France's Paris metropolitan area, west of the city limits. It is located in Île-de-France region's Departments of France, department of Hauts-de-Seine in the Communes of France, communes of Courbe ...
district in Paris not only in terms of size, but above all in terms of their category. The smaller ones are regarded as sculptures. The towers in Liège and Kalocsa can be categorized as ''architectural sculpture'', since the use of the architectural form of a tower implies that all the abstract concepts associated with this architectural type over the centuries are included in the meaning of the work. The tower as an architectural type has taken various forms and functions throughout architectural history, but it has always been closely linked to the abstract concepts of power, surveillance and control. This is exactly what these two cybernetic light towers do. They express the power of human intellect and interactively observe and control their environment. Since the spiral of galaxies can be deduced from the golden section, the basic principle of the structure, Schöffer regarded these towers as the symbol of the
Universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents. It comprises all of existence, any fundamental interaction, physical process and physical constant, and therefore all forms of matter and energy, and the structures they form, from s ...
. The cybernetic light tower that Schöffer designed for Paris is categorized as ''sculptural architecture'', which means the dividing line between sculpture and architecture has been crossed. The height of the tower varied between 324 and 347 m in the different plan versions which implies that architectural and static considerations had to be in the foreground. It was planned as a building that could be entered. Schöffer envisaged seven visitor platforms that could be reached via elevators and stairs. He planned restaurants, signalling systems, television stations, concert halls with an organ, a post office, a drugstore and other shops on the platforms. The tower would simultaneously have fulfilled the functions of an information centre, art and cultural space, lighthouse, air navigation tower, weather service tower, observation tower and media tower. Ten large French companies took part in the project and worked out the various detailed technical plans according to Schöffer's ideas. 14 concave mirrors, 363 mirrors, 144 rotatable axes with electric motors, 2085 electronic flashes, 2250 partly coloured headlights, thermometers, hygrometers and anemometers were to be mounted on the construction of vertical and horizontal steel profiles. 15 light cannons were planned at the top of the tower, the light from which would have increased the optical dimensions of the tower by two kilometres in height. Supporters of the project included
Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...
, president of the Fifth Republic from January 1959 to April 1969, his successor
Georges Pompidou Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou ( ; ; 5 July 19112 April 1974) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1969 until his death in 1974. He previously served as Prime Minister of France under President Charles de Gaulle from 19 ...
,
André Malraux Georges André Malraux ( ; ; 3 November 1901 – 23 November 1976) was a French novelist, art theorist, and minister of cultural affairs. Malraux's novel ''La Condition Humaine'' (''Man's Fate'') (1933) won the Prix Goncourt. He was appointed ...
, minister for cultural affairs, M. Prothin director of EPAD (l'établissement public pour l'aménagement de la région de la défense), and Marcel Jolly director and M. van den Putten, president of the
Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...
company. Unfortunately, the tower was never built because its biggest supporter, George Pompidou, died and the two oil crises shook its funding base. It is still considered Schöffer's masterpiece.


Voom Voom

The first
disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...
with light show, the predecessor of discos in today's sense was ''voom voom'' in
Saint-Tropez Saint-Tropez ( , ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Var (department), Var departments of France, department and the regions of France, region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Southern France. It is west of Nice and east of Marseille, o ...
. It was a kind of preparation for the entertainment district of the cybernetic city. The project was accomplished by Félix Girault, the architect Paul Bertrand and Nicolas Schöffer. The interior was furnished by Schöffer and was similar to an enlarged effect box (boîte à effet). A large prism of mirrors and a light wall were used as elements of the spectacle. The walls of the room, except for the light wall, were curved and covered with mirrors. An electronic brain controlled the spectacle. Shortly after, a new voom voom disco was built in Juan-les-Pins.
Brigitte Bardot Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot ( ; ; born 28 September 1934), often referred to by her initials B.B., is a French former actress, singer, and model as well as an animal rights activist. Famous for portraying characters with Hedonism, hedonistic life ...
was a regular at the disco in Saint Tropez. One of the first video clips were shot with her and Schöffer's spectacle.


Cybernetic city

In March 1965, the International Group for Prospective Architecture (Groupe International d'Architecture Prospective - GIAP) was founded under the chairmanship of
Michel Ragon Michel Ragon (24 June 1924 – 14 February 2020) was a French art and literature critic and writer. His primary focus was on anarchic and libertarian literature. Biography Ragon was born into a poor family on 24 June 1924 in Marseille, but spen ...
. The founding members were Nicolas Schöffer, Ionel Schein,
Yona Friedman Yona Friedman (5 June 1923 – 20 February 2020) was a Hungarian-born French architect, urban planner and designer. He was influential in the late 1950s and early 1960s, best known for his theory of "mobile architecture". In 2018, on his 95th bir ...
, Paul Maymont, Georges Patrix, Michel Ragon and later the Swiss Walter Jonas also joined the group. The group's
manifesto A manifesto is a written declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party, or government. A manifesto can accept a previously published opinion or public consensus, but many prominent ...
summed up the factors why previous forms of housing and urban structures could not meet the needs of modern life and implied the need for future-oriented planning. They concluded that demographic changes, rapid technical and scientific development, the continued increase in living standards, the socialization of time, space and art, the growing importance of free time and the accelerated speed in communication all broke up the traditional structures of society. These considerations spurred Schöffer to design the city of the future. Like
Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , ; ), was a Swiss-French architectural designer, painter, urban planner and writer, who was one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture ...
, who had the opportunity to design the new city of
Chandigarh Chandigarh is a city and union territory in northern India, serving as the shared capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana. Situated near the foothills of the Shivalik range of Himalayas, it borders Haryana to the east and Punjab in the ...
from scratch, Schöffer began his planning from zero. The cybernetic city is characterized by functional separation and consists of three parts that are closely connected and coordinated by the cybernetic headquarters. One part is dedicated to work and concentration, separated from the residential and leisure areas. Schöffer distinguishes two levels of the city: a soft city and a hard city, which together make up the cybernetic city. It's similar to the terms
software Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications. The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...
and hardware that together make up a computer. Schöffer emphasizes the leading role of art in the urban planning process, everything else should be subject to artistic considerations. The city is the extension of the sculpture. His formal considerations always come from the
golden ratio In mathematics, two quantities are in the golden ratio if their ratio is the same as the ratio of their summation, sum to the larger of the two quantities. Expressed algebraically, for quantities and with , is in a golden ratio to if \fr ...
. In the controversy between functionalists and formalists, Schöffer takes no position on either side. Formal and functional considerations go hand in hand, based on his conviction that only the harmony of parts can ensure a functional solution. A third key aspect is that — unlike most urban planners — Schöffer does not design the city with hard materials (like brick, concrete, etc.). He was convinced that the immaterial factors have to be shaped first and foremost. Electricity and electronics should be in the foreground during planning and the planner should shape the five topologies: space, time, light, sound and climate. In Schöffer's city cybernetics is the pinnacle of
democracy Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...
: all controls, all regulations are always carried out through the actions of the majority. From the moment there is a majority to express a wish in a cybernetic city, that majority can immediately interpret their wishes and turn them into reality. Schöffer saw the city as a relief, to be artistically designed in such a way that the parts are in a harmonious relationship to one another. He planned a vertical city for work with high-rise buildings: a cybernetic control centre, administrative centres, a university and office buildings. In contrast to the existing real cities this part of the cybernetic city is not dense. There are vast areas between the buildings. The residential areas of the cybernetic city are dominated by horizontality. The ribbon-like blocks of flats on
pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...
s could be adapted to all kind of terrains. Schöffer imagined both the automatic distribution system for consumer goods and the car traffic underground. Schöffer supposed that people will have more free time thanks to automation and cybernetic control, which is why the satisfaction of leisure demands played a central role in the planning of the cybernetic city. He planned a separate district for leisure but also every residential and working district in the cybernetic city had a smaller local leisure centre to avoid unnecessary traffic and waste of time. Main feature of the leisure district was a ''Center Loisir Sexuel'', a leisure centre dedicated to sexuality. In sharp contrast to a traditional brothel like Claude-Nicolas Ledoux's Oikema, it was a building dedicated to free love on equal terms. This type of building was an expression of the new conception of sexuality and relationship between the two sexes that resulted from the
sexual revolution The sexual revolution, also known as the sexual liberation, was a social movement that challenged traditional codes of behavior related to sexuality and interpersonal relationships throughout the Western world from the late 1950s to the early 1 ...
. The ''Spatiodynamic Theatre'' is another special building designed by Schöffer for the leisure district. It is a cybernetic theatre where the spectacle has no beginning or end, but evolves continuously according to the audience's feedback. One could compare the spatiodynamic theatre with contemporary shopping and entertainment complexes.


Maison à cloisons invisibles

The theory of the fifth topology discussed climatic events and effects and focused on the optimization of climatic conditions according to the functions of the various space segments. These were planning considerations on two different scales. On the one hand, Schöffer planned climatic zones to satisfy specific needs in buildings according to function, on the other hand he took climatic phenomena into account when planning on an urban scale. The most extreme example of a building with controlled climatic zones designed by Schöffer was shown in 1957 at the BATIMAT international public works salon in
Saint-Cloud Saint-Cloud () is a French commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France, from the centre of Paris. Like other communes of Hauts-de-Seine such as Marnes-la-Coquette, Neuilly-sur-Seine and Vaucresson, Saint-Cloud is one of France's wealthie ...
near Paris. The House with Invisible Partitions (''Maison à cloisons invisibles'') could also be called the ''House of Contrasts'' and is considered an experiment to satisfy the sometimes very different needs of occupants in the same house without isolating them. The aim of the international exhibitions of the construction industry was to present forms of living that could better fit modern lifestyles than the typical old building with small, differentiated rooms. The development went in the direction of functional separation and individually used rooms. Schöffer decided to satisfy the different needs of family members in one space without physical or visual separation. The plan was based on the observation that the older generations would generally feel comfortable in quiet, cooler rooms with a dimmed, diffuse light, while young people prefer bright and warm rooms and are not bothered by loud music. The house with invisible partitions consisted of a round and a trapezoidal part, which were not separated from each other inside the house. Viewed from above, the floor plan resembled a keyhole. In the round part, the temperature was hot (35 Â°C - 40 Â°C) and it was very bright and noisy. The dominant hues were red and orange. In the trapezoidal part, on the other hand, the temperature was cool (18 Â°C - 20 Â°C) and the dominant colours were correspondingly cool blue tones. This part of the room was silent and the lights were dimmed. There was no visible physical separation between the two opposing spaces. A step through the boundary line between the two parts of the room led the visitor into a completely different atmosphere. Many visitors suspected a scam until they understood how this magic worked. The trick was achieved in part by the special cladding of the walls and interior design. The thermally insulating and sound-absorbing properties of the cladding played an important role. Air circulation was carefully planned and regulated by air conditioning. The heat in the round part of the room was donated by an
infrared Infrared (IR; sometimes called infrared light) is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than that of visible light but shorter than microwaves. The infrared spectral band begins with the waves that are just longer than those ...
curtain, the effect of which could only be felt locally. The lighting was also planned and executed by Phillips. Blue fluorescent actinic lamps were used in the cool part of the room. The shape of the house was derived from acoustic considerations.


KYLDEX1

Schöffer regularly participated in theater projects. CYSP1 appeared on stage several times. Theater performances became increasingly complex culminating in cybernetic theater plays. Schöffer designed the sets for theatrical performances and fashion shows. An example was the
Paco Rabanne Francisco Rabaneda Cuervo (18 February 1934 – 3 February 2023), more commonly known under the pseudonym of Paco Rabanne (; ), was a Spanish-born naturalised-French fashion designer. Rabanne rose to prominence as an ''enfant terrible'' of ...
space age fashion show titled ''Light and Movement'' that took place with a stage set designed by Schöffer in 1967 in the museum of modern art in Paris. Cybernetics played a dual role in Schöffer's theatrical experiments. The stage was populated by robots, cybernetic towers, prisms and light effect boxes. Their operations were controlled according to cybernetic principles, and depended on an element of chance through the perceived light and sound effects. During the theater play KYLDEX1 there was a cybernetic feedback and control loop between the public and the performance. Schöffer's first collaboration with the
Hamburg State Opera The Hamburg State Opera (in German: ) is a German opera company based in Hamburg. Its theatre is near the square of Gänsemarkt. Since 2015, the current ''Intendant'' of the company is Georges Delnon, and the current ''Generalmusikdirektor'' ...
was the stage design of
Gian Carlo Menotti Gian Carlo Menotti (, ; July 7, 1911 – February 1, 2007) was an Italian-American composer, libretto, librettist, director, and playwright who is primarily known for his output of 25 operas. Although he often referred to himself as an American ...
's children's opera Help, Help, the Globolinks!. Thanks to this collaboration he received a new commission for a solo theater performance applying the cybernetic principles of coupling and feedback. KYLDEX1 (KYbernetic and LuminoDynamic theater EXperiment) was presented in 1973 at the
Hamburg State Opera The Hamburg State Opera (in German: ) is a German opera company based in Hamburg. Its theatre is near the square of Gänsemarkt. Since 2015, the current ''Intendant'' of the company is Georges Delnon, and the current ''Generalmusikdirektor'' ...
on ten consecutive evenings. The audience was drawn into the theatre play. The heartbeat of a dozen selected viewers was measured and used as input for the central brain. Each person in the audience received five color cards to vote. According to the decision of the majority, those present could influence the course of the spectacle. Viewers could request the sequence to be repeated, slow down or speed up the spectacle, stop the performance, and ask questions. The spectacle was created by programming six parameter groups. The spatial parameters were partly represented by five 6.5 m high Chronos 8B-type sculptures and erotic sculptures made of inflatable plastic with a span of 2 to 4 m. The audio parameters were twofold: on the one hand,
Pierre Henry Henry at his home (January 2008) Pierre Georges Albert François Henry (; 9 December 1927 – 5 July 2017) was a French composer known for his significant contributions to musique concrète. Biography Henry was born in Paris, France, and bega ...
's electronic concrete music, on the other hand, human voices corresponding to a word score. The parameter group human interventions consisted of dancers and a commentator. Other parameter groups were the lighting and projection screens. The sixth parameter group consisted of
olfactory The sense of smell, or olfaction, is the special sense through which smells (or odors) are perceived. The sense of smell has many functions, including detecting desirable foods, hazards, and pheromones, and plays a role in taste. In humans, it ...
stimuli.


Schöffer collection in Kalocsa

Nicolas Schöffer moved to Paris in 1936. He returned to Hungary for the first time in 1976 and later often visited his native town Kalocsa. In 1979 he donated a collection of his works covering all of his creative periods. In 1980, a museum was opened in the house where he was born, and a new building was added to the museum at the rear of the garden. The new part was used for temporary exhibitions, and an apartment was reserved for Schöffer on the second floor. Eléonore de Lavandeyra Schöffer donated a French library to the museum in 1994, which was set up in the new building. In 2015, fifteen tourist sites were developed in the city in the framework of the ''Heart of Kalocsa'' program including two sites related to Schöffer. The Chronos 8 cybernetic tower was renovated and the museum rebuilt. The old buildings were demolished and rebuilt to create a new museum which meets contemporary international standards, and now plays a major role in art education.


Nicolas Schöffer's books

The most important written sources that summarize Schöffer's ideas are his own books and writings. He summarized his theories on art, architecture and urbanism in ten books. The first book entitled ''Le Spatiodynamisme'' appeared in 1955 and contains the text of the lecture given by Schöffer in June 1954 in the Turgot amphitheater of the
Sorbonne University Sorbonne University () is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to the Middle Ages in 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sorbon as a constituent college of the Unive ...
at the conferences organized by the French society of aesthetics. In this book he defines ''spaziodynamism'' and describes his ideas about the dynamics of the interaction between sculpture and space. He redefines the role of the sculptor and the role of sculpture in urban space. He establishes a new discipline ''plasticosociology''. Its task is to study the effects of the sculptural environment on human behavior, to enhance the city's social fabric by improving visual stimuli in the urban environment. The books ''La Ville Cybernétique'' (1972) and ''La nouvelle charte de la ville'' summarize Schöffer's visions of the city of the future. The book ''Le nouvel esprit artistique'' contains texts and manifestos in which Schöffer explains the principles of his mature theories of ''spatiodynamics'', ''luminodynamics'' and ''chronodynamics'' and deals with the role and task of art in our knowledge society. The book ''La Tour Lumière Cybernétique'' describes Schöffer's cybernetic light tower that he planned for
La Défense La Défense () is a major business district in France's Paris metropolitan area, west of the city limits. It is located in Île-de-France region's Departments of France, department of Hauts-de-Seine in the Communes of France, communes of Courbe ...
e district of Paris. ''Perturbation et chronocratie'' is a study of the disturbances that upset our mental and social structures. Schöffer questions how cybernetic awareness can progressively dominate a destabilized human destiny. He explains his view about quantity becoming quality in the course of a social revolution. Time is linear, language is linear and thought, closely linked to language, is also linear. Schöffer asks how to escape it. The book titled ''La Théorie des miroirs'' analyzes and develops the phenomenon of inversion in all its aspects from image to thought through language. In ''Surface et Espace'', the last book published during his lifetime, Schöffer returns to the principles of his work and artistic creation with a dense text illustrated with drawings and colour plates, some of which were produced using the computer. The book covers works of the third creative period: choreographics and ordigraphics. Also of note is his essay entitled ''Sonic and Visual Structures: Theory and Experiment'', published in '' Leonardo'' in 1985. In this essay, Schöffer explains his views on music and its role in society. The ''Leonardo'' magazine was founded in 1968 in Paris by kinetic artist and astronautical pioneer Frank Malina for people interested in scientific, technological and artistic development.


Writings about Schöffer

The first Schöffer
monograph A monograph is generally a long-form work on one (usually scholarly) subject, or one aspect of a subject, typically created by a single author or artist (or, sometimes, by two or more authors). Traditionally it is in written form and published a ...
was published in 1963 by ''Edition du Griffon'' Swiss publishing house. After introductory words by Jean Cassou, the monograph contains two essays by Guy Habasque and Jacques Ménétrier. The photographer of the illustrations was
Robert Doisneau Robert Doisneau (; 14 April 1912 â€“ 1 April 1994) was a French photographer. From the 1930s, he photographed the streets of Paris. He was a champion of humanist photography and, with Henri Cartier-Bresson, a pioneer of photojournalism. D ...
. Accompanying the publication was a vinyl record of
Pierre Henry Henry at his home (January 2008) Pierre Georges Albert François Henry (; 9 December 1927 – 5 July 2017) was a French composer known for his significant contributions to musique concrète. Biography Henry was born in Paris, France, and bega ...
's concrete music. Another Schöffer monograph published by ''Presses du réel'' appeared in 2004 with text by Eric Mangion and Maude Ligier. Tamás Aknai wrote a Schöffer monograph in his home country in 1975. Various diploma theses discuss Schöffer's works from very different angles. Maude Ligier deals with the first stage of the artistic career, a phase of creative work that is rarely mentioned. Ligier analyzes the turning point in the artist's career triggered by the encounter with Wiener's book. Nathalie Busson discusses the line of development that has led from separate artworks to the complex tasks of urbanism. Orsolya Hangyel and Eszter Tamás analyze the Hungarian roots of the kinetic artistic movement including Schöffer's contribution. Andrea Rovescalli's thesis focuses on artworks that were produced in series for households, like the Lumino series. Three-dimensional digital reproduction of Schöffer's lost, or planned but never realized, works was the main concern of Ördög Anna Noémi aka Naomi Devil. Her thesis at the University of Applied Art in Vienna consists of a text and 3D models. The thesis that Klára Gehér wrote at the Technical University in Vienna provides an insight into the antecedents of Schöffer's oeuvre. It compares individual works with those of contemporaries and points out the impact of Schöffer's work on future generations of artists, and provides a starting point for curators.


References

Writings by Schöffer: Monographs: Theses: Interviews: Film: Biography with exhibition list Video: Other references:'


Sources

* Popper, Frank, ''From Technological to Virtual Art'', Leonardo Books, MIT Press, 2007 * Busch, Julia M.
''A Decade of Sculpture: the New Media in the 1960s''
(The Art Alliance Press: Philadelphia
Associated University Presses
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, 1974);
Nicolas Schöffer retrospective exhibition
Műcsarnok Exhibition Hall, Budapest, Hungary, 2019
Nicolas Schöffer retrospective exhibition
video, Műcsarnok Exhibition Hall, Budapest, Hungary, 2019
Nicolas Schöffer
in recognised database Kunstaspekte
Nicolas Schöffer exhibition catalog
Odalys Gallery


External links









Sound recordings from Schöffer's spatiodynamic sculptures sourced from the DVD of an exhibition at Espace Gantner, France, 2004, titled ''Précurseur de l’art cybernétique'', as well as various internet videos. ''The Lumino'' and ''Microtemps'', 1968 and 1961 respectively, were not intended as sound sculptures, yet the noises they produce are definitely part of their appeal, not unlike
Jean Tinguely Jean Tinguely (22 May 1925 – 30 August 1991) was a Swiss sculptor best known for his kinetic art sculptural machines (known officially as Métamatics) that extended the Dada tradition into the later part of the 20th century.Chilvers, Ian; Gl ...
's machines. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schoeffer, Nicolas 1912 births 1992 deaths 20th-century French artists 20th-century Hungarian artists 20th-century Hungarian Jews Hungarian emigrants to France Naturalized citizens of France People from Kalocsa Cyberneticists Kinetic artists French sculptors French painters