Dr. Arthur Silverman's Tetrahedral Abstractions
by: Robin Durand | posted: Feb 12, 2009
For some artists, one principal issue is enough to reach into a labyrinth of fascinations. For Giacometti it was the issue of how to render the head. For Albers it was how to combine colors related by a simple design of three squares. For Agnes Martin it was realizing the power of the horizontal through quiet minimal expressions. New Orleans artist Dr. Arthur Silverman has a similar sensibility—not only because his focus is highly contained but also because he conveys an unending depth of enthusiasm for one simple thing.
Silverman is a sculptor who for the past 45 years has focused solely on variations of the tetrahedral. The tetrahedral is a simple geometric shape. It has four sides, each composed of a triangle, just as a cube has six sides, each composed of a square. He explains his interest: “A three dimensional object cannot be formed by less that four flat surfaces, and each of these must be triangles … The thing that fascinates me about that (and it’s held up through the years) is that moving around it is a very active visual experience, because you take a step and it looks totally different (in my work)—for that reason, because it’s a tetrahedral in time. And I enjoy that sometimes I can’t think what hell the other side of something looks like. People who are sensitive to that sort of thing just keep walking around it trying to figure out what the hell’s going on.”
Silverman left his medical practice in the 60s as his explorations in sculpture became more than just a hobby. Since then he has built over 400 tetrahedral sculptures, each manipulating the design, combinations, or scale of this fundamental shape. All are made of some sort of metal—usually aluminum, but sometimes other metals such as stainless steel, bronze or brass. The scale of the pieces is anywhere from pedestal-sized to colossal. One piece, which stands in front of the Energy Center Building in New Orleans, is an amazing 60 feet tall. He says, “Each piece seems to call for its own scale.” His interest in large-scale works has created the circumstances for him to have over 50 prominently placed works throughout the United States. Anyone living in New Orleans has certainly seen one of his more than 20 pieces placed throughout the city such as City Hall, The Texaco Building, City Park, or the UNO Campus Building. It was something he never intentionally planned on but which gradually became an exceptional venue for his large-scale expressions.
Silverman says that it has occurred to him that “if you’re a scientist (engineer whatever), and you invent something—great. But, if you don’t do it someone else is going to do it, sooner or later. But, when you get into visual arts, that’s not true. If you don’t do it, it’s never going to happen. And that’s kind of amusing …That’s the reason I do it, because I want to see what happens.” This unique problem, which he calls “tetrahedral abstraction”, has rarely been conceived and has never been explored with his personal devotion. He designs his pieces in three dimensions with cardboard and finds that drawing is of little value. He says, “Everything that I do has enormous qualities of three dimensionality, and it’s pretty hard to show that in a drawing.” With this sort of sensitivity to space and form, Silverman finds little need signify anything outside of the work itself as a sculptural design. He explains, “I do not endeavor to create a sculpture representative or suggestive of another thing, experience or emotion. Instead, my sculpture is what it appears to be, the creation of a new form through tetrahedral abstraction; but understanding that can be experiential.”
Engaging Silverman’s abstract designs reminds me of experiencing the paintings of Mondrian. Neither conjures political or sentimental stirrings. But, I sense that there has been an intense intuitive search for abstract elements designed to be monumental by nature of their appropriateness to their medium. I find myself staring at these public sculptures as I move past them, watching the form change, at the risk of running into something or someone else.
Silverman will be showing in February at Søren Christensen.
