Lot 630 D

“Art that is incapable of feeling and perceiving the intellectual dimension of current scientific findings and practice is neither contemporary nor progressive. The possibilities of new media and knowledge will continue to keep me under their spell if they can intensify or elucidate the expression of my attitude towards life”. (Zdenek Sýkora, Gespräch mit Zdenek Sýkora, Interview: Vítek Capek and Zdenek Sýkora, in: Richard W. Gassen (ed.), Zdenek Sýkora, Retrospektive, exhib.cat. Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, Ludwigshafen 1995, p.85).
Early on, Zdenek Sýkora recognises the possibilities that new technologies hold in store for him regarding his creative work. As early as the 1960s, he started using computer software to calculate lines and structures that he then manually transferred to the canvas. Based on his system, he uses number combinations which determine the curvature, the thickness as well as the colour if his lines.
In Linie Nr. 74 [line no.74], different aspects are combined that have characterised Sýkora's oeuvre since 1980s such as the varying length and width of lines meandering across the image field. By partially protruding out of the image field and by evoking a special effect of depth through superimposition, they convey a sense of infinity. Sýkora illustrates the interplay of systematics and randomness with a highly innovative aesthetic, connecting his artistic work to trend-setting science. At the same time, he finds an expressiveness that uniquely voices his creative calculations, transforming them into a meditative visual landscape.