One of the best known artists who claim to be the disciples of Malevich, Alexander Pankin will speak about his theory of Suprematism, based on mathematic calculations and geometry.
Alexander Pankin’s work is based on the study of the Russian Avant-Garde and, in particular, its geometrical and proportional analysis. According to Pankin’s theory, Kazimir Malevich’s Black Square (1915) was a formative unit of the Suprematist world: its “atom” or “molecule.” The mathematical and geometrical analysis of this work gives unexpected results. The equality of the surface areas of black and white merits particular attention, because this important aspect derives from the proportional system of the composition. The ratio of the side of the canvas to the side of the black square is equal to the irrational square root of two (√2=1,414…). In other words, the composition is an ideally harmonious system. Pankin concludes that one of the most important essences of Black Square is its binarity: the figure can be described with the help of the binary number system using the double numeric symbol 0-1.
Therefore, the ideal mental model of Malevich’s famous work can be presented as a non-Euclidean plane that is bounded by the square and has two planar sides: the real (visible) black side and the imaginary (invisible) white side.