Garage is pleased to present the first reconstruction of Atom (1967/2018), a monumental kinetic work by the key figure in Russian kinetic art, Viacheslav Koleichuk.
The thirteen-meter-high structure was originally commissioned by the Kurchatov Institute of Nuclear Energy and built in 1967 for the fiftieth anniversary of the October Revolution. The construction was deceptively simple at first glance, but combined complex approaches to the creation of form that would later define Koleichuk’s oeuvre. One of the key elements of the work––a large moving sphere––is an example of his innovative approach. Made of hundreds of metal tubes, the sphere is set in motion by the wind, held together by the tensions of its constituent parts. Light reflected by the sun, or colored projections at night, triggers myriad forms and shapes, activating the space around the structure.
