Sunday 24 January 2010

obsession of levitation


Yves Klein - The Leap Into the Void (or "Obsession of Levitation), 1960

"Today the painter of space must, in fact, go into space to paint, but he must go there without trickery or deception, and not in an airplane, nor by parachute, nor in a rocket: he must go there on his own strength, using an autonomous, individual force; in short, he must be capable of levitation."
Klein, "Selections from ‘Dimanche,’" in Overcoming the Problematics of Art, p.106.

Ironically, considering the above quote, this is an example of an early manipulated image, pre-Photoshop. The photograph was staged on October 19, 1960, with Klein’s judo pals holding a blue sheet to catch the levitating artist.

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