Nucleus 6
1960-63
Painted panels and ceiling structure
Approx. 72 x 90 x 79 in. (182.9 x 228.6 x 198.1 cm)
Projeto Hélio Oiticica, Rio de Janeiro
In 1959, having decided that traditional painting had run its course, Oiticica began the series of provocative movements into space and performance that would mark his career. In an effort to engage the spectator as completely as possible, he suspended what were essentially double-sided monochrome paintings from the ceiling on wires, so that the viewer had to walk around them to perceive them. His Nuclei of 1960 took this development a step further. Here monochrome paintings not only leave the wall; they cluster together to create enclosures that surround the "participator" (Oiticica's word), engaging the entire body. Requiring movement on the part of the viewer and experienced over time, such works were—according to Oiticica—"situations to be lived."
