Gego’s Reticulárea, first created in 1969 for the Museo de Bellas Artes in Caracas, is constructed from networks of aluminium and stainless-steel wire suspended through space. Different densities of mesh connect into a structure that viewers could originally walk among rather than simply observe from outside.
That makes it difficult to decide where the sculpture ends.
Traditional sculpture often begins with mass. Stone, bronze or wood occupies a volume and pushes the viewer outside it. Gego works almost in reverse. The lines are physically thin, but they organise enormous amounts of empty space.
What I find interesting is that the air does most of the visual work. Every wire creates relationships with other wires, but also with the gaps between them. Move your head slightly and the geometry reorganises.
It has something surprisingly close to generative art. The system is fixed, yet the image is never completely fixed because your position continually calculates another version.
The sculpture does not need to move. The viewer supplies the animation.