THE CONCEPT OF “PLASTIC ASSOCIATIONS” AND THE ARTISTIC FEATURES OF MYKHAILO DZYNDRA’S SCULPTURAL WORKS IN THE 1960S–1970S

Abstract

The aim of the article is to elucidate the essence of the concept of “plastic associations” and to characterize the artistic features of Mykhailo Dzyndra’s artworks from 1967/68 to 1974, typified by the criterion of the correlation between the “basic semantic text”, “subject motifs”, and formal solution. The methodological basis of the publication consists of general scientific and specialized approaches and methods. Thus, the methodological foundation for examining the creativity of M. Dzyndra in relation to the trends in the development of Ukrainian and world visual arts from the second half of the 20th century to the beginning of the 21st century is formed by the principles of a systemic-synergetic approach. The evolution of the sculptor’s work is investigated using a comparativehistorical method. The reconstruction of the artist’s life circumstances in the aspect of their influence on the formation of the figurative-plastic concept of creativity is achieved through the historical-biographical method. Thematic-semantic analysis of the works is facilitated by the principles of hermeneutic and semiotic approaches. The revelation of the artistic features of the master’s works is ensured by the method of stylistic art criticism analysis. The innovation of the publication lies in the comprehensive examination of the entire body of sculptural works by M. Dzyndra during the period of “plastic associations”, specifying the chronological boundaries of the latter, and typologizing the works according to the identified criteria. It is demonstrated that the essence of the concept of “plastic associations” in the work of M. Dzyndra lies in the associative discovery of plastic counterparts of certain phenomena, cultural concepts, ideas, or in reading their potential associative semantic connections in sculptural forms. By the criterion of the dominant figurative-plastic concept, the delineation of the period of “plastic associations” is proven to be within the chronological interval of 1967/68–1974. Based on the correlation of “basic semantic text”, “subject motifs”, and formal solution in the plastic-associative work of the master, several groups of sculptural works are distinguished: works of a sacred nature characterized by a noncanonical dialogue with religious tradition on the semantic level, personal experience of it, expression of tradition through innovative formal means; compositions where the “semantic basic text” is the semiosphere of traditional Ukrainian culture, the subject plan consists of customs, rituals, national archetypal figures, and the plastic aspect encompasses a spectrum of sharply innovative forms; works whose semantic basis is cultural archetypes, the subject plan includes the depiction of women, family, male protectors, and the plastic particularity involves referencing the form creation of archaic cultures; representations of male and female figures in the spectrum of cubist or bionic forms, actualizing the cross-cultural theme of “He and She”; individual female and male figures based on the associative understanding of geometric or bionic body forms, plastic “exploration” of its perspectives beyond the structured semantic field, with an emphasis on solving plastic tasks; portrait plastic-associative interpretations of human characters and types in various aesthetic modalities, the spectrum of cubist and bionic forms. It is argued that the formal-plastic features of “sculpture of plastic associations” in M. Dzyndra’s work include the reduction of empirical to essential; generality and conciseness; expressiveness of silhouettes and rhythm; monumental statics or expression; inclusion of spatial caesuras in the figurative-plastic structure of the work; contrast of statics and dynamics, scales, volumes, and forms; the significance of the image-forming interaction of form and surrounding space; reference to modernist artistic experience and the formation of archaic cultures. The peculiarities of M. Dzyndra’s reception of creative findings by O. Archypenko, K. Brancusi, J. Lipchitz, G. Moore, X. Miro, P. Picasso are analyzed. Interdisciplinary artistic influences in individual works of the artist and their orientation towards exhibition in the natural environment are highlighted. The emphasis is placed on delineating within the framework of the “plastic-associative” period in M. Dzyndra’s work the geometrizing, Cubism-inspired, and “bionic” types of form creation, which later develop into “plastic of abstract form” and “plastic of architectural form” in the master’s oeuvre.