CONSTANTIN BRANCUSI: THE STUDIO AS GROUPE MOBILE

If in the real world a sculpture may belong to one arrangement only, photography enables combinations of the same piece in different configurations, positions, and orientations. Brancusi articulated the studio around groupes mobiles (mobile groups), each comprising several pieces of sculpture, bases, and pedestals. Assembling and reassembling his sculptures for the camera, Brancusi used photography as a diary of his sculptural permutations. He also developed an aesthetic antithetical to the usual photographic standards. His photos radieuses (radiant photos) are characterized by flashes of light that dematerialize the static, monolithic materiality of traditional sculpture. http://moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2010/originalcopy/intro04.html