How does one approach an insoluble task? The quadrature of the circle has formulated the hopeless problem since ancient times: constructing a rectangle with the same area as a circle using just a straightedge and compass in two-dimensional space. What proves impossible in two dimensions can be illustrated in three-dimensional space. However, the primary focus of Gerhard Kubassa’s sculpture is not the original goal of area determination, but rather the question of whether and to what extent the perception of the individual possesses universal validity?
Initially realized as a twelve centimeter tall 3D print, the object is intended to reach a final height of three meters, thus allowing the viewer to experience the optical illusion at an average eye level (1.5m). Kubassa’s construction is related to two specific and opposite viewpoints of the observer. What appears as a circle to one is a square to the other. In the impossibility of perceiving both forms simultaneously, the viewer is invited to actively explore and circumnavigate the object, ultimately facing only the subjective snapshot of one of many realities.
Dr. Johanna Aufreiter / Belvedere Austria, 2016
GERHARD KUBASSA 