Striving Forces of a Sphere

Max Bill went to the Bauhaus in Dessau in 1927, where he was taught by Josef Albers. Bill applied a mathematically formal vocabulary not only to his architectural projects, but also to his painting, sculpture, typography and industrial design, which he viewed as interconnected. This sculpture is a black granite sphere dissected into quarters that are set adjacent to each other to form a symmetrical composition. Mathematical principles determine the relationship between the intersecting shapes. Despite the severe perfection of the black surface, a dynamism and rhythm animate the work. It epitomizes what Bill described as Concrete art: based on “inherent resources and rules. It is the expression of the human spirit, intended for the human spirit, and it should have the sharpness, the clarity and the perfection that must be expected from the human spirit.”