How it works, what it does. Notes on Selected Drawings by Wincenty Dunikowski-Duniko in the Context of the Machine Art Tradition

In this study the author reflects upon the works by Wincenty Dunikowski-Duniko (born 1947), an active participant in the art world of the 1970s, especially Art Playing Table (1975), Sun Sculpture and An Extension of the life of mankind (both 1974-1976). Ink drawing on soft paper and miniature sketches on transparent graph paper follow the conventions of sharp technical drafting and the ‘aesthetics of administration’. They are complex in terms of the structure of the machines, and the implied motion inspires symbolic readings. These conceptual works of art resulted from affection for certain ideas, from concepts being born and eventually abandoned. They are also analogous to changes that were taking place in the aesthetic of machines over the course of the 20th century.