Charles Sirató was a Hungarian poet who, during the artistic “isms” of the early 20th century, saw similarities in the new scientific-inspired artistic movements. These included Cubism, Futurism, Constructivism, Dadaism, and Surrealism. In Paris, he was impressed by paintings that contained depth and sculptures that incorporated motorized elements. In 1936, Sirató wrote a manifesto in which he declared that all of these avant-garde movements were offshoots of the same movement, Dimensionism.
New artistic movements emerged after 1905, which can hardly be considered a coincidence. At that time, Albert Einstein published his theory of relativity. Dimensionism was greatly influenced by new concepts of space-time and the applications of modern science. Sirató used the formula N+1 to introduce a new dimension in literature, painting, and sculpture in addition to the existing ones. Painting would move from two dimensions to three, sculpture from three dimensions to four. The ultimate goal of the movement would be “cosmic art”, which would be experienced with all five senses rather than passive observation. Many prominent artists signed the manifesto, many out of personal interest in science. However, Sirató fell ill before the Great Exhibition, and World War II and the Cold War made a return to Paris impossible.
Sirató experienced the failure of Dimensionism as a great disappointment. In the 1960s, Sirató had also written a history in which he observed that scientific ideas had been incredibly informative in many fields of art up until the 1960s (Sirató, 1936; McGivern, 2018.)
Dimensionism and Hypercubism
Dimensionism sought to expand art into new dimensions by introducing the concepts of space, time, and motion. It was a philosophical and manifesto movement that saw the addition of dimensions as a natural progression of art.
Hypercubism continues this endeavor, however, differing fundamentally from Dimensionism. Whereas Dimensionism presented the idea of dimensional growth, Hypercubism has built a concrete visual and geometric system.
In Hypercubism, dimensions are not merely conceptual, but they manifest as structures. As can be read from the diagrams of Hypercubist works, the structures manifest as cubic relationships, layering, and projective systems.
Thus, Hypercubism can be seen as a systematized extension of Dimensionism, in which adding dimensions is not just a goal, but an implemented structure.
Dimensionism also aimed to make the viewer a part of the work. A hypercubist work takes this idea to the extreme. In hypercubism, the work forces the viewer into the process, to dismantle and reconstruct the work, and to integrate their observations, thoughts, and experiences into the work itself.