The Indigo Group

 

Temporary Sculpture Made of Polystyrene
Reconstruction of the 1981 “Temporary Sculpture Made of Cotton Wool”. Budapest – Berlin, 2009
Site-specific installation, polystyrene, wood, carbon paper used to cover the ceiling, 350 x 350 x 350 cm.
Made by: Bálint Bori, Zoltán Lábas, János Sugár

The original work was done for the exhibition entitled Hard and Soft (Post-conceptual Tendencies) which was part of the exhibition series Tendencies, organized by László Beke, Óbuda Gallery, Budapest, April 14–30, 1981

 

„INDIGO” is the abbreviation of the Hungarian phrase „interdisciplinary thinking” („INterDIszciplináris GOndolkodás”). This was the name of one of the artistic courses lead by Miklós Erdély from 1975 until his death. The Indigo course transformed into a group at the beginning of the 1980’s, which still exists today. The group focused on topics that went beyond the scope of the individual tasks of art and raised the question of the responsibility of the individual in society. The two texts distributed by Indigo in the first half of the 1980’s, the Indigo Call for Peace and the Deed of Foundation of the Voluntary Legislative Assembly refer to this interest. In a broader or narrower sense they were linked to the contemporary international peace movement and its ideas. The 1981 installation of the Indigo Group, Temporary Sculpture Made of Cotton Wool, was its first work related to the threat of nuclear annihilation. As with all their works, this too was contrived during discussions among the members affected by loose association of ideas. The updated version of the mushroom cloud (presented at the Subversive Practices exhibition in Stuttgart) was also preceded by a long process of preparation. The abstract of the exchange of ideas on the web can be read in the enclosed fanzine. A Memorial Plate printed for the occasion of the current show pictures the two versions of sculpture.