Attila Csörgő: Peeled Spaces

In Attila Csörgő’s artistic practice the starting point is usually a physical or geometrical problem; his works are the results of intellectual experimentation. The stakes are always high: according to the strict laws of mathematics and physics, a system either works perfectly or not at all – there are no half-measures. Csörgő purposefully employs the principles of geometry in order to realize both the artwork and the conceived construction. His works explore a given problem through multiple media – often accompanied by drawings and photographs that document the spatial structures – since his aim is to make the process leading to the solution comprehensible to the viewer.

The exhibition Peeled Spaces presents a selection in which the artist experiments with unconventional methods of spatial representation. How can a three-dimensional geometric object be translated into an unfolded planar version? How can space be turned inside out? How can one reveal what is invisible to the human eye in reality? These are the questions that concern Csörgő, and the works themselves constitute the possible answers. Although the exhibited pieces were created in different periods, they all align with a conceptual trajectory in Csörgő’s oeuvre that examines the problem of “peeling.” He applies the same logic as fruit-peeling: if one manages to remove, say, an orange peel in a single spiral, unfolding it produces the flat spatial network of the fruit. In this form, all sides become visible simultaneously, and Csörgő is intrigued by how other spatial forms might be transformed through peeling.

At first sight, Peeled Space resembles an architectural model. In reality, its starting point was the interior of the room where Csörgő lived during an Austrian residency program. He recreated this room as a three-dimensional body, imagining the space as a mould. Thus, the furniture placed in the room appears as negative space, while the window and door protrude as positive forms. If we look closer, one can also see lines covering the white wooden body. These are the same lines that appear in the drawing created as the work’s counterpart, marking the incision points for the peeling process.

Peeled City was created during a residency program in New York. Csörgő drew inspiration from the ziggurat-type skyscrapers found there, named after the stepped temple towers of Mesopotamia. The photographic series documents the peeling process as a performative act, showing how, at the end of the process, the body is transformed into a flat sheet of paper. Unlike the other peeled works, this one is made in color: the tones mark the different sides and, beyond their visual appeal, also provide guidance during the peeling process.

The Orange Space project began with the construction of a complex camera capable of recording an image of the surrounding space onto a spherical surface. This required a mechanical system able to move both the camera itself and the sphere placed inside it simultaneously, the latter covered with a strip of photographic paper cut into a spiral. In this photo-based work, the central issue is not the subject captured but the very method of image-making.

The series Vicious Cubes originates from the question of what happens when the edges of a cube’s net are assembled incorrectly. Two further rules had to be observed in the experiment: the body could not contain holes—every edge had to meet another—and the faces could not obscure each other, meaning they could not overlap. With these constraints in mind, Csörgő created new spatial forms. The “vicious” cubes presented here are possible responses to the question, although the series may be expanded at any time.

Csörgő deals with timeless problems that never have a single solution; thus, he regularly revisits earlier works to develop new answers. These pieces lie within the triangle of art, philosophy, and science, where optics, photography, and geometry all become methods of thought.

Boglárka Tóth