Ruth Aklander

Ruth Aklander 1926 - 2009

Born in 1926 into a wealthy family from Natal in northeastern Brazil, Ruth Palatnik is the cousin of Abraham, the greatest name in Brazilian kinetic art. After studying philosophy at the University of Rio de Janeiro, she devoted herself to her family and searched for a new medium that would allow her to make the transition from kinetic to interactive art. Plexiglass, which appeared in Brazil in the early 1970s, was a revelation for Ruth. The transparency and suppleness of Plexiglas became the support for a work in motion, also allowing a viewer's personal point of view. Deeply inspired by the American "Boxes" movement, Ruth Aklander finds a new philosophical and artistic concept. She creates plexiglass boxes into which you can insert strips of different colours to create your own work. What's inside the box becomes the fruit of an exchange between its creator and its manipulator, an interaction that she believes takes them out of their own box. Strengthened by her artistic and intellectual journey, Ruth embarked on a major project of interactive kinetic art for the visually impaired. These geometric works were veritable installations in which the public could touch the work to discover the temperature of the colours represented. These installations resulted in a series of works, silkscreens, boxes and other media, with a very dynamic and varied choice of colours and geometric shapes, in a great study of harmony and abstraction.