Roy Lawaetz, Artist from St. Croix Photo Credit: Diego Conde

 

 

This is MODI

Or MODULAR INVENTION

OR MODULAR TRIANGULAR SYSTEM

MODI MANIFESTO

MODI is a Caribbean aesthetic which draws from the collective cultural heritage of the Diaspora: It states:

 

That nature does not conform to one shape, neither should
art

 

That in this consciousness role MODI art breaks away from
the conventional rectangles towards triangles to form the basis of MODI thinking

 

That MODI has the innate ability to structure, to combine
and create proto-type status

That MODI can operate between blurred lines of painting, sculpture and installation and still be MODI

 

That MODI is attachable and detachable, like life

 

MODI can add or subtract, multiply or divide, but it is not
arithmetic, it is art

 

MODI can select, combine to create individualistic shapes

MODI is in its infant stage of existence like a new born baby

The history of painting is the celebration of the rectangle. MODI is the rebirth of the triangle

MODI is an approach to Art that embraces cultural overlays and different civilizations

MODI utilizes the universal shape of the triangle as its cornerstone thus it breaks down barriers, builds monuments to lost legacies

The MODI triangle symbolizes spiritual concepts whether of so called pagan belief or Christian such as the Divine Trinity

MODI is a flexible vehicle of Art, not rigid with pictorial stereotypes determined by the manufacturing industry

MODI is invention, exploration, substance, visionary not academic and predictable

MODI is ancient but it can also embrace modern technology

MODI is Art with a designer attitude

MODI is not photography no matter how artistic

MODI is not sick art though it might sometimes rupture the
senses

 

MODI is cultural re-affirmation art. It builds on cultural heritage but re-invents the story in fragmentary dimensions

MODI is not art which generates out of an urban
phenomenology

 

MODI does not exist to feed the industrial framing industry. It strives to feed the soul

MODI liberates, frames confine like prison cells

MODI rejects frames for its own aesthetic conclusions and vision

 

MODI believes frames are accessories that often compete
with the intention of the art work, sometimes even suffocating it

 

MODI is organic not static MODI is shape ready for flight launch like a space rocket

MODI is angle Modi is dangle

 

MODI stretches, steps over boundaries, dances where the grass is always greener and the horizon brighter

MODI is one brick at a time, it is slow, and it is
construction

 

MODI is digging, excavating into the collective strata of human experience

MODI believes in fragmentation as the essence of existence

MODI can be taught in schools to infants but it is not geometry despite its angularity

 

MODI is cellular, it has structure, it can adapt to visual
situations and physical spaces

 

MODI is the heightened celebration of the proto-type in Art

 

MODI assimilates, it includes more than it excludes, what
it excludes has always been included

 

MODI has montage features that are extraordinary

 

MODI can create or break rhythms

 

MODI is the spirit of the ancients but it is the handiwork of
the living

 

MODI is gesamtkunstwerk or total art

 

MODI when passive can be like a hidden Jack in the box or
Russian dolls

MODI when active can be exotic and passionate

MODI statements are like statements in a Chinese fortune cookie but they only affect the artist’s fortune

 

MODI is the realm of diversity

 

MODI teaches the artist, the artist does not teachMODI but
he can pass on its inherent principles to others

MODI is still in its infant stages and so is the critique of its true significance

 

MODI is not formulaic each new proto-type format
challenges a different formula

 

MODI is risk art

 

MODI is not commercially strategic but it can be bought
and sold

MODI is a structural visual language based on fragmentation

 

MODI exists in the realm of ideas

 

MODI leads to unpredictable sources of fantasy, energy
and construction

 

MODI believes that the electric drill is just as important as the paint brush

MODI can fuse antiquity and technology in artistic coexistence

MODI’s triangular family of shapes provide a vast resource that is capable of triggering the subconscious as well as the formal

MODI can transcend the limits of Western culture and embrace a vast multi-cultural horizon

MODI recognizes that in the development of one’s signature art often rejection is the best teacher

MODI like nature assumes diverse shapes in its repertoire of proto-types

MODI can be a weapon, it can defend

MODI is practical and impractical every coin has a flip side

MODI’s angularity mobilizes a dynamic factor into the art equation

MODI’s diversity with multiple applications gives the Support a wide range of options

MODI’s flexibility provides the artist with a wider support base for innovation

MODI’s alternative design is independent of pre-
manufactured configurations

 

MODI’s interactive options with technological integration gives the Support a new participatory role

MODI’s interlocking features combine individual fragmentary elements for optimum versatility

 

MODI’s modularity provides a more organic-like quality in the Support

MODI’s mutative qualities on canvas elements can be
expanded to include other distinct formats

 

MODI’s sculptural qualities and tri-dimensionality can be interpreted into the art form if desired

MODI’s void-fullness and its respective relation between them can be dramatically increased

MODI is where the classic departs to join the exotic

 

MODI is symbolic compression; symbols compacted for a greater visual strength

MODI is living and depicting life enthusiastically

 

MODI dances with paint and does not walk rigidly as if to guide a blind man across the street

MODI understands that the value of an accomplished painting is in its intensity

MODI can be an element in isolation then evolve into harmony

 

 

©2009 Roy Lawaetz, Inventor/theorist of “The Modular Triangular System." All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any other information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the artist.