Tulcan Doru, 1974-1979
Super 8mm film archive
Group members :
Ştefan Bertalan
Constantin Flondor
Doru Tulcan
loan Gaita
Elisei Rusu
Lucian Codreanu
Contributors :
Cercul de bionicã – prof. Eduard Pamfil
Adrian Ilica – Composer, illustrator and
sound designer
Museums and galleries
National Art Museum Timişoara (M•N•A•R•T)
Utopia and research
Curator Dr. Ileana Pintilie
Project coordinator Andreea Palade Flondor
mnart.museum
Tate Gallery
Multivision 1
www.tate.org.uk
more about project
Artist: Sigma 1970–1978,
Stefan Bertalan 1930–2014
Constantin Flondor born 1936
Doru Tulcan born 1943
Medium Film, super 8mm, shown as video, 2 projections on 10 screens, black and white and sound (stereo)
Dimensions duration: 16min, 3sec
Collection Tate
Acquisition Purchased with funds provided by the Russia and Eastern Europe Acquisitions Committee 2017
Reference T14966
Multivision I 1972–8 is a multi-media installation by the Romanian Sigma Group. It consists of a three-dimensional structure of ten semi-transparent screens, arranged in the form of a tetrahedron, upon which a black and white film is projected from two separate projectors with an accompanying audio soundtrack from two speakers. The duration of the projected film is sixteen minutes and three seconds. It has been produced in an edition of five plus three artists’ proofs, of which this copy is number two. The work was originally shown as an ‘action-installation’ alongside the related work Multivision II as part of the exhibition Study I in Timisoara, Romania, in 1978. It was also displayed in Bucharest and Cluj during the late 1970s. Most recently it was included in a reconfigured format in the retrospective exhibition Space, Utopia and Research: Sigma 1 + 111 Group at The Office, Cluj-Napoca. in 2014. Shot on Super 8 film, the work captures a series of natural phenomena such as water droplets and soap bubbles, interspersed with imagery of birds in flight, children running and a ball being repeatedly thrown. The images are edited with a soundtrack and texts read by the three members of the group in turn, as well as by Eduard Pamfil, a psychiatrist and the head of a bionics society.
Jecza Gallery
THE AESTHETICS OF USEFUL FORMS
Curator: Andreea Palade Flondor
jeczagallery.com
ArtEncounters
artencounters.ro
english version
Sigma Group
Season’s End / ISHO House
The participation of Sigma Group 1 was curated by Alina Șerban.
Sigma (an artists’ group founded in 1969, active until 1978, Timișoara, Romania)
The Sigma Group was an experimental collective active in Timișoara between 1969 and 1980, consisting of Ștefan Bertalan, Lucian Codreanu (mathematician, joined in 1970), Constantin Flondor, Ioan Gaita, Elisei Rusu (for a short period), and Doru Tulcan (1969–1978). Its program was both artistic and pedagogical, as its members were professors at the Academy of Fine Arts in Timișoara. The group emphasized teamwork and interdisciplinarity, integrating mathematics, cybernetics, bionics, psychology, and architecture into artistic practice. It employed a wide range of media and materials, including paper, cardboard, wood, aluminum, glass, plexiglass, synthetic materials, photography, and film. Its work was influenced by the Bauhaus, Constructivism, and emerging trends in art and architecture.
The name “Sigma” was adopted only after Codreanu joined the group in 1970, although the collective had already been formed in 1969.
The group’s dissolution occurred gradually over several years and was never officially announced. The last event in which all members participated took place in 1976 on the banks of the Timiș River. Multivision, created by Flondor and Tulcan in 1978 and presented in the gymnasium of the School of Fine Arts in Timișoara, marked the last public presentation of the Sigma Group; all members took part in the event. In 1978, the group entered a period of crisis after Bertalan was transferred to the Institute of Architecture. Shortly thereafter, the group disbanded.
SIGMA, Gurahonț, 1981. Courtesy of the artists.
Sigma Group was one of the most important experimental art collectives in Romania, active in Timișoara between 1969 and 1978–1980. Its name derives from the mathematical symbol Σ (sigma), meaning “sum,” and reflects the idea of collaboration among individual members. The group emerged after the dissolution of Group 111, when Ștefan Bertalan and Constantin Flondor decided to continue their artistic research in a collective format. They were soon joined by Doru Tulcan, Ioan Gaita, Elisei Rusu, and, in 1970, the mathematician Lucian Codreanu.
Sigma distinguished itself through its emphasis on teamwork, interdisciplinarity, and experimentation. Its members integrated concepts from mathematics, cybernetics, bionics, psychology, architecture, and ecology into their artistic practice. Their activities were strongly influenced by the Bauhaus, Constructivism, and contemporary international developments in art and design.
A central role was played by the Timișoara High School of Fine Arts, which became an experimental pedagogical laboratory. Sigma’s members, who were also teachers, introduced innovative educational methods based on research, observation of nature, the study of form, photography, film, and close collaboration between teachers and students. Their educational program aimed to develop constructive, algorithmic, and forward-thinking approaches to learning and creativity.
The group produced exhibitions, installations, environmental projects, interventions in nature, and visionary architectural proposals. Works such as the Information Tower (1970) and various experimental urban planning projects reflected their interest in the relationship between form, function, and communication. During the 1970s, Sigma also explored land art through actions carried out along the banks of the Timiș River and through summer workshops organized together with students.
Sigma’s activities made a significant contribution to the modernization of art education and to the development of a culture of experimentation in Romania. The group gradually dissolved without any formal declaration. Its last major collective action took place in 1976, while Multivision (1978), created by Constantin Flondor and Doru Tulcan, is generally regarded as Sigma’s final public manifestation. Today, Sigma’s legacy remains a landmark in the history of Romanian artistic and pedagogical avant-garde practices of the second half of the twentieth century.
© 2026 Tulcan Doru. All rights reserved.
The texts, images, design, and any other materials on this website are protected by Romanian Law No. 8/1996 on Copyright and Related Rights, as well as by international treaties to which Romania is a party. Any reproduction, distribution, modification, transmission, or partial or total use of these materials, in any form and by any means, without the prior written consent of the copyright holder, is strictly prohibited and may lead to legal action. Want to use this material? Please contact the site administrator to obtain permission.
references
Info Sigma Group
wikipedia.org
History of Sigma Group
monoskop.org
Sigma — Utopii ale spaţiului. Relaţia cu arhitectura
Andreea Palade-Flondor
februarie 2020
institutulprezentului.ro
02:30 min.
Camera : Doru Tulcan, Constantin Flondor
1974, Timiș River , România
Format: Super 8mm film
01:20 min.
Camera: Doru Tulcan,
1978, Timișoara, România
Format: Super 8mm film
06:21 min.
Camera: Doru Tulcan
Timişoara, România
Format: Super 8mm film
Artcamp of students of the Art High School in Timișoara
Practica elevilor Liceului de Arta din Timişoara
editing vers. 01
Coordonat de Doru Tulcan si Elena Tulcan
Coordinated by Doru Tulcan and Elena Tulcan
06:43 min.
Camera: Doru Tulcan
1975, Strungari, România
Format: Super 8mm film
Artcamp of students of the Art High School in Timișoara
Practica elevilor Liceului de Arta din Timişoara
editing vers. 01
Coordonat de Doru Tulcan si Elena Tulcan
Coordinated by Doru Tulcan and Elena Tulcan
09:23 min.
Camera: Doru Tulcan
1975, Strungari, România
Format: Super 8mm film
08:45 min.
1975, Timişoara, România
Camera 01 : Constantin Flondor
Camera 02 & Editing : Doru Tulcan
Format: Super 8mm film
Between Dream and Reality
Între vis si realitate
09:00 min.
1976, Timişoara, România
Camera & editing : Doru Tulcan
Format: Super 8mm film
Sigma1
Experiments, Monument project, Objects
A project created in collaboration with the students of the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism – Polytechnic University of Timişoara, România
05:31 min.
1978, Timişoara, România
Camera : Doru Tulcan
Format: Super 8mm film
10:45 min.
1979, Timişoara, România
Format: Super 8mm film
07:20 min.
1979, Timişoara, România
Format: Super 8mm film
Andplaivision / Footage Tulcan
04:24 min.
1979, România
Camera : Doru Tulcan
Format: Super 8mm film
8:33 min.
Sound by llica Adrian
2001, Timişoara, România
Format: Super 8mm film
© 2026 Tulcan Doru. All rights reserved.
The texts, images, design, and any other materials on this website are protected by Romanian Law No. 8/1996 on Copyright and Related Rights, as well as by international treaties to which Romania is a party.
Any reproduction, distribution, modification, transmission, or partial or total use of these materials, in any form and by any means, without the prior written consent of the copyright holder, is strictly prohibited and may lead to legal action.
Want to use this material? Please contact the site administrator to obtain permission.
