How did Naum Gabo and Antoine Pevsner emphasize space rather than solid mass?

Naum Gabo and Antoine Pevsner emphasized space over solid mass by pioneering the Constructivist approach to sculpture, which rejected traditional methods of carving or modeling from a compact, homogeneous mass.12

In their 1920 "Realistic Manifesto," the brothers argued that artists should embrace elements of space and time by employing "constructed" mass rather than solid volume. To achieve this, they utilized modern industrial materials—such as glass, plastic, celluloid, and thin metal rods or wire—to create structures where the material itself was of secondary importance.134

By using these transparent or slender components, Gabo and Pevsner reduced physical mass to a minimum, allowing their work to define and enclose volumes of empty space rather than occupying it with solid form. This technique enabled them to create a sense of spatial movement and kinetic rhythm, effectively liberating sculpture from the constraints of the "compact mass" and focusing instead on the interplay between the structure and the surrounding environment.341