Kinetic Sculpture

This post is a resource for my Year 9 class, currently researching about, and soon to make, Kinetic Sculpture.

A quick definition…

Kinetic art is art that contains moving parts or depends on motion for its effect. The moving parts are generally powered by wind, a motor or the observer. Kinetic art encompasses a wide variety of overlapping techniques and styles.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinetic_sculpture

And some cool examples…

Alexander Calder

Alexander Calder, 'S-Shaped Divine', 1946

The first sculptor to introduce actual movement into sculpture. He worked in the early 1900s and made mobiles in the form of “space cages” of wire that move gently with the air flow of the room.

 ”To most people who look at a mobile, it’s no more than a series of flat objects that move. To a few, though, it may be poetry.” -Alexander Calder

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07esFuGBzn0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szwOTMIL3mM&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NonMxCGRoA&feature=related

This piece was made to feature in a ballet:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmdckhFdcDQ&feature=related

How WWII impacted Calder’s artmaking practice:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zIsKjRu654&NR=1

David Medalla

David Medalla, 'Cloud Canyon'

A contemporary artist working mainly in Europe and America whose signature works are bubble machines that create ever-changing formations of bubbles. He calls these “Cloud Canyons”.

'Cloud Canyon' detail

http://www.bos2008.com/app/biennale/artist/74

http://www.artstream.org/artworks/view/331

Tom Shannon

This artist does clever things with metal, often to explore proportion in the solar system. The sculpture you should look at uses a magnetic field to cause an element to levitate in space (it looks amazing!). It’s about 3 minutes into this video:

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/tom_shannon_s_magnetic_sculpture.html

Theo Jansen

This artist makes incredible machines out of wood that resemble crab-like creatures. He gives them ‘wings’ that, when blown by the wind, set the legs of the machine into its crawling motion. He places them on the beach and they crawl sideways along the sand.

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/theo_jansen_creates_new_creatures.html