Kinethic Public Art
- ozasikselin
- Jan 10, 2021
- 7 min read
Updated: Feb 22, 2021
WHAT IS KINETIC ART?
Kinetic art derives from the Greek word “kinesis”, meaning “movement”. Therefore kinetic art is an art from any medium which contains motion in it. In general manner, works of kinetic art is three dimensional sculptures which moves mechanically or naturally. To understand what kinetic really means, we should know what static is. Static is another word for still so a static artwork is one that does not move or change. Two commonly found types of static public artworks are murals painted onto walls, or statues carved from marble or cast in bronze. On the other hand, a kinetic artwork is one that moves in some way. Tree of Life 2010 by sculptor Phil Price is an outstanding example of kinetic art. The ‘arms’ of the sculpture is designed to grab the air and move in a gentle and organic motion. Because actual trees in the wind.
HISTORY OF KINETIC ART
Since early 20th century, artist have been incorporating movement into art. The first examples of kinetic artworks date back to 1910s and it was created by the artists working in the Dadaist and Constructivist traditions. With the birth of kinetic art, artists were fascinated by the possibilities of movement in art and the potential to create interactive relationships and visual experiences that went beyond the boundaries of traditional, static objects. Thus, they could create art which have more active presence both in gallery and urban areas. The primary originator of kinetic art is Dadaist Marcel Duchamp's Bicycle Wheel (1913), is a ‘readymade’- The readymades of Marcel are ordinary manufactured objects that the artist selected and modified- bicycle fork with front wheel mounted upside-down on a wooden stool. He states that “To see that wheel turning, was very soothing, very comforting, a sort of opening of avenues on other things than material life of every day. I liked the idea of having a bicycle wheel in my studio. I enjoyed looking at it, just as I enjoyed looking at the flames dancing in a fireplace. It was like having a fireplace in my studio.” In 1919 the ‘movement’ movement is followed by Constructivist artists Naum Gabo with his his Kinetic Construction. It is a free standing plain steel rod. It is activated by the press of a button and the sculpture spring to life by the motion by an electric motor which articulates the illusional twisting movement. In 1920 Alexander Rodchenko created Hanging Construction and it is followed by Alexander Calder and his McCausland Mobile(1937). He combines sculptural lines and biomorphic shapes which moves by the touch of air. To sum up, kinetic art is born because some artists wanted to create art in unconventional techniques and they wanted to go beyond the rules of static art form and create new rules.
EFFECT OF KINETIC ART IN PUBLIC SPACES
Kinetic art in public spaces animates the streets and adds joy to our daily life. It grabs more attention than a static artwork because it constantly changes. Even interactive ones grabs much more attention because people want to become a part of the artwork. In the hustle of city life people drift apart from the routine of daily life and cheer up for a while by observing or playing with the artwork. Kinetic art work plays a big role of the perception of the urban space. It touches our feelings and senses so it is really important which feelings artist wanted to revive in people because public artworks are not placed in galleries. The society is exposed to the artwork, seeing or not seeing it is not a choice. So the things that artist wanted to display is crucial. Also art has power to direct people. A square which is not much use can become a place of interest with the help of art. Even some people may change their walking route to see the artwork and the social life around it liven up. Also some artworks may represent certain themes and adds meaning to the space or it can create awareness.
FORMS OF KINETIC ART
Kinetic art is not an art form. It is an umbrella which can contain different art forms. It can be a sculpture or a façade of a building. But we can divide it into some titles. First of all working principle of kinetic art can be divided into two. A kinetic artwork can get into motion via machine (powered by electricity) or naturally (wind, sun etc.). Also there are kinetic artworks which are interactive and non-interactive. Some artists involve spectators to his artwork and make them a part of their art.
CONTEMPORARY KINETIC ART
· Pénétrable, Jesus Rafael Soto, LA (1990)
Soto, hung thousands of strands from either the ceiling or a PVC & steel construction. He wanted to create movement without the use of machines and he integrated the viewer into his work physically. The spectator becomes a part of the work by touching or moving it, or by walking through it .He achieved to connect his artwork directly to people. The strings are painted into yellow to grab attention from a distance. Soto called his Pénétrable “the revelation of sensible space“.
· Dancing Pavillion, Guto Requena, Rio de Janeiro (2016)
The Dancing Pavilion is a temporary interactive architecture which is built for 2016 Olympics. It is a dance club which has a moving façade. There are scattered sensors on the dance floor and they capture the beat pf the music and movement of the people dancing. The sensors activates the motors of the mirrors on the façade. Every mirror could be rotated 360 degrees. The façade beautify its environment and shines out in the public space. Not just artistically it is thriving. It also contains a strong engineering behind it. They designed a mechanical system that is special for the project. Also they developed a software to orchestrate the movement in the facade.
· Liquid Shard, Patrick Shearn, California (2016)
It is a large scale kinetic sculpture made of holographic mylar and monofilament. It was created to view both from ground perspective (when you look up to the sky) and from the offices when they look down. Observing this artwork is similar to watching clouds. It is in contrast of urban life because in the hustle of life people slow down to watch it. The artist states that “The inspiration comes from observing nature and the feeling that we are only aware on a very surface level of what is really going on around us. Unexpected things revealed in time-lapse or hyper-spectrum photography fascinate me. Like fractals recurring progressively, we feel the currents of air on our skin but do not see the larger movements. I wanted to play in that realm with this piece.”
· NYC Waterfalls, Olafur Eliasson, (2008)
The Waterfalls have been designed to be sensitive to the environment. It filters the water and protects aquatic life. It also provides its need of electricity by renewable energy. It encourages people to build more sustainable cities.
· Wings Over Water, Joe O'Connell, Houston (2017)
It is a monumental kinetic sculpture located outside of a convention center. It is composed 2 massive wings which creates sense of movement. It is inspired by the theme of migration. The form of it is wings of a bird and symbol of bird evokes hope. It also reflects Houston’s diverse population. From all around the world people come Houston to build a better life. At night it is illuminated by colourful lights. During the day, translucent wings cast shadow to the ground. It is both seen from the ground level and from the other buildings. It is in contrast with its surrounding because most of the buildings has sharp geometries but the artwork has a curvilinear form.
· Brisbane Airport Kinetic Parking Garage Façade, Ned Kahn + UAP , Australia(2010)
Kahn used natural elements (wind and light) to create a kinetic façade. When wind touches the exterior of the building 250,000 aluminium panels gently moves and create wave effect. Also by the virtue of the aluminium panels, the interior of the building is protected from the sunlight and it provides ventilation.
· Glowing Seesaws, Toronto (2016)
It is an interactive installation which includes fifteen luminous seesaws that you can ride on. By playing it, you manipulate the light and you continually transform the composition. The artwork aims to animate the public space in cold winter. It also takes you back to your childhood. The artwork takes you in and changes your mindset.
· WDCH Dreams, Refik Anadol, LA (2018)
The media artist Refik Anadol created visualisations that are projected onto exterior skin of the Walt Disney Concert Hall. He developed a machine intelligence by using machine learning algorithms. He used the façade of the building as a canvas. They projected into a 6-dimensional space and represented as a 3D plane with space (x, y, z) + colour (r, g, b) mapped to the 6-dimensions. This artwork also contains storng science behind it .
COLLABORATION OF ART & SCIENCE
Inherently, kinetic art is always in corporation with science. Many artists borrowed concepts from fields such as physics, optics, and cybernetics. Especially artworks that move by machines and electrical powered systems requires engineering behind it. Also the works which doesn’t have a complex machinery needs some calculations. Alexander Calder did mathematical calculations to make sure that he always created balance in his mobiles. He calculated weights and distances of all the pieces in his work and in each art work he changed his formula to make every mobile is unique thus other artists can not imitate his works. Collaboration of art and science is more pronounced in contemporary examples. With the development of technology, artists started to integrate science more in their works. In previous examples like Dancing Pavilion, NYC Waterfalls and WDCH Dreams includes strong engineering in them.
To conclude, public kinetic art can be done in various ways and techniques. In every form it changes the spirit of the public space. It animates the space and cherish daily life. In my opinion, kinetic artworks which include human interaction in it is more exciting and enthusing. Because the artist also involves the observer of his artwork thus, not only art affects people also people affects art and this shareholding between them makes the artwork much more precious. The composition of artwork constantly changes and the viewer becomes an integral part of the artwork. This way the artist adds 5th dimension to his artwork (4th is the time). So by creating a moving art, he not only make a 3 dimensional sculpture. He also adds time and human interaction and creates a 5 dimensional artwork.
REFERENCES
https://www.theartstory.org/movement/kinetic-art/
https://magazine.artland.com/top-ten-kinetic-art-artists-and-pioneers/
https://lacma.wordpress.com/2012/03/19/alight-anew-in-indian-yellow/
https://ifworlddesignguide.com/entry/229598-the-dancing-pavilion
https://www.spacesandcreatures.com/projects/dancingpavilion
http://www.poetickinetics.com/liquid-shard/
https://publicdelivery.org/poetic-kinetics-liquid-shard/
https://olafureliasson.net/archive/artwork/WEK100345/the-new-york-city-waterfalls
https://www.codaworx.com/project/59b6e43be06c5
https://www.structurflex.com/projects/wings-water-george-r-brown-convention-center/
https://www.archdaily.com/69219/uap-ned-kahn-to-create-kinetic-artwork-for-brisbane-airport
https://www.designboom.com/art/brisbane-airport-kinetic-parking-garage-facade-by-ned-kahn-uap/
https://www.narcity.com/things-to-do/ca/on/toronto/torontos-glowing-seesaw-and-fairytale-light-exhibits-are-popping-up-in-the-city-this-winter
https://www.blogto.com/sports_play/2019/10/toronto-winter-stations-2020-preview/
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