Kinetic Art (some details)

Prelude

Many famous roller of the Netherlands painter, mechanic and kinetic sculptor - Theo Janson

Start

So, it is believed that Kinetics Art (yes, I do not specifically translate this phrase in order to preserve its elegance) came to light at the end of the 19th century when the invention of the Russian mathematician Pafnutia Lvovich Chebyshev - “stopping machine” was presented at the World Exhibition in Paris 1878. This invention impressed the visitors in the highest degree with the fact that “it seemed truly alive” and this similarity excited the imagination, making it “feel life and soul in it”. Chebyshev, of course, did not even suspect that he thereby gave an impetus to the development of a new branch of the visual arts - Kinetic Art.
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Development

For the first time, kinetic art was mentioned in the Realistic Manifesto of Nahum Gabo , brother of Antoine Pevzner, who both pioneered the kinetics of art and criticized cubism and futurism in their manifesto. And the first kinetic sculpture was named "Bicycle Wheel" by Marcel Duchamp.



In the early 30s, Alexander Calder gained fame as a kinetic sculptor when in 1932 he exhibited 30 dynamic abstract sculptures, which he called “Mobile”. In his sculptures he did not use gypsum. Its main material was: wire, wood, metal, ebonite, sheet metal, mercury, bolts, etc ... Some electric vehicles used an electric motor.
As opposed to mobiles, Calder created “stabilization” - static sculptures, sometimes combining them with his (and not only) canvases. Mobiles and stubbing contrasted each other with both movable and non-visible, dynamics and statics, white and black.

Little Universe 1931
Mobile 1934
Mobile 1935
Jacaranda 1949

Since the 1950s, Calder has been predominantly engaged in monumental sculpture. In 1952, Calder received a big prize at the Venice Biennale. And in 1966 published "Autobiography with pictures." Died of a heart attack after the opening of his large retrospective exhibition at the Whitney Museum in New York.

... a small lyrical digression =) everyone knows the movie "Office Romance" by Eldar Ryazanov? Fine. Dialogue of Samokhvalov and Lyudmila Prokopyevna visiting Samokhvalov (an intricately moving chandelier of colored plates hangs over their heads, both of them look up):
- Funny thing ...
- This is Mobile.
- Mobile?

In the early 50s, the son of Nestle's employee, Jean Tangley, took over the business. His work, like the work of Calder, was created from industrial materials, but Tengley preferred metal more. The main influence on the work of the young sculptor made Dadaism, which is visible through the clear chaos and is present in almost all of his works. Judge for yourself:

Our days

Currently, examples of kinetic art have found wide application in the organization of various exhibitions, shows, in the design of parks and squares.

The Tengli Fountain near its museum in Basel

Kinetic sculpture in the BMW Museum (YouTube link)

The modern kinetic sculptors primarily include Theo Janson , a Dutch painter, mechanic and sculptor who creates huge creatures resembling animal skeletons from light plastic pipes and hinged elements. These "creatures", as he himself calls them, are able to move independently on even surfaces under the action of the wind.

Of course, now kinetics art is not a separate and isolated art form and dynamically merges with many others. His techniques of “revitalization” help to feel and understand new facets of artistic thought.

Well, I hope I managed to open your view on the kinetic art and form a certain opinion. In any of the cases, you definitely do not waste your time;)

Thank you for attention.

When writing the article materials from the following sites were used:
wikipedia.org
calder.org
etudes.ru
artnet.com

PS: because of the lack of karma of water in the world’s ocean, I had to use video links instead of the video tag