Kinetic art is a modern direction that first appeared in the twentieth century, when the creators of various fields searched for something new for themselves, and, ultimately, found it. It proved itself in the plasticity of sculpture and architecture. In this article, we will consider what kinetic art of the 20th century is, how it found application later, its origin, development, and much more.
origin of name
How the word sounds also matters - that is why the definition of a new, previously unknown term can be recognized not only by looking at it in the explanatory dictionary, but also by finding out the origin. In this case, the concept of "kinetic art" is closely related to the Greek word "kinetikos" - "the one that sets in motion." I immediately recall the section of physics “kinematics”, which, as you know, also studies this process.
That is why kinetic art - moving, volumetric, sculptural and / or architectural compositions. It belongs to the artistic vanguard. Kinetic art was first heard at the beginning of the twentieth century.
The emergence of a new direction
In the twenties of the last century, Vladimir Evgrafovich Tatlin, the initiator of kinetic art, was building a model of the tower of the Third International.
In 1931, at that time, the little-known Alexander Calder created his first masterpiece of the famous wire structures, driven by the feasible help of the motor. Over time, his compositions grew, made up a whole cycle of works of art under the general name "mobiles".
Both the domestic creator and the genius from another continent pursued one goal: to breathe new life into the sculpture, say there is no static, overcome the framework of traditions and allow it to interact more with the environment. The movement was to become the connecting thread between the masterpiece and the world.
Establishing New Traditions
In the sixties of the twentieth century, the French artist and art theorist Nicolas Schoffer, as well as the Argentine artist Julio Le Park, finally established new rules with their work and answered the question of what kinetic art is.
They both wanted to convey in their compositions the spirit of the scientific and technological revolution that prevailed at that time and used optical and acoustic effects for this noble purpose. In fact, this was expressed in the fact that their work changed at once on several levels: mechanical (structure, form), visual (color, light and shadow) and sound (stereo and mono).
Vibrant, diverse means were very precisely selected so that the specifics of the time became expressed and recognizable. The main features of the scientific and technological revolution, its dynamism, strength and power - this is what kinetic art expressed in the second half of the 20th century.
Spread
In the sixties, the spread of kinetic art reached its climax. Around this time, a term appeared that denoted this direction, which is still used today. He immediately captured the minds of humanity from Europe to America. The kinetic art of the United States and Europe merged into one - the creators sought similar goals, but at the same time it manifested itself in different ways.
Naum Gabo: Russian-American Vanguard
Russian and American artist Naum Gabo deduced his own formula of life and art, identifying them among themselves. He called space and time their components, as well as the foundation, the foundation on which they should be built.
Gabo did not strive for complexity; his models, masterpieces, were created from simple geometric forms. His "Virtual Forms" has greatly influenced contemporary kinetic art. Who would have thought that the oscillation of metal plates could carry such a deep meaning and express the power of an era!
The revitalization of matter
Twentieth-century masters often used electric motors to revitalize frozen matter. But this was not the only method. Just as thanks to the scientific and technological revolution, physical processes have become not only an object of study, but also a means to achieve goals, this effect has not bypassed art. The geniuses of the whole world experimented with streams of water, wind, and the power of the earth.
In this way, Marcel Duchamp's amazing spinning disks were obtained - a composition that bewitches, and Jean Tengli recreated the creation of his mind in reality - mechanisms not only self-moving, but also prone to self-destruction, making sounds - a kind of musical accompaniment. The author of the famous Stravinsky Fountain collected them from industrial scrap of all kinds of variations. All this leads to the conclusion about another remarkable feature of kinetic art - the variety of forms and the use of unusual materials to create unique effects.
The quest never ends
Kinetic art is a new stage, but in no way neither a reference point, nor a destination. With bright light, it made ideas play with new colors, inspiring exploits. Representatives of kinetic art firmly entered its history - from Rodchenko to Yuccer. Searches in this area have led to the fact that kinematism has found application not only in sculpture and architecture. Kinetic art in painting was called optical and gradually transformed into "op art."
Op Art Illusions
The movement in painting manifested itself characteristic of this type of art - purely visually, at the subconscious level. Indeed, op-art is based on visual illusions - when people think that space and matter are changing. However, here too, to achieve the desired effect, the creators had to apply scientific knowledge - to play on psychophysiological factors, to make the viewer see exactly what they had in mind. And the more the result is manifested, the more surprising is the actual static nature of the work. This is the main difference between op art and traditional kinetic art.
Aesthetic specificity
Kinetists-sculptors revived matter, artists - space. Deepening it and painting it in all kinds of colors, they lead away into some kind of their own world, hidden not on canvas, but somewhere inside. This is like a hole in which Alice once fell, trying to keep up with the rabbit. Feeling is akin to how you fall asleep, and carries you to the most secret dreams. This is what the visitors of the exhibition "Responsive Eye" from Egem, Demarco and others, who opened a new page in the history of painting, experienced in the sixty-fifth year of the last century.
The first works were performed in black and white - the masters only tried their hand at a new art form. After all, in the end, everything is subject to kinematism - it breaks the boundaries. This is fascinating, but also scary too, which is why artists stepped cautiously, mastering new techniques, impressing more and more. Now, op art, on the contrary, is characterized by the most vivid, contrasting shades, hard mixing to achieve the desired effect.
Elements of dynamics in folklore
Many people intuitively contrast folk art with the modern. In some ways, of course, they are right, because folklore is the preservation of the memory of the culture of the nation, and contemporary art is the creation of culture right now. But, speaking of kinetism, we can safely say that the string of dynamic elements stretches for a long time, through the centuries, although this ball was seen and untangled only in the twentieth century.
Objects and toys that were moved and produced by craftsmen from the Arkhangelsk region are all the beginnings of kinetism. It is fully manifested in Russian culture. More than once in this article, two extreme points were mentioned - America and the Soviet Union, where many geniuses came from.
The development of kinetic art in the USSR
The Movement group was a real enlightener and master of their craft - it was its members, under the leadership of their leader, Lev Nusberg, who promoted (we apologize for the tautology) kinetic art to the Soviet masses.
The “Movement” was persecuted, and so far not much information has come about the group as we would like. But, nevertheless, their name remained on the pages of the history of kinetism, and it is they who are remembered first of all, talking about how it appeared in the USSR.
In the sixties of the twentieth century, the Movement organized and participated in a huge number of underground and official exhibitions. The guys were not afraid to undertake large-scale projects - and so the futuristic Macropolis, the idea of the city of the future, was born.
Despite the fact that the “Movement” clearly broke all boundaries, they received state orders, for example, the execution of Leningrad on the day of the October Revolution. The group made exhibition compositions, theatrical performances, circus and kinematic scenograms.
Unfortunately, another reason why little is known about the “Movement” is that there were often frustrations in the group, and as a result, a new team separated from it, and closer to the eighties, the direction began to decline in popularity.
Contemporary kinetic art
Works of kinetic art have the highest degree of aesthetics, therefore they are often used as decor in order to decorate the surrounding space. Elements of moving compositions can be both full-fledged exhibits of the exhibition, and its complement. They are also used for the artistic expression of mass events (for example, fairs), in the design of parks, shopping and entertainment centers, squares and so on.
For such purposes, kinetism works closely with op art - the visual illusions of the latter are amplified by changing glow and stereo sound effects.
That is, about the kinetic art of the present, we can say that it is more often used for entertainment purposes. Since the era of scientific and technological progress, which it was intended to reflect, has already passed, and we have entered the age of information technology, social networks and the Internet, we need a new direction that would express the principle of thinking of the modern generation. Nevertheless, the works of the kinetism of the great masters remained known in a narrow circle, and popular in a wider one. Anyone can learn more about the mobile phones, and about Soto’s graceful constructions, and about the realization of Schoffer’s large-scale plans - all these things were created not just to attract attention, but were a mirror of a whole generation.