Kinetic Sculptures
There are numerous forms of artistic expression of our feelings and thoughts. Sculpture is just one of them. Within the sculpture field we all know about wood, metal, stone, marble sculpting. What about kinetic sculptures? Have you heard of such a thing? Even if you have not heard of or experienced kinetic sculptures, or you have not been exposed to kinetic sculptures so far, understanding what kinetic sculptures are should not be difficult. Kinetic art is the type of art forms that involve or contain moving parts or depend on motion for obtaining the effects desired by the artists. The moving parts in kinetic arts are generally powered by the wind, an engine or the viewerr.
The term kinetic sculptures refers to a category of art which was created primarily from the late 1950s through 1960s. Kinetic art was first recorded by the sculptors Naum Gabo and Antoine Pevsner in their Realist Manifesto issued as part of a manifesto of constructivism in 1920 in Moscow. "Bicycle Wheel," of 1913, by Marcel Duchamp, is said to be the first in the row of kinetic sculptures that were to come later on.
Kinetic sculptures were perceived as an international phenomenon in spite of the fact that it actually appeared mainly in Europe. The term kinetic sculptures does not necessarily designate or refer to a specific style in sculpture. What it means is motion in art, which actually enhances the value and the meaning of the sculpture. Marcel Duchamp’s 1913 “Bicycle Wheel” is considered the first of the kinetic sculptures that were to be created later on. This first kinetic sculpture is also an example of a readymade, a type of art that he produced a lot during his lifetime.
In the 1920’s The European artists Naum Gabo and Laszlo Moholy-Nagy started experimentation in the field of kinetic sculptures and their first attempts looked more like machines than art. Not much later after their artistic pursuit, the American Alexander Calder invented the mobile. The mobile consisted of a wire armature in a delicate balance; sculptural elements were suspended from the armature.
The forms through which kinetic sculptures are made are sculpture or three dimensions. Like other forms of kinetic art, kinetic sculptures have moving parts. Sometimes sound sculptures are also considered kinetic sculptures. As mentioned above, the motion is provided electrically, by steam power, by clockwork – mechanically so to say, or by means of natural phenomena power such as wind or wave. Besides these two sources the power, the kinetic sculptures can also be put into motion by the spectator.