KINETIC ART

1954 - Present

Constructivist ideas held powerful sway well into the second half of the 20th Century. Eventually their love of movement, first explored by the Dadaists and Futurists of the early 1900s, led to a new form of non-traditional art. In the 1950s a group of Constructivist artists began creating mobiles and motorized constructions. With their de-emphasis of narrative, Kinetic Art ideas fell perfectly in line with Abstract Expressionism and other modern art movements.

The type of movement seen in Kinetic Art differed from artist to artist. Some, like Victor Vasarely migrated toward works that gave the illusion of movement. Their work often created optical illusions, eventually leading to the Op Art movement.

Other Kinetic artists were more intrigued with creating works that actually moved. Artists like Jean Tinguely created sculptural machines. In the finest Dada tradition, these machines often took an ironic view of the industrial age. Alexander Calder, created mobiles that moved by air currents or with mechanized motors. As they moved they interacted with light sources and the general environment around them.