A blog by Bradley Phillips

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Kinetic Sculpture







I am blind. How have I not been aware of it before. I stumbled upon it quite accidentally. This past weekend I had the pleasure to visit the wonderful city of Boston Massachusetts. A beautiful place rich in history and heritage. During my stay I went to the MIT Museum, attracted by their Robots and Beyond exhibit (surprise, surprise) and a Holography exhibit. What I did not expect was their ongoing Arthur Ganson exhibition. While the robotics and holograms were fun, Arthur's work was practically a visual revelation for me. I literally felt as though someone slapped me in the face and peeled back my eyelids at the same time. Everything that has been on my mind, retro-futurism, utopia, man vs. machine, the revolutionary sublime, cultural dystopia etc.... All questions I had been asking in my own work he presents within his sculptures.

For a long time now I have been very connected with the building and preparing of the objects that I photograph. This infatuation has become in many ways more important then the image it self. This concept of moving sculpture as art has opened my eyes to the artistic value in sculpture its self. One in which, to be honest, I had placed little value.

Each photograph is a link to the video to several Kinetic Sculptures each having their own set of strengths. Arthur Ganson’s work is complex and delicate. Tim Prentince’s work is fluid and organic. And Theo Jansen is pure brilliance, and almost unbelievable. Watch them in order for the greatest impact.

When I get the time I fully intent on attempting to create a machine for sculptures sake.

Here is a longer video on Theo Jansen

2 comments:

  1. dude, that was the coolest thing ever. the last one was simply astounding! rock on Brad

    ReplyDelete
  2. Arthur Ganson is the man...i can't believe you have never heard of him before...go to ww.ted.com and search him. He has a really good speech about his tools, process and how he gets his ideas.

    you're lucky, I've wanted to see his work for a long time

    ReplyDelete