Kinetic art – a field that has always refused to stand still
Jon Day, Apollo Magazine
On the evidence here it is apparent that the category of ‘kinetic art’ suffers from something of an identity crisis. Is such work best exemplified by grand, physically interactive pieces (installations like Jesús Rafael Soto’s Pénétrable de Lyon [1988]: long strands of what looks and feels like half-cooked spaghetti through which you are invited to walk, or the calming, colour-flooded rooms of Carlos Cruz-Diez’s Chromosaturation [1965]; or Yayoi Kusama’s Invisible Life [2000–11], a corridor of mirrors which distort your reflection as you pass between them) of the kind beloved by urban developers and museum curators intent on promoting user participation? Or is it, as in the work of Bridget Riley and her many imitators, a more cerebral, restrained endeavour: a way of drawing attention to the sometimes vexed relationship between the eye and the wider world?
This confusion is reflected in the origins of kinetic art itself.
Content may only be used for education and research purposes. All rights remain with the original copyright holder; reproduction for commercial use is unauthorised. If you wish to access the original article please click on the image.