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The Techno-Art at Kinetica Fair in London Blows My Mind

by Aaron Saenz April 15th, 2010 | Comments (4)

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kinetica-art-fair-homos-luminos

Homos Luminos by R. Thelin.

Art is evolving with technology, producing displays that will astound all of your senses. The Kinetica Art Fair is a four day long exhibition of dynamic sculptures full of light, sound, movement, and all forms of mechanical mayhem. 14,000 square feet of underground space in London is the temporary home of the work of 150+ artists, looking to connect with galleries, buyers, and fans. Thousands of visitors get to explore these mind-blowing pieces of art that are anything but typical museum fare. We’ve get pictures galore for you to explore below, along with two videos of the exhibition so you can see how this artwork comes alive. This is phenomenol techno-art, you don’t want to miss.

Technology allows art to perform in new ways. We’ve already seen how 3D printers may revolutionize sculpture, letting you purchase designs instead of stone. Online artwork, everything from original graphic art to photoshopped creations, can also explore technological themes. The art at the Kinetica Art Fair is something different though. It’s physical art that explores all the senses, using technology as both medium and subject. That’s really cool. As our world continues to accelerate towards bigger, faster, and more amazing leaps in innovation, our artwork may guide engineers and scientists in how new technology is aimed and applied.

A brief tour of KAF 2010 by Martin Belam:

A longer tour by Paul Carter Robinson, aka ArtLyst1.

The KAF is the work of the Kinetica Museum, but it features work from more than 25 galleries across the world. Dynamic art – that which changes in time via light or sound or movement – is a growing movement in the global community. It is fueled by technology both new and old. You’re just as likely to see LCD screens and fiber optics as you are pendulums and old milk trucks. Most of the pieces are for sale, ranging in price from £50 to £40,000. Many will end up in fine art collections, but I would love to have some of these in my own home.

kinetica-art-fair-pulsar

Lasers and rotating mirrors form a living light show. Pulsar by Balint Bolygo.

I’m always interested in how art pushes the boundaries of our perceptions. One of the projects at KAF, the Aikon II, challenges are sense of creativity by seeing if a robot can draw like a human. I’d love to see more AI generated art, such as music composed by computers. We could also use some more examples of augmented reality, which blurs the boundaries between what is virtual and what is physical.

kinetica-art-fair-waves

Paul Friedlander's Waves.

By provoking us mentally, art stimulates conversation and debate. Kinetica Art Fair does that, but in the context of technology and change. That means that KAF is a unique position to get us to think about the future. What will we consider art when our world is inundated with visual and aural stimuli? What will we consider creative when computers can generate paintings, and operas as well as any human? How will we shape our environment when anyone can use free software tools and open source hardware to print any piece of art they want? I can’t to see what artists bring to Kinetica next year.

kinetica-art-fair-milkfloat

Milkfloat by Ben Parry is a kinetic sculpture made out of reclaimed objects including an old milk truck. It toured London before arriving at the Kinetica Art Fair.

kinetica-art-fair-timepiece

Andrew Stoyner's Timepiece slowly changes in color and sound as you watch.

You can find more pictures of the 2010 Kinetica Art Fair on Flickr.

[image credits: Vincent LeClerc via Flickr, original artists as stated in captions via Kinetica Art Fair 2010]
[video credits: Martin Belam, Paul Carter Robinson]
[source: KAF 2010 Press Release, Kinetica Art Fair]


 

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  • User Picture

    Hey Dick,
    Yes but no Jean Tinguely had his self-destructing machine in NYC in 1967 (??) but the ideas did not end there — advances in computers and robotics ahve allowed much more sophisticated (and much more mind-bending) stuff to happen. An *excellent* venue for this stuff was/is the art annex of the annual SIGGRAPH convention; unfortunately the plain art show catalog printed on paper does no justice to the marvelously animated, musical scultures and machines shown there.

  • User Picture

    Hey Dick,
    Yes but no Jean Tinguely had his self-destructing machine in NYC in 1967 (??) but the ideas did not end there — advances in computers and robotics ahve allowed much more sophisticated (and much more mind-bending) stuff to happen. An *excellent* venue for this stuff was/is the art annex of the annual SIGGRAPH convention; unfortunately the plain art show catalog printed on paper does no justice to the marvelously animated, musical scultures and machines shown there.

  • User Picture

    Looks like some of the stuff we were doing and aiming for in the late sixties, early seventies in NYC, haven’t seen it all yet as my computer froze up about 3 minutes into the 8 minute video.

  • User Picture

    Looks like some of the stuff we were doing and aiming for in the late sixties, early seventies in NYC, haven’t seen it all yet as my computer froze up about 3 minutes into the 8 minute video.

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