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Kinetic Sculpture: My Mobiles of Wire and Thread Forming Geometrical Surfaces
- Leonardo
- The MIT Press
- Volume 14, Number 3, Summer 1981
- pp. 213-215
- Article
- Additional Information
Leonardo, Vol. 14, No.3, pp. 213-215, 1981. Printed in Great Britain. 0024-094)81/030213-03%02.00/0 Pergamon Press Ltd. KINETIC SCULPTURE: MY MOBILES OF WIRE AND THREAD FORMING GEOMETRICAL SURFACES Jean-Louis Viora * 1. Towards a Sculpture that Signifies the Structure of Matter In considering sculpture of the past I am struck by a contradiction: From Praxiteles of Ancient Greece to Auguste Rodin, Henri Laurens and Constantin Brancusi, for example,sculpturehasimpliedessentiallythecomplete occupation of a part of space by a material, (as perceived by the senses) much like common objects of every-day life. The development of new materials and of new forms that might be introduced into sculpture, interesting though they may be, contributes, I believe, only limited extensions of the art. However, it has been known within the present century that any form of matter, as far as one has been able to determine, contains largely unoccupied space. This is evident if one considers that an atom consists mostly of empty space with most of its mass located in a tiny nucleus. Furthermore, although matter may seem inert, on an atomic scale it is actually under the influence of various internal and external forces whose directions are continually changing. In much the same way but on a cosmicscale, the volume of the universeisprimarily space unoccupied by matter, yet traversed by forceschangingin direction. In effect, one can say that matter ischaracterized by a balance of forces (nuclear, electromagnetic and/or gravitational). These thoughts have caused me to believethat some of the sculpture of the future will signifythehidden structure of matter. (Furthermore, holography may be used for 3dimensional pictorial artistic presentations of objects.) I do not claim that these thoughts are original. Certainly there are those among the constructivists who must have had such thoughts. This is strongly suggested by the words and works of Antoine Pevsner [13 and his brother Naum Gabo. More recently Henri Gabriel has described in Leonurdo his optico-spatial mobiles intended to give illusions of discreet elementsin space in motion, utilizing different visual effects [2]. 2. My First Mobiles Until now I have been content in my sculptural works to represent directions of forcesin spaceby either whiteor colored cotton threads stretched across armatures made of wire (iron wire or copper wire with plastic sheathing). My first attempts were in the form of mathematical surfaces that I had found particularly interesting: hyperbolic paraboloids and Mobius strips. *Engineerand artist, 1 Sentier de la MontCzy, 92130 Issy-lesMoulineaux , France. (Based on text in French) (Received 21 April 1980) But recently I have been dealing with geometrical surfaces that are far more complex and that I find more aesthetically satisfying. At this time of writing I have made over 70 such sculptures (which presents a problem of storage for me!). Unlike Naum Gab0 (consider for example his ‘Linear Construction in Space’ (1949)) I do not avoid the use of color in my constructions. On the contrary, the play of light in one of my mobiles as it turns is enriched by the colors of the threads. For example,Fig. 1 (cf. color plate) shows a view of my ‘Kinetic Sculpture No. 61’ consisting of green and orange threads and an armature of iron wire covered with a green plastic sheathing. It is the changing contrast between green and orange that appears as the work rotates that appeals particularly to me. But in most of my mobiles I have tried to produce and explore harmonious and restful relations between color and form. Forms aredemonstratedinFig.2where‘Kinetic Sculpture No. 56‘, viewed from a fixedstation, isshownat four moments during itsrotation about itsverticalaxis.In this case the colors (light blue, light green, blue-green, green, white),relatively cool and harmonious, seemto me to be conducive to serene and prolonged contemplation. Figure 3 shows a view of ‘KineticSculpture No.59’, an example of a well-balanced form. There is a helicoidal core whose feeling of tension is balanced by an external network wherein moirC effects are produced. The threads employed were uniformly white. Fig. 2. ‘KineticSculpture No. 56‘ Cfourviews), mobile. iron wire with plastic sheath, (diam.2.7 mm),cotton thread(0.20 g/m),45 X60X 50 cm, 1979. 213 214 Jean-Louis Viora Fig. 3. 'Kinetic Sculpture No. 59'. mobile. iron wire uith plastic sheath. (diam. 2.7 mm). cotton thread(0.20g/m).50X60X50crn. 1979. Fig. 4. 'Kinetic Sculpture No. 50'. mobile. iron wire with plasric sheath (diam 2.1 mm), cotton thread(0.20g/m). 70 X 35 X 45 cm, 1979. Figure 4 shows 'Kinetic Sculpture No. 5 0 in direct sunlight (left) with its shadow (right) cast on a flat wall. The surface generated by the cotton strings is intended to express music of three different types (treble clef, counterpoint and violin), which I associate with my three daughters, who are musicians. 3. The Different Stages in Making My Mobiles In making an armature, I bend the wire about by hand and fix the resulting form by twisting the ends using a pair of pliers. The two wire materials that I have employed thus far are iron and copper, which are significantly different in that the former is much more elastic and the latter much more malleable. The overall wire diameters that I have used are: 2.7 mm (sheathed iron) and 3.8 mm (sheathed copper). The plastic sheathing is a type of common electrical insulation. Then, with the aid of a tiny saw, I make slight cuts in the plastic sheathing at intervals, generally between 5 and 30 mm, that will serve as guides for the taut threads. This stage demands a feeling for spatial geometry, and my proficiency has progressed since I began this work. In effect, I prepare in my mind the mobile as a whole before I actually begin using thread, except in more complex mobiles where sections have to be completed before the ensemble is worked on. The final major task is to wind the cotton thread about the armature, little by little, with constant attention being given to the tension of the thread. Controlling the tension is difficult. To appreciate the difticulty one has only to visit the mathematics display room at the Palais de la Dicouverte (Science Museum) in Paris to see the many little suspended weights or the springs under tension that stretch the threads forming mathematical surfaces whose armatures are much more rigid and heavy than those I employ. Before winding the thread onto the armature, I deepen each cut in the plastic sheathing to produce the desired angle in the taut string. (Generally, the cotton thread that I employ weighs between 0.15 and 0.25 grams per meter.) After the thread has been wound on the armature, I put a drop of transparent glue at each incision to make the mobile more rigid. Finally, I must decide what will be the axes of rotation of the mobile. After suspending it from various points on its armature, I decide which are the alternative points of suspension. For suspension, I employ a nylon filament (diam. 0.14 mm) and hooks of my design. I think that it is interesting to mention here that the force exerted by metallic wire on my hands while I am bending it suggests to me that the forceiscorrelated to my emotional state of the moment or to music to which I may be listening. Yet, while I am winding cotton threadsonan armature, a rational rather than emotional state seems to dominate me during my search for a balance of colors and forms. But, considering the whole process of making an artwork, I believe that there are usually the two aspects, more or less apparent, of impulse and of reflection, of chance and of plan; it is only when an artwork is completed that its components are seen to be closely related. I believe that the commonly supposed opposition of reason and emotion amounts only to differences in balance, not separate irreconcilable oppositions. In fact, what is more important to me is the consistency between the two-stage process of making an artwork and the means of expression. The final exclusively spontaneous applications of paint in a work by Hartung or by Pollock seem to me to be as irrelevantasa painstaking mechanical covering of a canvas from left to right and from top to bottom. On the contrary, my mobiles provide for me a means of expression well fitted to such a two-stage process: first spontaneous and impulsive, then well thought out. 4. Two, Three and Four Dimensions A number of times I have considered the question: Why is sculpture considered by some persons as a minor art in relation to painting? I hope that it is not for reasons such Kinetic Sculpture: My Mobiles of Wire and Thread 215 as the relative difficulties of storage, transport and exhibition, of promotion and sale, of manipulating materials, of the limits of photographic reproduction, etc. Yet, I would say that, at least in present-day Occidental societies, it is due to sculpting often being more manual, more craft-like and more sensual than painting or more like constructing a building. On the other hand, sculptors do not have to confront the problems faced by painters of figurative pictures, such as perspective,lighting, shading, color interactions, etc. It could be the higher degree of illusion provided by paintings that cause some persons to regard sculpture as inferior. If my ideas are valid, sculpture ought to be directed toward a beauty that is more and more cerebral, less towards familiar figurative and sensual qualities. Then only, an unbounded richness can be expressed by sculpture and, above all, kinetic sculpture, which is not only three-dimensional but involves the dimension of time. But, basically, what does this richness concern? In the case of my mobiles consisting of curved geometrical surfaces,one can contemplate, for example,their variable speed of rotation, their appearance from various viewing points above and below with different lighting effects, their shadows cast on walls and their reflections in mirrors. Furthermore, they are objects that allow viewers with cameras to make their own photographic or cinema artworks. 5. Movement and Light in my Kinetic Sculptures The transparency and light weight of my sculptures are fundamental in my efforts to convey the idea that space is occupied mostly by fields of forces rather than by the mass of matter. The mobiles are driven by air currents, which gives their motion a character of randomness. Above all, one can note the play of light on them. During the course of rotation, the external surfaces, like the internal ones, are successivelyilluminated; the lightseems to roll along them. Also, if the threads are nearly parallel when a surface passes in front of another one, the moirk effect is produced. It would be interesting to view any of these mobiles suspended in an open-ended box provided with reflecting interior walls and with illumination from hidden beams of white or colored light. More durable materials than cotton thread, for example brass wire or filaments of nylon or of glass, should be used to prolong their life-time. Armatures made of transparent strips of rectangular cross section rather than wires of circular cross section would, when rotated, contribute additional variations in the play of light on a mobile. Also, by vibrating thestretched wiresor filaments the mobiles could be made to produce sounds. References I. A. Pevsner, Science Foils Poetry (1959, Leonardo 10,324 (1977). 2. H. Gabriel, Mes Mobiles et objets optico-spatiaux, Leonardo3, 1 (1970); in English in Kinetic Art: Theoryand Practice, F. J. Malina, ed. (New York,Dover, 1974) p. 67. ...