Whirling and Twirling: A Moscow Exhibition of Kinetic Art (review)

KlNETICISM byV.F. Koleychuk. Galart, Moscow, Russia , 1994. 160 pp. Reviewed byBulat M. Galeyev, KGTU, Institute "Prometei, "K Marx stT., Kazan 420111, Russia. In recent years, the Galart publishing house has become very popular in Russia thanks to its book series entitled "Twentieth Century: New Art." The series is primarily devoted to artistic trends that were previously considered to be "underground" in the Soviet Union. Kineticism was published as part of the series late in 1994 and is the first serious publication on kineticism in Russian. The introductory text was written by one ofthe leading kineticists of the USSR, Vyacheslav Koleychuk, who is also the book's author. The first chapter of the book is devoted to sources of kineticism and its historical predecessors. It begins with a postulate by the author: "Kinetic art, or kineticism, encompasses artistic creative works based on the idea of the moving form-this idea includes not only the mere physical displacement of an object, but also all of its changes and transformations; the idea includes as well any kind of object that comes to life during the moment a spectator contemplates it." The definition is too broad and vague and thus forces the author to include as sources of kineticism extremely varied artistic trends and pieces-moving toys; kaleidoscopes; architectural and sculptural compositions by such artists as V. Tatlin, A. Rodchenko, N. Gabo, G. Krutikova; as well as the early twentiethcentury light-musical experiments of A.N. Scriabin, V. Baranoff-Rossine and G. Gidoni, He even includes the experiments in electronic music carried out by L. Theremin. Also included are experiments in abstract cinema and a survey of foreign works. This broad approach has been favored by art theorists from other countries as well (F. Popper, D. Konechny and others). Vague definitions of kineticism seem to be a general problem in modern art theory. The topic of the second section, "Kineticism as a Trend in Modern Art," is expressed by the following large subtitle : "Kineticism is a relatively integral trend, which manifested itself in specialized exhibitions, manifestos, texts and interesting projects." A short survey of experiments byJ.Tinguely, N. Scheffer; F. Malina and other artists from various countries is provided here with a detailed enumeration of early exhibitions of kinetic art. Koleychuk shows us how the first shoots of Soviet kineticism began to show up. In his opinion, the following trend has been common in both Soviet and world kineticism: sophisticated technical aids along with kinetic art techniques have been utilized in design, scenography, feature films and so on. Koleychuk declares from the very beginning of the third section, 'The Language of Kineticism": "One is presented with the complicated character of analyzing the creation of kinetic forms at first acquaintance with the works themselves ." He indicates here the use of an "unlimited diversity" of technical aids to create kinetic objects and subsequently to a "diversity'tof forms of movement (including not only real, but also illusory forms of movement) realized thanks to these aids. All this hampers classification. Nevertheless, Koleychuk attempts to explain the peculiarities involved in using such aids as mirrors, modules, programming and automatic control techniques in kinetic objects. The fourth section is entitled 'The Idea of Synthesis in Kineticism: Light, Sound, Movement." Its topic is explained by its large subtitle: "Kineticism from its very birth is the art form which needs connection with non-traditional art forms as well as dramatic waysof impacting spectators by combining the techniques of many (different) kinds of art. " The author demonstrates with concrete examples how kinetic objects interact fundamentally with traditional art (mobiles in architecture, "cybersculptures " in landscapes) as well as with audio elements (noise, music and so on). The book's most acute and complicated problem involves the topic of audiovisual synthesis in light-music. Koleychuk believes light-music to be a kind of kinetic art. I believe this statement is disputable. The fact that kinetics -Le. movement-is inherent to light-music is not enough evidence to claim that kinetics is at the essence of light-music. One could include dance and cinematography within the genre of kinetic artjust as easily. I believe light-music is a new and separate kind of art...