Up To Speed - hand-cranked kinetic sculpture by Gina Kamentsky

Here's a new wall-mounted kinetic sculpture by artist Gina Kamentsky titled Up To Speed. I love how everything is visible. Some of the found parts used to fabricate the machine are clearly recognizable, others on the edge of recognition, and still others are just plain mysterious. Of course, the playful/thoughtful nature of her work is always a joy to watch.

This pieces is from her new body of mechanical sculpture work for 2014. You can see more at http://www.ginakamentsky.com.

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Diana and Stag Automaton at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts is actually a princely drinking game

Falk Keuten of the Spiel und Kunst mit Mechanik blog wrote to let us know about an automaton in my own backyard. Given that he's in Germany, it's fair to say that he is a very well-informed man!

A new exhibit at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts features an automaton of Diana, goddess of the hunt, riding a stag. The piece is in the museum's new Kunstkammer gallery, which now displays the type of thing that wealthy individuals in Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries might have collected.

The piece itself is made from cast and chased silver -- some parts gilded, some painted with lacquer. The automaton was designed as a form drinking game at courtly banquets. It moves about the table and stops arbitrarily. If it stops near you, it's your turn to drink.

Here's the full article in The Boston Globe on the ‘Diana and Stag Automaton’ at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts.

Here's the MFA's page about the new Kunstkammer Gallery.

Many pieces such as this are document in the wonderful book titled Clockwork Universe: German Clocks and Automata, 1550-1650

From the book description:

This book depicts the golden age of German clockmaking. The volume offers the most comprehensive examination of the German Renaissance clock ever undertaken. From the founding of the clockmaker's guilds to the eventual shifting of the craft's supremacy from German-speaking central Europe to Holland and England after the Thirty Year's War. Includes contributions from 14 scholars, over 200 illustrations and technical drawings.

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The sculpture of Arthur Ganson at the MIT Museum

If you happen to be in Cambridge, Massachusetts, you will want to stop by the MIT Museum which features an exhibit of Arthur Ganson’s kinetic sculptures.

If you are unfamiliar with Ganson's work, he uses the elements of machines, found, and fabricated objects to create though-provoking interactive kinetic sculptures. The sculpture shown here, Cory's Yellow Chair, depicts random yellow pieces floating in space. The pieces suddenly assemble into a small yellow chair for an instant before exploding apart once again. I could watch this for hours.

From the MIT Museum web site:

His sculptures explore the nature of oiled surfaces, object manipulation and slow explosions, and are created from a range of materials that he fabricates or finds.

Here is where you can learn more about Arthur Ganson and the exhibit of his work at the MIT Museum.

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Move Me - kinetic sculpture exhibit now in Boston

Move Me is a exhibit featuring the kinetic sculpture of Chris Fitch, Arthur Ganson, Tom Haney, Steve Hollinger and Erica von Schilgen. The exhibit is located at AXIOM Center for New and Experimental Media outside of Boston, Massachusetts and runs from April 28th to May 28th, 2011.

From the AXIOM web site:

The works explore the intimate, poetic drama created as electricity, clockworks or human interaction physically "moves" kinetic sculpture but also emotionally "moves" an observer. Ranging from the clandestine use of mechanics and electronics to the intentionally obvious revelation of the inner workings, the show explores the relationship created between artwork and viewer when moving sculpture's narratives unfold in real time.

Where:
AXIOM
141 Green Street
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

When:
April 28th to May 28th, 2011
Opening Reception and Artist’s Talk
Thursday, April 28, 2011 6-8 pm

Here is a link to the AXIOM web site for more information on the Move Me exhibit.

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Giant mechanical fern sculpture by Chris Fitch

Take a look at this gorgeous video of a beautifully done sculpture by artist Chris Fitch.

From the sculpture description:

Originally inspired by looking at ferns on a walk in the woods, "Spring" is a mechanical abstraction of the same unfurling action that occurs in fiddleheads. The title is a double-entendre referring also to the coiled spring-like shape that the sculpture assumes. In fact, in an earlier version of this piece, there was a coiled spring incorporated into the mechanism.

See more kinetic art by Chris Fitch on his web site.

[ Thanks Ellen and Dave! ]

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