Motion sensors

Holographic light beings, drawing robots and a giant vertical electronic wave are among the marvels at this year’s Kinetica Art Fair in London. The ‘kinetic art’ umbrella encompasses all kinds of robotic, sound, light and time-based art, but the key is that the artists involved are pushing boundaries across all disciplines, says Dianne Harris, art director and curator of the Kinetica Museum, which launched the annual fair last year.

‘It represents a new and experiential form of art or performative works, and much of the work focuses on universal concepts and evolutionary processes,’ she explains. Cinimod Studio’s Flutter, for example, is the product of the consultancy’s ongoing fascination with the motion of a butterfly’s flight and the scattering of light by its wings; Rosaline de Thélin uses light as a medium to create sculptures and installations to explore life and illusion, and will develop a family of holographic light beings inspired by astronomy, scientific theories and quantum physics; and Paul Friedlander blurs the boundaries between art and science with his intricate light waves. Kinetica presents dazzling technological applications, but the art is about the way it affects the viewer rather than the magic of technology, stresses Harris, who quotes Ralph Waldo Emerson to illustrate her point: ‘Not he is great who can alter matter, but he who can alter my state of mind.’ ‘It’s not just gimmicks and gadgets,’ explains Harris. ‘It’s artists taking new ideas, and the concepts shining through with the use of technology.’

Kinetica Art Fair runs from 4-7 February at P3, 35 Marylebone Road, London NW1