Len Lye, 'Convolutions', 2021, detail, Len Lye Centre. Image: Bryan James
Photo Credit
One of Len Lye’s most novel projects is realised.
Alternatively known as Wall Serpent or Wall Motion Sculpture, Convolutions is among Len Lye’s most intriguing large-scale kinetic sculptures, closer in spirit to the organic forms of his experimental film Tusalava (1929) and his biomorphic paintings of the 1930s than his typical kinetic sculpture of the 1960s.
The endlessly looping lines of stainless-steel bulge and squeeze as they take on biological, cell-like forms as if portraying life under a microscope. Erected onto one of the larger walls of the Gallery and with the engineering behind and hidden from view, Lye’s vision was architectural, a moving wall-based drawing or mural.
Spanning over 10 metres in length and 5 metres high, a 28 metre loop of stainless-steel strip travels, thread-like, through an arrangement of rollers reminiscent of a scaled-up film projector.
Following Wand Dance (2019) and Sky Snakes (2020), Convolutions is the third of Len Lye’s kinetic works to be reconstructed by the Len Lye Foundation in partnership with Team Zizz!
One of Len Lye’s most novel projects is realised.
Alternatively known as Wall Serpent or Wall Motion Sculpture, Convolutions is among Len Lye’s most intriguing large-scale kinetic sculptures, closer in spirit to the organic forms of his experimental film Tusalava (1929) and his biomorphic paintings of the 1930s than his typical kinetic sculpture of the 1960s.
The endlessly looping lines of stainless-steel bulge and squeeze as they take on biological, cell-like forms as if portraying life under a microscope. Erected onto one of the larger walls of the Gallery and with the engineering behind and hidden from view, Lye’s vision was architectural, a moving wall-based drawing or mural.
Spanning over 10 metres in length and 5 metres high, a 28 metre loop of stainless-steel strip travels, thread-like, through an arrangement of rollers reminiscent of a scaled-up film projector.
Following Wand Dance (2019) and Sky Snakes (2020), Convolutions is the third of Len Lye’s kinetic works to be reconstructed by the Len Lye Foundation in partnership with Team Zizz!
