Types of Kinetic Art: Although kinetic art encompasses a very wide variety of
overlapping techniques and styles, there are a few noticeable
genres:
Mobiles and Whirligigs Sculptures designed to move under the influence of air
currents. A popular creator of mobile sculptures was Alexander Calder. The
category of 'whirligig' also includes a wide variety of simple
non-wind-operated toys, usually made of wood. See Mobile
(sculpture).
Rolling-Ball
and Related Gadgets A wide variety
of kinetic sculptures use rolling balls on tracks or guide ways to create
movement. They usually have some sort of powered lift mechanism for
raising the balls and are usually continuous in operation. Other related
gadgets use wheeled objects, water, or sand operating under gravity to
function.
One-Time
Gadgets There are a wide variety of
kinetic-art assemblages designed to operate only once. The most familiar
type are Rube Goldberg Gadgets, mechanisms using an assembly of complex
elements to perform an absurdly simple task. Another type is domino
tumbling which has been popular for several decades. A newer type, Fortean
Gadgets, expand the idea of domino tumbling to wide variety of other
chain-reaction techniques such as stick bombs, herring bones, and
string-a-lings.
Optical
Sculptures Some kinetic sculptures
use light to create the illusion of movement. They usually involve colored
filters, mirrors, diffraction gratings, and other optical elements in
motion.
Automata Self-operating machines which can also include
robotics
Other The
medium of kinetic art is broader than most other art media and is very
hard to categorize. Other kinetic-art gadgets and sculptures may use
exotic techniques such as pyrotechnics and are limited only by their
creators' imaginations.
