LEN LYE
A pioneering figure of New Zealand experimental film, painting, poetry and kinetic sculpture, Len Lye was born in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1901. His early interest in animation and film lead to experiments with techniques and processes. Drawing and scratching directly onto film, a method he termed 'direct animation,' Lye sought to compose motion just as musicians compose sound. These semi-abstract films were not only formal exercises but drew on Maori, Aboriginal and Samoan art forms. Lye described his interest as the pursuit of “pure figures in motion” drawing comparison with Futurist artists, yet Lye's work has always been driven by an enthusiasm to create new forms.
His later kinetic sculptures utilised motors and tensile materials that vibrate and sway. The acoustic elements of his works also took centre stage as an early affinity with jazz music evolved into large-scale works that were capable of creating thunderous noise. Although based in New York from 1944 for the duration of his career, the artist bequethed much of his work to the Govett Brewster Gallery in New Plymouth, New Zealand. This resulted in the establishment of the Len Lye Foundation and a Len Lye Centre in New Plymouth. His films are represented in the collections of the British Film Institute, and the Museum of Modern Art New York, and his sculpture in the Whitney, Art Institute of Chicago, and Albright Knox collections, among others.
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