Art in Motion

This past week Frog Design posted a great collection of motion art videos demonstrating the unique beauty that can be derived from seeing graphics in motion. One piece in particular, a collection of motion graphics work done by the Umeric studio, is in my opinion as visually stimulating and artistic as any painting hanging in a museum:

There are a couple of things I find interesting about this kind of art. One is the fact that it uses motion not just as an additive element, but as the primary vehicle for its aesthetic message; the gliding and pulsing movements of the jelly-fish in the first sequence are the primary elements of the piece . It glows and changes colors and sparkles, adding an extra-terrestrial feel. Then suddenly, it releases a spasm of shiny egg-like balls that float and roll and disperse in gravity-defying direction. These movements connect well with the theme of the MTV brand it portrays – the MTV viewer as a cool, colorful, fish-out-of-water type. Motion (OK and sound a little bit too) communicates this message.

Using motion as a vehicle for artistic message is not new – kinetic art has been around since the 1910s. A few weeks ago I was in Basel, Switzerland (a fun phrase to casually throw in a blog post) and I saw a Jean Tinguely exhibit that featured some of his best kinetic art, including massive pieces like this one:

Jean Tinguely (B. 1925 in Fribourg, Switzerland) was a kinetic artist whose work was said to be a statement against the mass production of material goods. He uses basic industrial mechanics to deconstruct machines so they become creaking skeletons of their former selves – a carousel horse with no carousel, a car with no exterior, a series of jobless wheels and pulleys. The plodding rhythmic motion of the machine is a metaphor for the slow dismal march towards industrialization and standardization. Again, we see here that motion is the primary way the artist communicates his theme and message.

The work of Umeric Studios in some ways is a build on the work of Tinguely – both use motion and deconstructions of machines and objects to portray a message. Tinguely uses mechanical engineering technology; Umeric uses digital graphics technology. Tinguely was making a statement against commercialism; Umeric is a capitalist enterprise, using motion art techniques for branding purposes. Both have created beautiful imagery through motion, and I think demonstrate how some artistic trends can transcend both the high art world and the commercial art world.