Kinetic art is any piece of art that moves, especially sculpture. This form of art, which dates from the twentieth century, consists of components that can be moved by external forces such as wind or internal mechanisms. Two pioneers of kinetic art are Alexander Calder and Marcel Duchamp. Alexander Calder, a mechanical engineer who turned to art, created large mobiles that move in the wind, while Marcel Duchamp famously inserted a bicycle wheel into the wooden seat of a stool.
Following a popular exhibit in Paris in the mid-1950s that featured both Duchamp and Calder, as well as works by Pol Bury, Jean Tinguely, Yaacov Agam, Victor Vasarely, and Jesus Rafael Soto, kinetic art became increasingly popular. Similar to how painters present a composition of colors, Alexander Calder saw the art form as a composition of motions. The new art form ushered in a new way of looking at art, with artists demonstrating that beauty can be found in motion or the illusion of motion.
Throughout the 1960s and mid-1970s, kinetic art remained popular. Lumino kinetic art is an offshoot that combines light and motion. In kinetic art, movement can be created in a variety of ways. Artists have used sound waves, wind, solar power, steam, water, electricity, clockwork, springs, and even human touch to set their pieces in motion.
By 1970, four strands of the kinetic art movement had emerged. The mobile, as created by Alexander Calder and his followers, was one thread, while junk art, which included some of Marcel Duchamp’s works, was another. Op art is a type of visual illusion that creates the illusion of movement. The fourth thread includes light-based artistic creations.
In the 1960s, op art became popular. Op art is only two dimensions, unlike a three-dimensional mobile or sculpture, but it still gives the impression of movement through visual illusions. The use of pattern, lines, and colors by the artist can fool the eye into seeing movement where none exists.