What is made out of aluminum, weighs 400 pounds yet sways and dips gracefully in the wind? A kinetic art sculpture in Boynton Beach called "Palm Dancer."
It's one of several pieces on display as part of the city's first International Kinetic Art Exhibit and Symposium.
The city of Boynton Beach sees kinetic art as a way to carve out a niche for itself in South Florida's competitive art event market. That's according to Debby Coles-Dobay, who is the art in public places administrator for the city.
"We looked at the art fairs that are typical out there,” explained Coles-Dobay, “from Basel to ArtiGras to Sunfest and the other ones in between, and said, you know, we don't want to be another, 'me too.'"
As the name suggests, kinetic art is basically art that's designed to move.
Having a kinetic art festival in South Florida made sense to Coles-Dobay and the city because the region is rich in the natural elements used to power the art.
"South Florida is known for its plentiful sun, wind and tropical waters, of course,” said Coles-Dobay. “And kinetic artists create their work tapping into these natural resources and experimenting with how they can utilize them to create their work."
Kinetic sculptures have been set up along several streets around Boynton Beach to create a self-guided walking tour.
The three-day event also includes indoor exhibits as well as kinetic art presentations. Several pieces will remain on display throughout the rest of the year.
Here is a list of a few on display in Boynton Beach. You can see videos of the work by clicking on the names (just a warning, watching kinetic art videos on Youtube can be addicting).
- “Dance With The Wind” by Ralfonso (# 1 on the map above)
- “Flyers” by Rein Triefeldt (# 5 on the map)
- “Palm Dancer” by John King (# 8 on the map)
- “Three Moons Rising” by Jeff Kahn (#11 on the map)
If you’re hungry for more videos of kinetic art, here are a couple of this reporter's favorites found on Youtube while working on this story:
- Theo Jansen is a Dutch artist who creates large, unbelievable creature-type-things that are moved by the wind.
- “Kinetic Rain” is piece that comprises more than 1,000 aluminum droplets suspended from the ceiling in Singapore’s Changi airport.
- Here is a similar installation at the BMW museum in Munich, Germany.
- Here’s a desktop-sized kinetic art sculpture for the office.
- The “Singing, Ringing Tree” may not technically count as kinetic art, but it’s still worth checking out.