Kinetic Show – Art that Moves

If you want to take a girl out of her comfort zone this is the way to do it…tell me to create a piece of art that moves. What? Well yes that’s exactly what my good friends at The Gallery in Downtown Marquette, MI have encouraged me to do for the upcoming kinetic show. It’s all about art that moves (or I suppose op art / art that creates the optical illusion of movement would work as well but where’s the fun in that). So with that, how is an artist like myself who always creates 2D work supposed to even begin to brainstorm ideas regarding movement and interaction. Since these projects mean a lot to me, I thought I would start sharing with you my art process. How the ideas evolve, how I overcome challenges and document this work from the beginning to the end. This is where you can see its progression over time as it takes shape. Wish me luck I only have a few weeks and this project like almost all of mine holds deep emotional meaning for me.

Brainstorming:

So I have to make a piece of art that contains movement…okay…and the overall theme of my artwork is generally American / Patriotic. Given that its Memorial weekend and this show will be up in The Gallery during 4th of July I started my brainstorming process around the idea of creating an interactive memorial for those fallen soldiers that have given everything to defend our freedom. These fallen soldiers leave behind a “Gold Star Family.” A distinction no one wants. The term comes from when a service member dies in combat the blue star on the blue star service banner that is displayed in the window of the home of the soldier’s family while they are away changes to gold signifying their loss. From that I knew I wanted to use Gold Stars. Next came the task of trying to figure out how to incorporate movement. I think back about my husband when he was in the service and I always remember the feel and sound of his dog tags and the bead chain that they were attached to…I found my movement.