Len Lye

Universe

Universe by Len Lye

Artwork Detail

The 6.7 metre steel band of Universe is softened and

manipulated by electromagnets hidden in the sculpture’s base. In motion, this work is as much a musical instrument as a sculpture. Len Lye was a pioneer of boundary-crossing Kinetic art and hand-drawn animated films who spent most of his life

in New York. Lye’s own restless energy was matched by his experiments with ‘art that moves’. Universe’s vibrations evoke planetary orbits and dancing electrons, telescoping macro and micro together into a ‘figure of motion’.

Title
Universe
Artist/creator
Len Lye
Production date
1963
Medium
steel, wood, electromagnets
Dimensions
2090 x 2700 x 280 mm
Credit line
Edmiston Trust Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased 1995
Accession no
E1995/43
Copyright
Copying restrictions apply
Department
New Zealand Art
Display status
Not on display

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