Book sheds light on life and work of Len Lye

Media release
20 November 2009

New book, exhibition shed new light on life and work of Len Lye

“Kinetic art is the first new category of art since pre-history”.

With this bold statement, uttered in 1964, Len Lye (1901-1980) left little doubt that he would hold an integral place in New Zealand’s artistic landscape. Today, the filmmaker, kinetic sculptor, painter, photographer and writer is recognised as one of the most original artists to emerge from this country.

Len Lye’s life, work and “big idea”—that movement could be the basis for a completely new kind of art—is explored in a new book by University of Auckland Emeritus Professor Roger Horrocks, an experienced writer and filmmaker, and the founder of The University’s Department of Film, Television and Media Studies.

Art That Moves: The Work of Len Lye (Auckland University Press) illuminates what Lye called the “mystery of movement” in all forms of art-- from dance to film-- and in our own lives. Roger Horrocks traces these connections and reveals much that is new about Lye, including behind-the-scenes information about how the artist dreamed up and applied his new methods of filmmaking and created his kinetic sculptures. He also covers the remarkable story of how Lye’s unfinished projects are being built in New Zealand today and the controversy this has sometimes aroused.

Art That Moves will be launched alongside an exhibition of the same name at the University’s Gus Fisher Gallery. The show-- the first public gallery exhibition of Len Lye’s works in Auckland since 1980-- features a sculpture which will be on display for the first time. A wide-ranging, interdisciplinary programme of events will accompany the exhibition, comprising author talks, musical performances, and discussions with engineers, composers and filmmakers.

“Len Lye was one of the twentieth century’s most innovative artists and in Art That Moves his friend and biographer Roger Horrocks brings Lye’s sculptures and films to life again in a spectacular book and DVD. Auckland University Press is proud to publish this first full-scale assessment of the work of a great New Zealand artist,” says Sam Elworthy, Director of AUP.

"Lye has a world reputation as a filmmaker and was a pioneer of kinetic (motorised) sculpture, but many people are aware of only one of these sides of his work. Lye saw that films and sculptures are aspects of the same 'art of motion'. I wanted to show the links between them and I felt that the verve and originality of his ideas on the subject were still not fully understand. Hence the book and the exhibition -- to combine the sculpture and the films, and to uncover the theory behind the art," says Roger Horrocks, who worked as Len Lye’s assistant during the last year of the artist’s life and wrote the best-selling and critically acclaimed 2001 biography of Len Lye.

Appropriately for a book about movement, Art That Moves includes a DVD with four of Lye’s best films and some superb footage (directed by Shirley Horrocks) of his sculpture in action. It also contains a new eighteen-minute film directed by Roger Horrocks, a dramatic portrait of Lye in his early years.

The Art That Moves exhibition runs from 28 November – 6 February at the Gus Fisher Gallery (74 Shortland Street). A vibrant and eclectic public programmes calendar is detailed below. For more information visit www.gusfishergallery.auckland.ac.nz

Art That Moves: The Work of Len Lye (Auckland University Press) is available from bookstores from 30 November. RRP $59.99.

PUBLIC PROGRAMMES CALENDAR

Saturday 28 November
1pm Christchurch sculptor, Evan Webb, Director of the Len Lye Foundation, has a unique knowledge of Lye’s sculptures. He has been largely responsible for maintaining them for many years. He has also been responsible for the reconstruction of works that were realised after Lye's death and ensuring they are true to the artist’s vision. Evan will (literally) provide an inside view of what makes Lye's work tick.

2pm Tyler Cann, Len Lye Curator, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, introduces Len Lye and leads a tour of the exhibition ‘Art that Moves’. Tyler was co-curator of the recent large and very successful Lye exhibition in Melbourne.

Saturday 5 December, 1pm
Roger Horrocks, curator of 'Art that Moves' and author of the just-published book of the same name, will discuss the main theme of the exhibition and why he feels that Lye made a unique contribution to art through his theory and practice of movement. Horrocks also wrote the best-selling 2001 Len Lye biography and worked as Lye's assistant in the last year of the artist's life.

Thursday 10 December, 6.30pm
An evening screening of Len Lye’s films not included in the exhibition, thanks to the New Zealand Film Archive. It is an opportunity to see a number of his films in their original celluloid form, including several titles less-well-known or recently re-discovered.

Saturday 12 December, 1pm
Film-maker Shirley Horrocks will introduce a screening of 'Flip and Two Twisters,' her 1995 documentary about Len Lye and the making of his sculptures in New Zealand since his death. This documentary, which includes footage of the artist, has been screened by film festivals and art museums around the world.

Saturday 19 December, 1pm
Len Lye and the Kinetic Monument: Kate Linzey frames Len Lye’s proposals for large scale ‘tangible motion sculpture’ in the context of the debate on ‘new monumentality’ in 20th century architecture. Now based at WELTEC in Wellington, Linzey completed a Masters of Architecture from The University of Auckland in 2002.

Saturday 9 January, 1pm
A Composerly View of Len: Dr Eve de Castro-Robinson, School of Music, discusses and presents excerpts from her musical works inspired by the life and work of Len Lye, including ‘Len Dances’ for orchestra, and ‘Len Songs’ for mezzo and ensemble.

Saturday 16 January, 1pm
In response to Len Lye’s interest in the poetry of his time, Unitec lecturer and film-maker Miriam Harris considers some innovative artists in the field of moving images today whose work has similarly been informed by the structural qualities of poetry.

Saturday 23 January, 1pm
A talk on Len Lye by Professor Wystan Curnow, one of New Zealand’s leading curators and art critics. Curnow was co-editor of the recent book Len Lye, and co-editor of Figures of Motion (a 1984 collection of Lye’s writings). He knew Lye and has been involved with his work for over 30 years.

Saturday 30 January, 1pm
Like Len Lye, digital artist Gregory Bennett is interested in bodily kinesthetics and patterns of movement, often influenced by music and sound. Bennett, who will discuss the theories of sound and motion in own his work, completed a MFA at Elam in 2004 and is now a senior lecturer at AUT.

EXHIBITION

Art that Moves: The Work of Len Lye
Curated by Roger Horrocks

27 November 2009 - 6 February 2010

Len Lye (1901-1980) is one of the most original artists to have emerged from New Zealand. He developed his own theories about an ‘art of movement’ as a new approach to art. He became known around the world for his animation films, pioneering the method of ‘direct film’ (bypassing the camera by painting, scratching and stencilling images directly onto celluloid). Later he became a pioneer of kinetic or motorised sculpture. His work has an energy and freshness that gives it broad appeal.

‘Art that Moves’, the present exhibition of Lye’s films and sculptures, is the first at a public gallery in Auckland since 1980. It explores Lye’s intense engagement with what he called the ‘magical mystery’ of motion. In addition to films and kinetic sculptures, there are paintings and photograms to represent other areas of his work and to illustrate the implied movement in his static images. Among the five kinetic sculptures in the show, there are two that have not previously been seen in Auckland. The exhibition is linked with the publication of two new books: Art that Moves: The Work of Len Lye by Roger Horrocks (AUP), and Body English: Texts and Doodles by Len Lye (Holloway Press).

Thanks to The University of Auckland’s Business School, Mechanical Engineering, Film, Television and Media Studies, the Len Lye Foundation and Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, NZ Film Archive, Point of View Productions, Curio Wines and Aalto Colour.

All exhibitions and public programmes are free and take place at the Gus Fisher Gallery unless otherwise noted.

The Gallery will close for Xmas on December 23 and reopens on January 5.

ENDS

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