Keep it moving? Conserving kinetic art

Kinetic art is art that not only includes movement but often depends on it to produce the desired effect and fully realize its nature as work of art. Kinetic art emerged throughout the 20th century, and had its major developments in the 1950s and 60s. In addition, in the 1960s, a branch of op art or optical art, i.e. abstract art based on optical illusion, also started to incorporate actual movement. Kinetic works of art include a wide range of motion, from motorized and electrically driven movement to motion as the result of wind, light, or other sources of energy. Much thought is currently given in the field of contemporary art conservation to re-thinking the concept of authenticity and to solving the dichotomy often felt between original materials and functionality of the work of art. The dichotomy is especially acute with kinetic art where a compromise between the two seems impossible: when engine parts stop working, when light bulbs go out, the work will stop functioning if replacement is not performed. Issues of technological obsolescence, as well as the strong sociological and historical information or meanings often embedded in a given technology and its use by an artist, further complicate matters.