Art That Moves

'Kinetic art is the first new category of art since prehistory', ex-pat New Zealand artist Len Lye boldly claimed in an essay in 1964. What did he mean by this? And how does his own work in sculpture and film bear it out? In The Art of Motion: The Work of Len Lye Roger Horrocks, the author of the best-selling 2001 biography of Lye, explores these questions. He describes the forerunners of this 'art that moves', then discusses in detail Lye's life and career as a kinetic artist, how he developed and envisioned his 'tangible motion sculptures' and how many of these are being realised only now, after his death. Lye himself wrote extensively about kinetic art; one chapter focuses on his theories about 'the art of motion', and relates these back to his practice as an artist. Horrocks concludes by discussing how Lye's ideas can be applied to other works and how they are relevant today. The Art of Motion includes a DVD containing a short documentary by Shirley and Roger Horrocks, with brilliant footage from Lye's films and of his sculptures in motion. Len Lye's art moves again - alert and alive - in this well-illustrated book and its accompanying DVD.

Author Biography:
Emeritus Professor Roger Horrocks wrote an acclaimed biography of Len Lye, published by AUP in 2001, which sold 3500 copies. In doing so he brought the life and work of Lye to a wide audience and has been in the forefront of the recent upsurge of interest in him. Horrocks was founder and head of the Department of Film, Television and Media Studies at Auckland University. In 2004 he was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for 'services to the film and television industries'. As well the biography of Lye, Horrocks has co-edited Television in New Zealand: Programming the Nation (Oxford University Press, 2004) and a Len Lye catalogue for the Centre Pompidou in 2000. FILM/DVD MAKER: Shirley Horrocks is one of New Zealand's leading directors and producers of documentaries. Her films include The New Oceania (2005), about Pacific novelist Albert Wendt, Marti (2004), about photographer Marti Friedlander, and Questions for Mr Reynolds (2007), about artist John Reynolds. Although she has specialised in documentaries about the arts, she has also directed and produced programmes about New Zealand society and culture, education, business and health. Her work has won a number of awards. She has run her own production company, Point of View Productions, for 23 years

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