Sunday 30 October 2011

Mike Hinge and his participation with Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.)

At last, I can say we have something on Onyxcube about Mike's sculptural work! It is known (through these pages) that after Mike's death most, if not all of his sculptures were junked and up until now I have not been able to track down any documented work. That is until recently when Alex Jay sent me a selection of scans from the exhibition catalogue  "Some More Beginnings" organised by  "Experiments in Art and Technology" (E.A.T.). The exhibition took place at the Brooklyn Museum in 1968, with the public viewing from November the 26th to January the 5th 1969. Mike exhibited a kinetic light sculpture titled, "2000 Light years from home". The title is borrowed from The Rolling Stones, 1967 song of the same name. A cool indicator of Mike's appreciation for music and this particular Space Rock classic! The exhibition catalogue's original size is 27 x 42 cm.

The photograph of Mike's work looks incredible and the following descriptions from catalogue are intriguing "Mike Hinge New Zealander: Born 0000. 2,000 Light years from home 1968. Aluminium, synchronous motors, cam timers, wood, electric lights, 24"x24"x14" Category: C:1.2".  

And "The piece consists of a number of perforated discs rotated by synchronous motors. The major discs are 13 1/2" in diameter spaced 1 1/2" apart and are powered by 10 different motors of various slow speeds. The second set of discs is mounted below as a reflector for the first set. The discs are illuminated from below by coloured thermal flashing D-26 bulbs mounted on a 2" square with holes punched for wiring and ventilation: 20 surrounding discs are rotated by 20 motors and are sequentially illuminated by colored bulbs on a 12-hour cycle". 

Once again, thank you very much to Alex for his contributions. 


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