Tim Lewis (GB, 1961)

– Is een kinetisch kunstenaar, die een struisvogel construeerde, waarvan de kop een hand is die een interactie aan gaat met kijker.

Opleiding
Royal College of Art, Londen

Recente tentoonstellingen
2009 Kinetica Art Fair, Londen
2007 Universal Forum of Cultures - Kinetica - Museum of Kinetic Art, Londen

Werk in de tentoonstelling

1. Titel Pony (2008)
   Materiaal
   Courtesy the artist, and Kinetica Museum, London, photography by Andy Day

Fragment catalogustekst (Robbert Roos)
Tim Lewis past in de lijn van kunstenaar-uitvinders die zo nu en dan opduiken in het kunstdiscours. Zijn objecten en machines bestaan enerzijds uit alledaagse gebruiksvoorwerpen die met erop gemonteerde attributen een nieuwe 'utilitaire'  functie krijgen en anderzijds uit robot-achtige dieren-met-een-twist. Zijn object voor 'Wonderland' had zo in het verhaal van Lewis Carroll voor kunnen komen: een struisvogel die een kar voorttrekt. Alleen is de kop een mechanische hand, die reageert op bewegingen in de ruimte, je 'aankijkt' en naar je uitreikt. Een object in een schemergebied tussen echt en onecht.

Aanvullende informatie / opinies
(2) ‘Tim Lewis rarely, if ever, talks about his work directly. Instead he uses a combination of mechanisms, lighting and sculpture to investigate, test and experiment – with his own doubts and observations – our perception of the world.’
(3) The term 'uncanny valley' was first used by Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori to describe the point at which a machine becomes almost too human and lifelike for comfort. Contemporary artist Tim Lewis examines this notion in his work, creating automated sculptures that explore the relationship between mankind and our sometimes disquieting manufactured world.
Lewis's sculptures include a variety of machines that react to the people and environment around them. Large scale 'stroboscopic' artworks spin and explode with movement and colour. Familiar items such as chairs walk with crutches and mechanical rabbits, once cuddly, take on a more sinister quality. These works defy easy categorization but are inspired by the traditions of kinetic art, the development of photography and genetics. The artist's preliminary drawings and maquettes will also be on display, to provide an insight into Lewis's distinctive creative process.
For twenty years, Tim has endowed objects with properties they don't naturally possess, especially the ability to walk. Some, like the Bentwood chair, are "ready-mades" that undergo fundamental changes in his hands. Others, including the blue chair in Pet and the writing arms, are built from scratch. Some pieces are abstract, like the spinning forms, but references to nature, whether feathers or the galaxy, persist.
Tim's interest in this unusual subject matter was sparked at an early age:
"At 17 I bought a book with a beautifully flashy robot on the cover. I still have it at home with my absurd notes in it. I immediately knew that's what I wanted to do. I hadn't thought of being an artist but I went to art college because that was the place where they would let me do this."
Amongst the new work being shown for the first time at this exhibition is Pet, in which a garden chair, walking with the aid of crutches, is startled by rabbits and attempts to move away from them.

Links en verwijzingen

1. www.kinetica-museum.org
2. www.flowerseast.com/FE/Originals.asp?Artist=LEWIS&OC=1 Veel beeldmateriaal en uitgebreide biografie
3. http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/walker/exhibitions/uncannyvalley/