Mobile Mosaïc I (1958) / Geometry I (1961)

In kinetic painting an artist is primarily concerned with the visual stimulus of transparent color produced by man-made light on a translucid surface. Art and science, figurative and abstract art, daylight and artificial light, virtual and real movement, geometrical, surrealist or realist subject matter – all these problems and relationships have preoccupied Frank Malina. Four major classifications of his Kinetic Art are the Lumidyne System (using electric light shining through painted moving and static elements, sometimes with the addition of a diffusing screen), the Reflectodyne System (using electric light reflected onto moving mirrors or other surfaces reflecting light), the Polaridyne System (using the special optical effects produced by light passing through polarizing materials) and the Audio-Kinetic System (light and motion paintings and sculpture activated by varying intensities of sound). According to Malina, it is helpful to take into account the long experience of man with dance and theatre and his recent experience with cinema and television. For the adventurous and curious kinetic painter it is possible to become much better acquainted with motion and color changes than it is for the viewer of cinema or television.