Kinetica Art Fair is bonkers, in a completely brilliant way. Jess Jones-Berney and Tom Jeffreys let you know what to look out for.
And kerpow! Whizz, bang, fut, wurgle etc. Kinetica Art Fair is here, in all its whirring weirdness. The cavernous space that is Ambika P3 has been transformed into a cross between a normal art fair (lots of white temporary partitions and people giving out business cards) and one of those ramshackle potting sheds you expect white-haired inventors and contestants on Robot Wars to have at the end of their gardens. You wander around quite contentedly until, all of a sudden, there's a crack, a bang, a puff of smoke, and something rather strange has happened...
Kinetica Art Fair is a funny thing – it's part-art (obviously), part-geek-fest, and part-just a place to go to be continually astounded by the ingenuity, creativity, and enthusiasm for the fundamentally pointless that certain members of the human race have in such abundance. There's so much cool stuff going on that you could easily miss something. Two tips. 1. Don't read the spiel, it's mostly rubbish – chat to the exhibitors instead; and 2; look all around you – up down, all around. It'll be worth it, we promise.
Here (in no particular order) is our selection of the best things at Kinetica Art Fair 2011:
Granny's precarious vase
Middlesex University – An Accident Waiting to Happen
An Accident Waiting to Happen sums up the best bits of Kinetica. Funny, interactive and grabbing your attention before anything else does. From a distance it's just a lone antique vase on a table. Come closer and it springs into life, cleverly recognising your position and darting away to the other end of the table. Cheeky little sod. It's then you notice the circle of broken crockery around the table and culpability kicks in as the vase threatens to topple over. I'm told this piece is about accidents lurking around every corner and learning from your mistakes. Or maybe you should just steer clear of anything remotely ordinary looking here, because nothing is what it seems.
JJ-B
Feel the power!
Seeper – Geosphere [pictured]
A huge ball pulsates with pattern. A man brushes his hand across its rubbery surface, and the pattern follows, breaking up, reforming, flowing forth. “I must try it!” I squeak in excitement, and boy it's fun. You feel such extraordinary power – and the fluidity of movement without the need for anything as vulgar as touch. Using infra-red technology and reams of computer techy code stuff, Seeper have produced something wonderful.
TJ
Chirruping cyber-birds
Christiaan Zwanikken – The Good, The Bad, The Ugly [and others]
Artist Christiaan Zwanikken is clearly a weird dude. As you walk down the stairs, you're suddenly confronted by a gaggle of mechanised bird-creatures topped with real peacock heads, squabbling away to each-other in a human/bird/cyborg voice that is both alarming and faintly ridiculous. Nearby, computerised creatures butt heads made from real skulls, and up above storks strike in (im)mortal combat.
TJ
Freaky mechanical animals
Tim Lewis – Flight [and others]
I imagine Tim Lewis was one of those kids who wasn't allowed pets...so he decided to make his own. This might explain his peculiar 'I wouldn't want to pet you' zoo of mechanical hybrids, featuring a twitchy bird-infused light bulb and remnants of a mutilated metal rabbit. Awww, how cute. He likes to dabble in human mutilation too. A standalone mechanical arm writes roll upon roll of meaningless script and then there's the cycles of dancing miniature men. Bizarrely, everything moves on its own accord, possessing the creepy spasms of mechanical life that belong in an Edward Scissorhands sequel.
JJ-B
Super cool strobe thing
Alex Posada – The Particle
It's the three Fs: fast, flashing and fluorescent. A guaranteed crowd-pleaser. I'm just glad it's dark because for six minutes you stand gawping like an idiot, mesmerised by this giant, strobing orb. With each spin it seems to gain momentum on a somewhat wobbly stand and even the artist looks nervous when he's told to edge closer for a photo. None of this matters though because it just looks awesome and everyone seems pretty excited. Heck, even the orb's excited because it takes a six minute nap between performances to avoid overheating and blowing up.
JJ-B
Musical eggs
Tomoni Sayuda – Oshibe
Inspired by 'animism' – the Japanese belief that objects have a spiritual mindset – Tomoni Sayuda has created an interactive platform of singing eggs. By picking up the resin ova (yes, finally something you can actually touch!), you can compose a unique and natural sounding melody. Fusing ambient sounds with calming lights, it's the perfect, therapeutic respite after the heavy strobe-lighting session that's just around the corner.
JJ-B
Into the darkness...
Madi Boyd – Point of Perception
Tucked away under the stairs – we would have missed this were it not for a helpful member of staff – and behind a black curtain, is a black room. Using light, a grid formed of some kind of thread, mirrors and video, Madi Boyd has created an uncertain, unmappable kind of geography – both definitely there (and graspable) and forever beating a delicate, deceptive retreat. Enchanting.
TJ
Kinetica Art Fair 2011 is at Ambika P3 from 4th-6th February 2011.
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Image credit: Geosphere © seeper.com and Pufferfish
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