LASZLO MOHOLY NAGY (b.1895) was a Hungarian painter and photographer who taught at the Bauhaus school in Germany. In his work and teaching he aligned himself with the Bauhaus ideals of greater interaction between the audience and art. His later works is distinguished an interest in three-dimensional space, light and kinetic sculpture. In particular, The Light Modulator (made between 1922-1931) was concerned with addressing the viewer's participation through the senses of sight, hearing, motion and equilibrium.
In his essay on Moholy-Nagy’s sculpture, Jack W. Burnham states : “He had a particular genius for understanding the potential of collective visual phenomena and, in particular the phenomenology of motion. While a creator of ambitious kinetic devices, his real talent lay in showing young people...the promise of kineticism." |