Spin art

Techniques

Spin art is an art form that primarily uses paint, a canvas and a spinning platform. It is primarily used to entertain and expose children to the process of art creation although it can be enjoyed by people of all ages.

To create spin art, an artist initially decorates or drips paint onto a canvas. The canvas can be anything, however the most common form of canvas is a small rectangular piece of cardboard. Before the paint on the canvas dries, the artist secures the canvas to a platform that can be rotated at high speed. Once the canvas is secure, the artist can then begin spinning the canvas. Most spinning platforms are electrical or battery operated with more elaborate platforms enabling the artist to vary the rotational speed.

As the canvas rotates, centrifugal forces draws the wet paint outwards creating intricate designs. The artist can drip more paint onto the canvas while it is spinning, thus layering paint on top of each other creating different effects. Using different colors, a skilled spin artist can blend colors together into subtle designs. At any point during this process, the artist can stop the spinning platform to view the canvas. Since the canvas is usually rotating at a high rate of speed, it is difficult if not impossible to view the image on the canvas until the platform has stopped spinning, thus creating a sense of surprise and uncertainty during the creation process.

Fine Art

Since the 1960s spin art can be seen in the works of certain contemporary artists. The artists using this technique often reconfigure their own machines by incorporating a more powerful engine than those belonging to schools.The variety of results that this technique produces gives us a good idea of the infinite possibilities.

Non-exhaustive list of artists :

Alfons SchillingDuring the 1960s Alfons Schilling was one of the first artists to become interested in spin art. action painting also had a large influence on his work and added to its originality. Instead of installing it vertically he did it horizontally.Alfons Schilling is apparently a learned follower of Viennese Actionism.

Annick GendronFrom 1968 to 1973 the French artist Annick Gendron used industrial wheels to spin paint on plexiglas. Gendron is an expert on plexiglas and is the only artist to have tried spin painting on it.

Damien HirstFrom 1995 the British artist Damien Hirst started a series of spin paintings. His finished pieces are circular in shape and mounted onto steel frames. This is a series of original works of art and screen prints. Hirst claims to have discovered this process after having watched a childrens programme on TV.

This reinvention of spin art has contributed to people’s regained interest in the 1970s style. We can see this in Kasabian’s, a British pop group, music video ‘Shoot the Runner’.

External links

* [http://www.alfons-schilling.com/ Alfons Schilling official]

* [http://asso-action-art.fr/actionart/annick%20gendron.html Annick Gendron biography]

* [http://www.whitecube.com/artists/hirst// White cube : Damien Hirst]

* [http://www.happyhappyfaces.com/ Happy Faces - SpinArt and Party Services for Northeast Pennsylvania]