How do we perceive the illusion of motion? And what can we learn about nature through the art of animation?
These are at the core of Queens-based artist JC Fontanive’s kinetic, never-ending flipbook machines. The machines allow a viewer to watch birds and butterflies in never-ending flight, inviting us to really study how these fast-fluttering creatures move in nature.
The flipbook machines in his Ornithology and Vivarium series were inspired by the early days of film and animation, 18th-19th century natural history illustrations, and Victorian clocks. They also explore how machines (and our eyes) can create a fluid illusion of movement. These moving sculptures invite the viewer to experience the images themselves, their patterns of movement, and the behavior of the machine all at once.
As Fontanive says, “The tangible nature of physics and ideas of air resistance, friction, gravity, and the function and form of the work are very much entwined.”
