Details
WILLIAM KENTRIDGE (B. 1955)
Phenakistoscope
kinetic multiple comprised of two vinyl records with lithographs in colors, on atlas map pages Chine collé to Arches paper, with brass armature and wooden handle, 2000, signed in blue crayon, incised 'ed. 2/40' on the reverse (there were also ten artist's proofs numbered in Roman numerals), published by the New Museum, New York, in good condition
Overall: 21 1/2 x 11 x 11 7/8 in. (545 x 280 x 300 mm.)
Literature
Krut pp. 89

Brought to you by

Emma Santucci
Emma Santucci Junior Specialist

Lot Essay

"A phenakistoscope was an early pre-cinematic optical device, exploiting the natural phenomenon of persistence of vision to transform static images such that they appear to be one image in movement. To test the principle of the device I cut crude holes into gramophone records, attached a dowel stick and spun them. And when it came to making the final edition, gramophone records still seemed a good scale and material to work with. Of course by now gramophone records are obsolete, prized by collectors of vinyl in the same way as old optical devices are sought by collectors. The maps on the Phenakistoscope come from Bacon's Popular Atlas of the World (1893) and The Oxford Atlas (1951). I wanted the Phenakistoscope to work in reverse. When you turn the handle slowly, the whole procession moves around the spindle. When you look through the gaps in the second (front) record and turn the handle, the figures should appear to stay in place, only passing their burdens from one to another."

More from Contemporary Edition: New York: Featuring the Collection of Kenwal Steel in Support of GLAAD

View All
View All