Len Lye (1901–1980)

Leonard Charles Huia "Len" Lye was born in 1901 in New Zealand. He was an artist who was known for his experimental films and kinetic sculpture. His films are held in archives including the New Zealand Film Archive, British Film Institute, Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and the Pacific Film mostra altro Archive at University of California, Berkeley. As a student, Lye became convinced that motion could be part of the language of art, leading him to early (and now lost) experiments with kinetic sculpture, as well as a desire to make film. Lye was also one of the first Pakeha artists to appreciate the art of Maori. His first animated film wasTusalava. He reinvented the technique of drawing directly on film, producing his animation for the 1935 film A Colour Box, an advertisement for "cheaper parcel post". Lye continued to experiment with the possibilities of direct film-making to the end of his life. In various films he used a range of dyes, stencils, air-brushes, to creat images and textures on celluloid. Len Lye passed away on May 15, 1980 at the age of 78. In 2015 the book Zizz!: The Life and Art of Len Lye made the New Zealand Best Seller List. (Bowker Author Biography) mostra meno