Education
Forces: KINETIC ARTWORK BY TIM PRENTICE
Kinetic Sculpture
Tim Prentice designs and makes kinetic sculptures for interior spaces. Many would say he has a distinct advantage, as he was previously a well-known architect. In 1975 he decided to leave his practice to devote full attention to sculpture. Tim Prentice has completed works for corporations such as AT&T and American Express and throughout the USA, and in Japan and Hong Kong. He feels his architectural background gives him his greatest asset – a sense of scale as well as the ability to read working drawings, which is especially helpful when designing mobile sculptures, making it easier to see where ventilation and air conditioning ducts are concerned.
At W5 he was commissioned to make a kinetic sculpture, which used the triangular space of the Point and made use of the air from the wind tunnel exhibit. Tim installed the piece himself and really enjoyed the space looking over the water. Symbolically the small aluminium pieces could be seen as fish. The sculpture has nine centres. While the sculpture is pleasing looking at it straight on, the shadows produced on the concrete wall provide another dancing image.
Tim also makes outdoor pieces and he claims the biggest difference between indoor and outdoor mobile sculptures is the difference between natural and controlled airflow. Indoors there is no wind so the secret is to make air movement visible, and the need to create a natural phenomenon. You design movement rather than designing an object.
He has used many materials to make his kinetic sculptures including feathers, milk cartons and bits of plastic, anything that is light and can float in the air.