Kinetic-Connections

Kinetic-Connections Wins “People’s Choice Award”

Following 6 months of community design workshops and creative up-cycling, Kinetic-Connections received the "People’s Choice Award" during the 2015 International Kinetic Art Exhibit & Symposium which showcased 14 outdoor kinetic sculptures by artists from around the world.

 

Elayna Toby Singer conceived of "Kinetic-Connections" to encourage everyone to awaken their inner artist, re-imagine everyday objects as art, and bring renewed attention to a forgotten Kapok tree that for many years was an important landmark and place for community gathering in Boynton Beach, Florida.

Community art project transforms historic tree into contemporary kinetic sculpture.

This site specific temporary art intervention was:

  • Made from 2500+ up-cycled objects
  • Composed of forty-three 16-foot long twirling strands
  • Suspended from three 20-foot long branches in 90+ year old Kapok tree

Nearly 200 people participated in making this community creation through design workshops, video selfie "stories of stuff", contributing recycled items through county-wide boxes and by assembling parts of the sculpture in stringing bees.

DESIGN WORKSHOPS
Central to this community creation was the premise that everyone's inner artist comes to life when given the opportunity to arrange and design compositions with ordinary everyday items.

During free workshops, the community designed sections of the sculpture with items they brought, plus up-cycled pieces provided by Elayna Toby. Participants also created video selfies about their compositions which were compiled and presented adjacent to the transformed Kapok tree during the exhibit and symposium.

STRINGING BEES

The collaborative design process concluded with stringing bees in Elayna Toby's studio where workshop compositions came to life as they were strung together for kinetic movement and sound.

"Kinetic-Connections" roused creativity in people of all ages and backgrounds and was developed with the philosophy that each unique object, person and story is special, and when linked, as Aristotle said, "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”

"Kinetic-Connections" was Elayna Toby Singer's first community creation and largest site-specific installation to date. From the beginning she envisioned the temporary art intervention as the first of many "Kinetic-Connections" around the world.

The spirit of this ephemeral installation lives on, recycled back into the community for enjoyment in local homes and gardens, as each one-of-a-kind strand is sold. A percentage of sales benefit Boynton Beach's Public Art Program and Resource Depot, a non-profit organization whose mission is to "transform waste to wonder".

 

Strand details and design workshop photography by Simone Infantry and Steve Anton.

Kinetic-Connections is brought to you by Elayna Toby Art, in partnership with the 2015 International Kinetic Art Exhibit and Symposium, the City of Boynton Beach/Art in Public Places, and Resource Depot.

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