In the 1960s, many people were mesmerized by the undulating effects of the lava lamp. Not Tony Oursler, the video artist, who is now 52 and lives in Manhattan; he was fixated on the motion lamp.
“It was two sheets of acetate cylinders,” he said. “I was 11 years old, and it was my first psychedelic lamp. I liked the physics of it, that heat generates motion.” Both cylinders were printed with images; the heat from the lamp’s bulb turned a fan that rotated the interior cylinder, creating the illusion of movement in the exterior one.
To raise money for the nonprofit group More Art, he decided to make a motion lamp using images of a project he had done for the group with Chelsea school students. The 8-inch lamp is $975, in an edition of 50, at Artware Editions, 327 West 11th Street, (212) 463-7490 or artwareeditions.com; More Art receives two-thirds of the proceeds.
By Elaine Louie
July 15, 2009
