Living Energy

Living Energy
09:30 mins

As a companion to the previous talk, this is a discussion of how cracks in concrete can be a rich source of visual ideas. What makes certain abstract lines and patterns memorable and intriguing? This is a question raised by some types of modern art such as Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism. Paul Klee talked of ‘taking a line for a walk’, and Jackson Pollock would stretch his canvas on the floor and vigorously splash paint onto it. Lye’s advice to the young artist is: ‘All you have to do is pick the abstractions you feel an affinity with - and you’re in the abstracting business!’ He was himself fascinated by cracks in wood, stone and concrete caused by the energies of nature, but he talks here also of the interesting abstract shapes revealed by the electron microscope and the art of young children.

Download full pdf 'Notes on the Talks'

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These versions of Lye's slide/tape talks were prepared by:

The Len Lye Foundation, PO Box 647, New Plymouth, New Zealand,
with the assistance of the Govett Brewster Art Gallery / Len Lye Centre
(42 Queen Street, New Plymouth, New Zealand), and Ngā Taonga
Sound and Vision (National Library Building, Wellington).

Research: Evan Webb, Roger Horrocks, Paul Brobbel, Sarah Davy
Digitizing: Olivier Wardecki, Next Technology
Writer: Roger Horrocks