Asinas: Fluent Movement

This Moving Sculpture by Dutch Artist Jennifer Townley Will Put You in A Trance

In an exciting fusion of art and science, Dutch artist, Jennifer Townley creates kinetic machines, which are as mesmerising as they are beautiful.

‘’Asinas’ is in some ways an elaboration of one of my earlier works entitled ‘Bussola’; a sculpture that moves in a very organic way,’ Jennifer told us. ‘I wanted to see if I could achieve a similar organic motion using only very simple geometric shapes.’

Asinas, formed from the repetition of half of a swastika symbol, is the result of a long and challenging process of testing and building. We asked Jennifer more about her work:

The Plus: Your sculpture’s seem quite intricate and complex in structure, what is the most challenging aspect in creating them?
Jennifer Townley: Making sure the artwork moves very fluently and operates quietly. It’s one of the hardest aspects of my work but I find it very important. When people look at my work I hope they will go into a little trance, for them to become almost hypnotized. Just for a moment, so they can forget time.

TP: What materials were used?
JT: The white elements that form the ‘wings’ are made from wood and then painted, the frame is made from steel as well as all the parts to connect the gears to their axes, bearings to the frame etc. Then there are all the other parts, an electric motor, heavy steel spur gears and sprockets, two corresponding belts and lots of bearings.

TP: Could you tell us a little about your upcoming sculpture?
JT: I am currently working on a public outdoor sculpture to be placed in Elblag (Poland). The sculpture will resemble ‘Asinas’ quite a lot, like its big brother. I started building ‘Asinas’ as a testing model for this outdoor sculpture, but as I am a perfectionist I decided it was better to get it right first time round.