Spin art

Spin art is a form art form that primarily uses paint, a canvas and a spinning platform. It is primarily used to entertain and expose children to the process of art creation, although it can be enjoyed by people of all ages.

To create spin art, an artist initially decorates or drips paint onto a canvas. The canvas can be anything; however, the most common form of canvas is a small rectangular piece of cardboard. Before the paint on the canvas dries, the artist secures the canvas to a platform that can be rotated at high speed. Once the canvas is secure, the artist can then begin spinning the canvas. Most spinning platforms are electrical or battery operated, with more elaborate platforms enabling the artist to vary the rotational speed.

As the canvas rotates, centrifugal forces draw the wet paint outwards, creating intricate designs. The artist can drip more paint onto the canvas while it is spinning, thus layering paints on top of each other, creating different effects. Using different colors, a skilled spin artist can blend colors together into subtle designs. At any point during this process, the artist can stop the spinning platform to view the canvas. Since the canvas is usually rotating at a high rate, it is difficult if not impossible to view the image on the canvas until the platform has stopped spinning, thus creating a sense of surprise and uncertainty during the creation process.

Making spin art on old phonograph records. Paint is applied…

…and the disc is spun at a rapid rate…

…resulting in a spin art piece.

Since the 1960s spin art can be seen in the works of certain contemporary artists. The artists using this technique often reconfigure their own machines by incorporating a more powerful engine than those belonging to schools. The variety of results that this technique produces gives us a good idea of the infinite possibilities.

Professional artists:

Alfons Schilling

During the 1960s Alfons Schilling was one of the first artists to become interested in spin art. action painting also had a large influence on his work and added to its originality. Instead of installing it vertically he did it horizontally.

Annick Gendron

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Wikipedia