Len Lye

Free Radicals (1958)
5 min, 16mm b&w, sound
Music: The Bagirmi Tribe of Africa

In 1935 Len Lye was the first person to make a film without a camera, not in an effort to be innovative or particularly different, but simply because he couldn't afford to pay for a camera as well as the film. So he painted directly on the film, in full colour, treating it like a moving painting. He even scored the films with his own jazz compositions, improvising both elements as he worked, one influencing the other in equal measures. In time he became friends with Hans Richter, Georgia O’Keefe and Le Corbusier, they supported his experimentation in virtually every art discipline that occurred to him, perpetually furthering his obsession with ‘pure figures in motion.’ He made some of the earliest and significant kinetic sculptures in the early 60's. He wrote poetry and philosophy throughout his entire life. Later on he continued to push the boundaries of film, with ‘scratch’ films such as the incredible Free Radicals (1958).