Takis
Takis (Τάκις, Panayiotis Vasilakis, Παναγιώτης Βασιλάκης, 1925) is an artist living in Greece.
He moved to Paris in 1954. In 1955, influenced by the invention of radar and the technological landscape of the station at Calais, he constructed his first Signaux [Signals], soon turned kinetic and resembling radio antennas and serving in his street happenings. In 1958 he learnt about electromagnetism which became the basis of his oeuvre: kinetic and sound-generating electromagnetic sculptures. His works include the series Télémagnétiques (since 1959), Télépeintures (magnets hidden behind the flat fabric surface attract objects hung from nylon strings, since 1961), and Télélumières (the usual function of cathode tubes is reversed; blue light is emitted, since 1961).
In 1993, he founded the Research Centre for Art and Science in the Gerovouno area near Athens. His installation The Music of the Spheres (2004), comprised of kinetic and musical sculptures, is inspired by the Greek ancient belief that every planet emits its own sound frequency in the solar system, a fact that nowadays has been proved scientifically.
- Publications
- Estafilades, Juilliard, 1961. Autobiography.
- Helena and Nicolas Calas, Takis: Monographies (Ecritures/figures), Paris: Galilee, 1984. (French) Extract.
- Catalogues
- Magnetic Sculpture, New York: Howard Wise Gallery, 1967, [11] pp.
- Literature
- Erin Stephenson, Kari Dodson, "Takis and the Fourth Dimension", in Keep It Moving? Conserving Kinetic Art, eds. Rachel Rivenc and Reinhard Bek, Los Angeles: Getty Conservation Institute, 2018.
- See also
- Links
