Blog #4 Museum of Moving Image




The tour that my group and I had participated in focused on the early stages of moving images. We observed Zoetropes and Thaumatropes and how this was the basis of early film. Something specific that was of interest to me was the use of spinning motion and strobe lights to create an optical illusion. Gregory Barsamian’s 3D zoetrope was a large example of how mathematics and precision made up a work of moving art. Initially it was unclear as to what to make out of it, for it was simply spinning was several details too quick to make out with the naked eye. Once the lights changed into a dark flickering strobe however, the physical animation was clear. This modern piece was transformed directly from what started it all; the simple zoetrope model. In Barsamian’s piece, it was had begun with a faucet releasing a liquid that had formed into a bomb. The bomb was then graced through a human hand which squished it into a paper airplane. It was creative and unusual. Our tour guide had explained that it was a vision that the artist had seen in a dream of his, and it took much time and effort to successfully create. Apart from witnessing old/primary tools for moving images be reused, it was interesting to see the history of cameras and television sets that were on display. Coincidentally, I was learning in my U.S history class about the emergence of television sets in the 1950s, and how high of a demand it was to own the machine. On display were television sets from each decade, most of them being very large with small screens. The bodies of the televisions were large in order to fit the cathode ray tube, and the bodies looked like furniture in order for it to blend in with the household. 

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