Circular Intimacy: Re-evaluating Wen-Ying Tsai’s Interactive Sculptures

The article analyses Wen-Ying Tsai’s pioneering interactive sculptures and argues that these works act psychologically as well as audio-visually on spectators, in ways that elicit their empathy and establish a strong sense of intimacy during their encounter. Tsai’s ambitious kinetic artworks are considered in relation to prevailing theories and practices within cybernetics, particularly the ideas of its founding father, Norbert Wiener (1894-1964). Interesting parallels are drawn between the two individuals, their lives, personalities and beliefs. As a trained mechanical engineer as well as an artist, Tsai was one of the most distinctive figures to emerge during the explosion of technological arts in the late 1960s. His works seemed miraculous for their time – responsive cybernetic automata, a gravity reversing upside-down fountain, and rapidly oscillating, metallic plant and grass-like phenomena that were awe-inspiring, shimmering spectacles. Significantly, he saw these sculptures as a part of himself, and their dynamic vibrations – the primary and defining characteristic of these works – as a form of self-expression.
Citation:
Dixon, Steve. ''Circular Intimacy: Re-evaluating Wen-Ying Tsai’s Interactive Sculptures.'' Tsaibernetics: Transgenerational Cybernetic Art, edited by Ryszard W. Kluszczynski, Gdansk, LAZNIA Centre for Contemporary Art, 2023, pp. 50-87, ISBN / ISSN: ISBN: 8361646957.