Arny Weinstein's Extraordinary Kaleidoscopes (AR2)

'Up From The Skies'

     Arny Weinstein's hand crafted wood kaleidoscopes are far from ordinary. Most of us are familiar with the simple toy kaleidoscope; a cardboard tube containing two mirrors that reflect colorful plastic beads into bright, two-dimensional, geometric patterns. For the body of Weinstein's kaleidoscopes he shapes exotic hardwoods like Bubinga and Peruvian Walnut into alluring shapes that resemble waves of water or wind. He uses front surface mirrors to create crystal clear images of flame treated glass which float in liquid filled object cells (chambers that contain materials that are viewed through the lens). It's not just his contemporary physical design and use of wood that sets his kaleidoscopes apart from the rest, it is the intensely unique patterns and variation of color among each individual scope he has produced.

Mandala of 'Tall Tail'

'Tall Tail'

Column of 'Up From The Skies'

     In the body of his 'Tall Tail' kaleidoscope, there are two individual mirror systems. One system has two mirrors which shows a beautiful mandala pattern against a black background. The other system has three mirrors which creates a pattern that fills the entire visual field. This scope's mandala pattern greatly resembles Tibetan Buddhist sand mandalas; bight colors and circular design with elements of geometric patterns. The American Craft Council featured a small article on Weinstein's art, displaying a photo of 'Up From The Skies'. The scope creates a three-dimensional image from four mirrors and two object cells. The viewer uses both eyes to see a continuous curved column with rings surrounding it, resembling Saturn-like planets stacked on top of each other.

'Hipster'

     It seems that Arny Weinstein was put on this Earth to create and design. Kaleidoscopes were not always his passion. He originally went to college and graduated with a degree in Computer Science and Business Administration from SUNY Albany. He spent twenty years creating computer software until he walked into a small art gallery containing fine kaleidoscopes. After that he decided he would put his life long hobby of woodworking to use and create scopes. Reading about his work helped me realize that even a simple toy like a kaleidoscope can be crafted into beautiful complex works of art.

   

     Speaking of arts and crafts. In our last class we took a trip to the printing room in the art building to learn how to marble paper. The particular style was Japanese suminagashi marbling. I had never done it before but I really enjoyed using colored india ink to create interesting designs. I really wish we had more time to do it because my only two marbling designs did not come at as well as I wanted to. Much of the ink was sinking to the bottom of the try so it was hard to get the results I wanted, not to mention I was completely new to it. But I will definitely be getting my own india ink set to do it home. It was a lot of fun and I have a lot of color scheme ideas that I want to try in the future.

(Photos of my marbles paper will be posted next week.)