September 29, 2008

Praxinoscope, A 19th Century Animation Device

The praxinoscope, invented by Frenchman Charles-Émile Reynaud in 1877, is the successor to the zoetrope animation device (see my post about zoetropes).

The main difference is that instead of having viewing slits on the outside of the drum like the zoetrope, the praxinoscope consisted of a series of small mirrors that reflected the sequential images on the lower inside portion of this rotating system. As a result of using mirrors, more light illuminates the images and the animations can be viewed from many different angles. (Also see Jack and Bevery's Praxinoscopes and this brief history of praxinoscopes).

Pictures of Praxinoscopes

The below images show common themes for praxinoscopes including galloping horses, a girl jump roping and circus characters.

Praxinoscope Videos

Here are two videos that show praxinoscopes in action:

A galloping horse:

A girl jumping rope:

I came across a dance praxinoscope, but the video quality is pretty poor.

The Hola Mola Mola Praxinoscope

The Hola Mola Mola website provides an excellent look at the construction and use of a praxinoscope connected to a projector. These 19th Century projections were known as Théâtre Optique. The first video above of a girl jumping rope is from this project.

The following video walks you through the process of putting the parts together for the praxinoscope unit and projector:

This video shows the resulting projected image:

Artist Heidi Kumao's "Cinema Machines"

Artist Heidi Kumao explored early projection devices such as zoetropes and praxinoscopes in "Cinema Machines" (1991-1999). On the page for Cinema Machines, you can access detailed descriptions, photos and videos of these installations.

In a 2008 interview with We Make Money Not Art, Kumao discussed Cinema Machines:

When I entered graduate school as a photographer I was already starting to work with sequential imagery. I was driven by a need to animate physical gestures and behaviors as indicators of psychological states. Simultaneously, I was collecting domestic objects and record players and researching pre-cinema devices and the 19th century creation of spectacle, Emile Reynaud's praxinoscope from the 1880's, in particular. My first kinetic works were homemade-looking zoetropes that projected a sequential loop of 12 images: a child being spoon-fed, a woman's legs curtseying, a woman frantically sweeping. Like a memory that can't be repressed, each animated sequence repeated endlessly and mechanically. In this way, each object seemed to be speaking with its images, a visual and mechanical voice replacing text. Much like the girls' legs I made much later, they were an artificial life form, a stand-in for a real person that I could construct and bring life to. These "cinema machines" (as I called them) allowed me to combine all of my interests (photography, performance, sculptural assemblage and the psychology of everyday life), into one art form. I loved working this way and continued to create cinema machines for several years.

I also encourage readers to learn about Kumao's kinetic sculpture. Here's a clip from "Protest" (2005):

A Praxinoscope Kit

An inexpensive praxinoscope kit is available from Amazon.

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