Two monks stood outside a temple, watching its flag wave in the wind.
“The flag moves,” said one.
“No, the wind moves,” said the other.A third monk smiled:
“Neither moves. Your mind moves.”
Back in the early 2000s, I ran a few public art workshops exploring a deceptively simple idea: a printed image does not have to move to appear animated.
The trick is a kinegram—a static image transformed into a precise pattern of lines. Place a special acetate screen over it, and the hidden movement suddenly appears.
No electronics. No screen. No animation software. Just a carefully calculated pattern and a bit of moiré.
In these workshops, we experimented with:
• concentric circles
• simple radial patterns
• geometric textures
The resulting kinegrams produce seamless, looping animations from completely static printed images. If you’re interested in exploring the technique or collaborating, feel free to contact me.
☞ More on kinegrams.
