Bradt Kinetico Sculptures

Posted by Bryin on July 14, 2008 at 1:52pm in Collecting

A number of years ago, I spoke on the phone for a long time with a member from oozingoo.com. We talked about different collections and he turned me on to the Bradt Kinetico sculptures. I can't remember his name and would seriously like to be in touch with him again. If it's you and you're reading this, PLEASE CONTACT ME!

Anyway, he pointed to a fisherman that was on eBay at the time. I bid and won and was hooked from the moment it arrived! They run by electricity and, like lava lamps, are very random in their movements.

Since that time, I have collected all that I know of with the exception of the Hockey Player and the Fencer (I have never seen either, but if they pop up on eBay, THEY WILL BE MINE!

One good turn deserves another, so I am sharing a couple of photos of my collection to my lava lamping buddies!

I hope you enjoy them!

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Man.jpg, 381 KB

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Permalink Reply by Jen P. on July 14, 2008 at 10:14pm: These are cool. I grew up with a fake one of these (tennis players that my Mom had). Did you see this one (I am sure you have) - the six man clock - very very nice:

http://www.randafricanart.com/Six_man_clock_by_Gordon_Bradt.html

Good taste Bryin! Thanks for posting.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Bryin on July 14, 2008 at 10:19pm: Jen -

I have never seen a fake one. I bet it's interesting in it's own right! I have seen a lot of the 6-man and 7-man clocks up on eBay. They always go way out of my price range!!

Thank you so much for keeping me in mind for all of the things that you do.

Bryin; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jen P. on July 14, 2008 at 11:03pm: When I say fake I mean FAKE! It looked like a sculpture and was made out of a matte gold-colored material. It balanced on a little stand and spun around (with the two players on either side "playing" tennis). If you swirled/spun it around really fast it would fall off the stand. My sister just moved out (separation) and I think she was the one who has it. I will see if I can find a photo - but believe me, it might be a while, since this is the last thing she will ever look for!
Bestest,
Jen P.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jonas Clark-Elliott on July 19, 2008 at 8:59am: I think Jen refers to those 80s wire "balance" sculptures which are solid, with (except in a few rare cases) no moving parts per se, but somewhere at the base of the sculpture is a sharp point, and it has one or more low-hanging wires with weights. The point rests on a cup or metal disk attached to a base, and the low weights keep the sculpture balanced upright on the sharp point. Pushing one will make it swing gently or spin.

There WAS a "fake" Bradt piece. In the late 80s, he granted a Chinese company permission to sell a plastic six-man clock. It was made of clear and smoked clear plastic, on a square base with lattice panels in the sides. The front and back panels ended in a grandfather clock-like swan pediment shape. Gears were smoked plastic, the three (two moving and one stationary) arms at the top with circles on their ends were curved downward, the spinning top center mobile was flat concentric offset circles (not the newer "planetary rings") and the men were gold plastic, shaped just like Bradt's men. I had one, but took it apart as a kid.

I have the six-man clock - an antique shop find - mine is an older one, the 6th man has a different animation (changed to the new style with one swinging on a moving ring around the hand-shaft, a change made to emulate the two giant clocks he built, onwhich the old 6th man's animation wouldn't work due to size) and the top center mobile is flat, offset concentric circles. Seattle's Pacific Science Center has one of the giant clocks - the seven-man - but sadly, they let it fall into disrepair and finally unplugged it.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Woodvetch on July 22, 2008 at 8:33pm: Hey Jonas,
Guess what happens to be on ebay this week? A Chinese plastic 5 man Bradt clock just as described from your youth.
Ha!
K
http://cgi.ebay.com/GORDON-BRADT-KINETIC-SCULPTURE-5-MAN-ANIMATED-C...; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jerome Dopson on July 22, 2008 at 12:44pm: Nice, very interesting pieces. Thanks for sharing with us.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by medicated goo on July 23, 2008 at 10:52am: I got a fisherman recently and it is GREAT! Thanks for sharing the photos and turning me on to this excellent, fun piece!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Bryin on July 23, 2008 at 11:55am: My pleasure. You can thank Jonas for turning me onto them!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by medicated goo on July 23, 2008 at 2:18pm: Thanks Jonas! You have helped me on numerous occasions by offering up your excellent judgement on lamps selling on ebay. You have a keen eye for the rare lamps that I am still in the stages of developing and I have to say I have learned much from your sound opinions. Thanks again for sharing that knowledge!!; ▶ Reply to This