Editing Kenneth Snelson

{{short description|American contemporary sculptor and photographer (1927 - 2016)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox artist
| name          = Kenneth Snelson
| image         = Kenneth Snelson Needle Tower.JPG
| image_size    = 220px
| caption       = ''Needle Tower II'' by Kenneth Snelson (1969) at the [[Kröller-Müller Museum]] in Netherlands
| birth_name    =
| birth_date    = {{Birth date |1927|6|29}}
| birth_place   = [[Pendleton, Oregon]]
| death_date    = {{Death date and age |2016|12|22|1927|6|29}}
| death_place   = New York City, New York
| nationality   = American
| known_for     = Sculpture, Photography
| training      = [[University of Oregon]]<br>[[Black Mountain College]]<br />[[Fernand Léger]] in Paris.
| movement      =
| notable_works =
| patrons       =
| awards        = 
}}

'''Kenneth Duane Snelson''' (June 29, 1927 – December 22, 2016) was an American contemporary sculptor and photographer.  His sculptural works, exemplified by ''[[Needle Tower]]'', are composed of flexible and rigid components arranged according to the idea of '[[tensegrity]]'. Snelson preferred the descriptive term floating compression.

Snelson said his former professor [[Buckminster Fuller]] took credit for Snelson's discovery of the concept that Fuller named tensegrity.<ref>{{Cite web|title=FAQ|url=http://kennethsnelson.net/faq/|url-status=dead|access-date=2021-04-20|website=Kennethsnelson.net|archive-date=December 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191223155350/http://kennethsnelson.net/faq/}}</ref> Fuller gave the idea its name, combining '[[tension (mechanics)|tension]]' and '[[structural integrity]].' [[Kārlis Johansons]] had exhibited tensegrity sculptures several years before Snelson was even born. The height and strength of Snelson's sculptures, which are often delicate in appearance, depend on the tension between rigid pipes and flexible cables.

== Biography ==

Snelson was born in [[Pendleton, Oregon]], in 1927. He studied at the [[University of Oregon]] in Eugene, at the [[Black Mountain College]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://hotgates.stanford.edu/Bucky/web_content/bucky_bios/snelson.html |title=Archived copy |access-date=June 18, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://swap.stanford.edu/20120821173500/http://hotgates.stanford.edu/Bucky/web_content/bucky_bios/snelson.html |archive-date=August 21, 2012 }}</ref> and with [[Fernand Léger]] in Paris. His sculpture and photography have been exhibited at over 25 one-man shows in galleries around the world including the structurally seminal [[Park Place Gallery]] in New York in the 1960s. Snelson also did research on the shape of the [[atom]]. Snelson continued to work in his [[SoHo]] studio, occasionally collaborating with animator [[Jonathan Monaghan]].<ref>[http://www.filmfestivalrotterdam.com/Assets/Uploads/Documents/shorts.pdf 38th Rotterdam Film Festival Shorts Program]</ref> He lived in New York City with his wife, Katherine.

He held five United States patents: #3,169,611: Discontinuous Compression Structures, February 1965; #3,276,148:  Model for Atomic Forms, October 1966; #4,099,339:  Model for Atomic Forms, July 1978; and #6,017,220: Magnetic Geometric Building System; and most recently, #6,739,937: Space Frame Structure Made by 3-D Weaving of Rod Members, May 25, 2004.

Snelson was a founding member of ConStruct, the artist-owned gallery that promoted and organized large-scale sculpture exhibitions throughout the United States. Other founding members include [[Mark di Suvero]], [[John Raymond Henry]], [[Lyman Kipp]] and [[Charles Ginnever]]. Snelson was also a pioneer of [[digital art]], using a Silicon Graphics machine to produce artistic images in the 1980s.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://digitalartarchive.siggraph.org/artwork/kenneth-snelson-worlds/  |title=Kenneth Snelson: Worlds |access-date=April 4, 2024 }}</ref>

After suffering from [[prostate cancer]], Snelson died on December 22, 2016, at the age of 89.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/23/arts/design/kenneth-snelson-dead-sculptor.html?smid=tw-nytobits&smtyp=cur Kenneth Snelson, Sculptor Who Fused Art, Science and Engineering, Dies at 89]</ref>

<gallery mode="packed">
File:KrollerMuller ParkSculpture4.jpg|''Needle Tower II'', 1968 ([[Kröller-Müller Museum]], [[Otterlo]], Netherlands)<ref>{{cite web |author=Kenneth Snelson |url=http://kennethsnelson.net/category/sculptures/outdoor-works/ |title=Outdoor Works |website=kennethsnelson.net |publisher=Kenneth Snelson |access-date=May 26, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://krollermuller.nl/en/kenneth-snelson-needle-tower |title=Needle tower, 1968 |website=krollermuller.nl |publisher=Kröller-Müller Museum |access-date=May 27, 2021}}</ref>
File:Kenneth Snelson - "Tree I".jpg|''B-Tree'', 1981 (National Institutes of Health, [[Bethesda, Maryland|Bethesda]], Maryland)<ref>{{cite web |author=Kenneth Snelson |url=http://kennethsnelson.net/category/sculptures/outdoor-works/ |title=Outdoor Works |website=kennethsnelson.net |publisher=Kenneth Snelson |access-date=May 26, 2021}}</ref>
File:Avenue K 02.jpg|''Avenue K'', 1968 ([[Hannover]], Germany)<ref>{{cite web |author=Kenneth Snelson |url=http://kennethsnelson.net/category/sculptures/outdoor-works/ |title=Outdoor Works |website=kennethsnelson.net |publisher=Kenneth Snelson |access-date=May 26, 2021}}</ref>
File:Osaka II (Kenneth Snelson), Große Wallanlagen, Hamburg (1).jpg|''Osaka II'', park ''[[Planten un Blomen]]'', [[Hamburg]]
File:"Indexer II" Sculpture, University of Michigan North Campus, Ann Arbor, Michigan - panoramio.jpg|"Indexer II" Sculpture, [[University of Michigan]] North Campus, [[Ann Arbor, Michigan]]
</gallery>

== Honours and awards ==

* (1999) Lifetime Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award, International Sculpture Center.

== Sculptures in public collections and public spaces ==

=== United States ===

==== Alabama ====

* ''Mora Terry II'', [[Birmingham Museum of Art]], Birmingham

==== California ====

* ''City Boots'', 1968, J. Patrick Lannon Foundation, Los Angeles
* ''Mozart I'', 1982, [[Stanford University]], Palo Alto

==== District of Columbia ====

* ''[[Needle Tower]]'', 1968, [[Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden]], Washington
* ''Untitled Maquette'', 1975, [[Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden]], Washington<ref>{{cite web|title=Kenneth Snelson Untitled Maquette, 1975 |url=http://hirshhorn.si.edu/visit/collection_object.asp?key=32&subkey=12694 |publisher=Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution |access-date=September 22, 2011 }}{{dead link|date=May 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

==== Florida ====

* ''Newport'', 1968, M. Margulies, Coconut Grove
* ''[https://miamidadepublicart.org/#object/4179 Double City Boots]'', 1967, MDC Wolfson Campus, Miami
* ''X-Planar Tower'', John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota

==== Iowa ====

* ''Four Module Piece'', 1968, Riverfront Crossings Park, Iowa City

==== Louisiana ====

* ''Virlane Tower'', 1981, Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden at NOMA, New Orleans

==== Maryland ====

* ''B-Tree'', 1981, [[National Institutes of Health]], Bethesda
* ''Easy Landing'', 1977, [[City of Baltimore]], Baltimore
*''[[Six Number Two]]'', 1967, Annmarie Sculpture Garden (Smithsonian partner/annex site), [[Solomons, Maryland]]

==== Massachusetts ====

* ''Mozart III'', 2008, Science Center, [[Wellesley College]], Wellesley,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://new.wellesley.edu/news/stories/node/32080 |title=Wellesley College Receives Permanent Gift of Snelson Sculpture &#124; Wellesley College |access-date=June 12, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130412201458/http://new.wellesley.edu/news/stories/node/32080 |archive-date=April 12, 2013 }}</ref>

==== Michigan ====

* ''Indexer II'', 2001, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
* ''B-Tree II'', 2005, Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids

==== Missouri ====

* ''Triple Crown'', 1991, Hallmark, Inc., [[Kansas City, Missouri]], just north of 27th Street between Main Street and Grand Blvd, at the South end of the [[Crown Center]] complex.  The sculpture consists of 30–40 aluminum tubes held together and apart by steel cables.  The entire assembly is roughly 23 meters on each of three sides and roughly that tall, with the low point being roughly 5 meters above the ground.<ref>This description was judged by eye from the image in [[Google Earth]].  It could be improved by closer inspection.  [[Freedom of panorama]] in the United States does not extend to art work.  Thus, including photos of this in Wikimedia Commons would require the permission of the owner, [[Crown Center]].  {{cite Q|Q66839784}}<!-- web page in "crowncenter.com" with a picture of this sculpture.--></ref>

==== Nebraska ====

* ''Able Charlie'', 1983, [[Joslyn Art Museum]], Omaha

==== New York ====

* ''Coronation Day'', 1980, City of Buffalo, Buffalo
* ''E.C. Column'', 1969–81, [[Albright-Knox Art Gallery]], [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]]
* ''Four Chances'', 1982, Albright Knox Museum, Buffalo
* ''Fair Leda'', 1969, Nelson Rockefeller Estate
* ''Free Ride Home'', 1974, [[Storm King Art Center]], Mountainville
* ''Mozart II'', 1982, Donald M. Kendall Sculpture Garden at Pepsico, Purchase
* ''Sun River'', 1967, [[Whitney Museum of American Art]], New York
* ''One World Trade Center antenna/spire'', 2006, [[One World Trade Center]], New York

==== New Jersey ====

* ''Northwood II'', 1970, Compton Quad, Graduate College, Princeton, Mercer

==== North Carolina ====

* ''Northwood II''(maquette), 1970, [[Asheville Art Museum]], Asheville

==== Pennsylvania ====

* ''Forest Devil'', 1975–77, Museum of Art, [[Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh|Carnegie Institute]], Pittsburgh

==== Ohio ====

* ''Forest Devil'', 1975, [[University of Cincinnati]], Cincinnati
* ''V-X'', 1968, [[Columbus Museum of Art]], Columbus
* Rainbow Arch, [https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/experiences/ohio/seltzer-sculpture-park-cle Seltzer Sculpture Park], 11205 Harborview Dr, Cleveland, OH 44102

==== Oklahoma ====

* ''Sleeping Dragon'', 2002–03, [[Kirkpatrick Oil Company Building]], Oklahoma City

==== Tennessee ====

* ''Dragon II'', 2005, [[Knoxville Museum of Art]], Knoxville
* ''V-X-II'', 1973-4, [[Hunter Museum]], Chattanooga

==== Texas ====

* ''Northwood'', 1969, Northwood Institute, Cedar Hills

==== Vermont ====

* "Hard Wired", Bennington (College)

==== Wisconsin ====

* ''Northwoods III'', 1970, [[Milwaukee Art Museum]], Milwaukee

=== International ===

==== Germany ====

* ''Soft Landing'', 1975–77, Berlin Nationalgalerie, Berlin
* ''Avenue K'', 1968, City of Hannover

==== The Netherlands ====

* ''Easy-K'', 1970, Sonsbeek ‘70, Arnhem
* ''Needle Tower II'', 1969, Kröller Müller Museum, Otterlo

==== Japan ====

* ''Osaka'', 1970, Japan Iron & Steel Federation, Kobe
* ''Needle Tower II'', 1989, Shiga Prefecture Museum, Shiga
* ''T-Zone Flight'', 1995, JT Building, Toranomon, Tokyo
* ''Landing'', 1970, Wakayama Prefecture Museum, Wakayama

=== Location unknown ===

* ''Audrey I'', 1966, Private Collection
* ''Audrey II'', 1966, Private Collection
* ''Equilateral Quivering Tower'', 1973–92
* ''Tri-Core Column'', 1974
* ''Wing I'', 1992; Ed. 4, Private collection : University of Puerto Rico – Mayaguez 
* ''Rainbow Arch'', 2001, Private collection displayed at Seltzer Sculpture Garden, Cleveland, OH
* ''Dragon'', 2000–03

== See also ==

*[[Space frame]]
*[[Karlis Johansons|Kārlis Johansons]], tensegrity innovator

== References ==

{{Reflist}}

*Busch, Julia M., [http://www.worldcatlibraries.org/wcpa/ow/4ed0b0bd878eaf2a.html ''A Decade of Sculpture: the New Media in the 1960s''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929120751/http://www.worldcatlibraries.org/wcpa/ow/4ed0b0bd878eaf2a.html |date=September 29, 2007 }} (The Art Alliance Press: Philadelphia; [http://www.aupresses.com/ Associated University Presses] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100213095819/http://www.aupresses.com/ |date=February 13, 2010 }}: London, 1974) {{ISBN|0-87982-007-1}}

== Further reading ==

* Heartney, Eleanor, ''Kenneth Snelson: forces made visible/essay by Eleanor Heartney; additional text by Kenneth Snelson'', Lenox, Massachusetts:  Hard Press Editions, 2009.
* [http://www.thermopylae.com/dissertation.pdf Sande-Friedman, Amy, "Kenneth Snelson & the Science of Sculpture in 1960s America", Doctoral Dissertation, New York: Bard Graduate Center, 2012.]

== External links ==

{{Commons}}

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040729063119/http://www.kennethsnelson.net/ Kenneth Snelson's official webpage]
* [http://www.grunch.net/snelson/rmoto.html Letter from Snelson to R. Motro regarding Fuller's role in 'discovering' Tensegrity]
* [http://www.askyfilledwithshootingstars.com/wordpress/?p=527 Snelson interview with Robert Ayers, March 2009]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Snelson, Kenneth}}
[[Category:1927 births]]
[[Category:2016 deaths]]
[[Category:American modern sculptors]]
[[Category:Black Mountain College alumni]]
[[Category:Deaths from prostate cancer in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters]]
[[Category:Op art]]
[[Category:People from Pendleton, Oregon]]
[[Category:Sculptors from Oregon]]
[[Category:University of Oregon alumni]]