History of the Kinetic Clock©

GENESIS

In the winter of 1974, Robert, newly wed and fresh out of college, visited the Denver Art Museum's Exhibit of Modern Art.  The forms seemed simple, but yet complex with color, size and movement. "The art really spoke to me," Robert recalls.

 Returning home to his apartment in Southern California, he sat in the living room and stared at the TV and the wall behind it which was screaming for attention. This would be the place for his first try at modern art.

So off to the art store he went. He loaded up a cart with canvas and brushes and oils and proceeded to the checkout stand. Then reality struck:  Buying art supplies doesn't make you an artist and there was no  chance of that cart being transformed into something worth looking at on a daily basis.

So back to the couch he went, to give it more thought. The space definitely needed something sizable, and the feeling of being modern. It would have to be illuminated to be seen at night and it should bring some colors into the room.  It should have the same complexity yet simplistic of the works he saw at the Denver exhibit.

It would have to be made in a medium that could be honed to perfection.  Robert was good at getting things right, but seldom, on the first try. 

Then it hit him: A binary clock! He was already well versed in electronics and was good at working with the required mediums. He worked in a high tech industry and most of his  contemporaries would recognize it with little explanation.

 After a lot of prototypes, the first clock was made, and proudly hung on the wall behind the TV. The colors were red and green.  When Robert's in-laws saw it, they loved it and asked if he would make one for them.

Clock #2 was placed in their family room in their Beverly Hills home where they entertained quite often.  It became the center of attention when guests came over.

ENTER TED GRENZBACH

Ted Grenzbach was a brilliant architect with notable clients such as Rod Stewart, Barbra Streisand, Cher, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Carson, Gene Kelly, Herb Alpert, Rock Hudson,  and Dinah Shore.  He also was a personal friend of Robert's in-laws and often would stop by to visit them. When he saw the clock, his response was immediate and extremely positive. "Robby, you have to make these clocks available. But change the colors to yellow and orange..."

Following through on that suggestion, Robert copyrighted Kinetic Clock©  in 1976 and made 20 clocks which were sold through boutiques in Beverly Hills and Las Vegas for $600.  They found their way into some of the most prestigious homes and offices in America, including the outer office of the  second largest computer company in America (Digital Equipment Corporation).

KINETIC CLOCK II © 

The societal changes that have taken place since the original Kinetic Clock was introduced demand that a second generation be introduced and be made available to today’s collectors. 

The creative concept of Kinetic Clock II © was to design a unique participatory art experience for the tech literate art connoisseur. Art collectors are able to easily customize an infinite range of colors and revise them at will, while demonstrating their passion for technology.

Enhanced features include:

The ability to create and store up to 5 color combinations and to recall them with the a single touch on the smartphone app.

Dark Time Start and Dark Time Stop which allow the clock to go dark at a time of your choice.

A three stage dimmer with the ability to Enable or Disable it from the smartphone  app.

A Lights Out and Lights On feature for manually turning the display on or off.

A "Demo" mode which runs the clock at 60x faster than real time to aid in learning how it works.

The  Kinetic Clock II Collection consists of a 42" x 18" x 5"  using 2 5/8" spheres,  a 30" x 40" x 6 1/4" using  3 1/4" glass spheres,  a  36" x48" x 7"  using 4" glass spheres.  A  a 16" x 6" x 4" using a choice of  smaller glass  spheres is under consideration . 

Kinetic Clock II © is NOT MASS PRODUCED.  It is LIMITED PRODUCTION art piece of MUSEUM QUALITY.  Each of the  pieces include a certificate of authenticity signed by the artist.