Ralfonso “Ralf” Gschwend is a Swiss designer of large environmentally interactive, kinetic, light and sound sculptures. As a kinetic artist he has pushed the boundaries of traditional, static art forms to introduce visual experiences through the interaction with the environment such as wind, light and water.
He is an award winner of the Beijing City Sculpture Competition 2007 and a winner in the “Contest of Landscape Sculpture Designs for Beijing 2008 Olympic Games”. His wind sculpture “Dance with the Wind” – 33 ft (10m) tall – was commissioned and permanently installed at the Olympic Park in Beijing, the People’s Republic of China (China) in 2008.
With his passion for Kinetic Art, he cofounded the Kinetic Art Organization (KAO) in 2001 with a German and a US fellow Kinetic Artist. Now, with more than 1000 members in over 60 countries KAO has become the largest kinetic art organization in the world. www.kinetic-art.org
“The walls between art and engineering exist only in the mind.”
— Theo Jansen
Please tell us about what inspires you in your work?
My passion for this particular niche of sculptural art started very early. Even as a very young boy I was always fascinated with engineering, mechanics and design. From this fascination I started to design objects and sculptures that have a motion component. I am inspired by nature, by the shape and natural interaction of all the elements. So my sculptures gently move with the wind, the water, or when pushed by hand.