A couple years ago I discovered Kinetic Sculpture, a genre of art that has inspired me more than any other. It was pioneered in the early 1900′s by artists such as Marcel Duchamp and László Moholy-Nagy but hasn’t gained a “mainstream” spot in the world of art, despite its ability for engaging, public exhibitions. Kinetic Sculpture is a perfect mixture of sculpture and mechanics which gives pieces life and allows for a whole new level of creativity and conceptual exploration. Here are a few artists that I think you will find truly inspiring.

Theo Jansen

Theo Jansen is a Dutch artist who creates pneumatic-powered pipe creatures that roam freely on the beaches of the Netherlands. What makes these creatures even more amazing is that they are engineered with an "artificial intelligence" based on a series of mechanical sensors which enables them to avoid obstacles and water and maintain function without the aid of humans.

Nemo Gould

Nemo Gould is an American artist who is also known for his graphic work and is the son of potter Linda Webb Elfert and ceramic artist and sculptor Arthur Gould. His sculptures are mostly creatures with a "sci-fi" style and are made from wood and metal.

Limee Young

Limee Young is a South Korean artist who specializes in making super complex sculptures out of various mechanical and electrical components. His pieces, although elaborate, serve no practical purpose but are extremely mesmerizing.

Art+Com

Art+Com is a new media design group that specializes in translating content into spacial environments using interactive media. One of their most recognized works is the kinetic sculpture for the BMW museum in Munich.

Kinetic Sculpture for the BMW Museum, Munich 2008 from ART+COM on Vimeo.

Chris Burden

Chris Burden is a world-famous performance artist and sculptor from Boston, Massachusetts. He is most famous for his performance piece "Shoot" in which an assistant shot him in the arm from a few meters away. Although his early work was very controversial, he has produced some work that is more hypnotizing than shocking.

Seth Goldstein

It's surprising to see a retired mechanical engineer make such a splash in the art world. Seth Goldstein makes sculptures that are commentaries on "the daily grind". They kind of make you think about how repetitive our lives really are.

Tom Haney

Tom Haney is an American artists who comes from a background of industrial design and prop design. His work mostly consists of small robotic figures also known as Automatons. The aim of his work is to focus on our "throwaway society" and to reconnect with our past and embrace traditions not trends.

David C. Roy

David C. Roy creates stunning wooden sculptures create mind boggling visuals by spinning curved blades against each other. They run off of spring tension and are hand wound.

Dale Mathis

His wildly whimsical sculptures are like nothing you have ever seen. These emotion packed pieces draw mainly from Mathis' unfortunate childhood of poverty, fear and abuse. He has crafted these emotions into beautiful steampunk style sculptures.

Royal De Luxe

Royal De Luxe is a French mechanical marionette street theatre company. They create massive puppets for public performances that are almost as frightening as they are beautiful.

Royal de Luxe from Yves Chauvel on Vimeo.

Royal de Luxe, Estuaire 2009 : notre voyage à Nantes ! from MonNuage on Vimeo.

Arthur Ganson

Arthur Ganson is an American kinetic sculptor who specializes in mechanical demonstrations and Rube Goldberg machines with existential themes. His playful work is known around the globe and he describes it as a mix between choreography and engineering.

Andrew Chase

Andrew Chase is a furniture maker, photographer and welder who makes fully articulate animal sculptures from found objects such as plumbing and automobile parts. It is very impressive how close these pieces resemble the actual thing.

Reuben Margolin

I have saved my favorite for last. Reuben Margolin is a Bay Area artist who sees art in movement and creates magnificent forms from waves driven by mechanics. His work decodes the mysteries of nature by sorting out the logic of physics and flawlessly recreating these beautiful movements that we take for granted.

That concludes this round-up of artistic inspiration. Let me know what you think and if there any unique artists that I have missed or that you would like to share. Thanks for reading!