Zoetrope: the validity of a machine to think through movement

Abstract

The stroboscopic device known as the Zoetrope has been traditionally studied as a primeval tool for the optical creation of movement in the animated image. However, this article addresses the zoetrope from the perspective of artistic thought and the moving image, therefore, as a “device” for creating art. This article interrelates three apparently disparate aspects (corresponding to disciplines such as Art History, Art Theory and Digital Design). These aspects are various. The cinematic search for the image in terms of art and the generation of movement, the origin of animation, from whose history this device derives and is the conceptual starting point for animation. Furthermore, the analysis of various artists who are currently working from the kinetic results of the zoetrope to develop a conceptual discourse for contemporary times, giving new vigor to this instrument that serves as a phenomenological framework for research. As well as, the digital design model of the zoetrope as the initial phase of theoretical-practical research of this team, which seeks to relate aspects between analog and digital as the basis of contemporary artistic creation.