Artist
Kenneth Snelson
American, 1927–2016
Kenneth Snelson was an American artist. 2 works are cataloged here, principally at Victoria and Albert Museum. Kenneth Snelson was born in Pendleton.
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, although 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.
Fuller gave the idea its name, combining '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.
Works by Kenneth Snelson
Collections represented
