Artefact of the month - October 2009

Kenneth Martin was an influential artist and major figure in British abstract art. Both Kenneth and his wife Mary were concerned with the properties of movement and change in sculpture, and Kenneth also produced work which actually moved. They lived and worked locally at Eton Avenue, Hampstead.

In 1961 Kenneth Martin was commissioned to produce a motorised mobile for the Meeting Rooms Foyer, part of the Nuffield Building at ZSL. Screw Mobile is Kenneth’s largest mobile, taking him six years to complete. It was originally installed at ZSL in 1967.

The mobile was taken down in 1997 for necessary building refurbishments. During this time Professor Susan Tebby restored the mobile, and it was exhibited in Kenneth Martin & Mary Martin: Constructed Works, at Camden Arts Centre, Tate St Ives and De La Warr Pavilion in 2007.

Screw Mobile was re-installed in the Foyer of the ZSL Meeting Rooms on 21 July 2009.

The restoration and re-installation of the work was made possible through generous support from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and Camden Arts Centre .

Please do take the opportunity at ZSL Science and conservation events to see the mobile in action, details of these events can be found at Scientific meetings

ZSL library catalogue

The Michael Marks Trust provided funding for the cataloguing of the artworks in ZSL's collections. An online catalogue to the artworks can be searched from the above link, Use the `Search artworks’ button on the sidebar. Please note that some artworks are catalogued as collections, not individually.