It’s ‘High Art For The Whole Family’ at Mat Bevel’s Museum Of Kinetic Art

Mat Bevel’s Museum Of Kinetic Art (MOKA) includes nearly one hundred mechanical fine art sculptures all made from found objects. MOKA is a thirty-year collection made by sculptor, poet and performer Ned Schaper. The museum is a large installation that’s a constantly evolving A.R.T. lab, built on the principles of Available Resource Technology.

The sculptures in the museum are all part of Ned Schaper’s Surrealistic Pop Science Theater. They come to life as helmets and headdresses, motorized vehicles, musical instruments, mechanical puppets and large landscapes in the theater’s magical world of Beveldom with host Mat Bevel.

Schaper has delighted audiences with his museum and live theater for over 30 years. During a 2-month solo retrospective at the Tucson Museum of Art in 2014, Schaper’s museum broke all attendance records for the August-September time period.

For the past three years, he’s been capturing his ‘kinetic junk theater’ using stop motion animation, greenscreen compositing and video technology. Schaper’s work will become part of Bevel Cafe, a new TV show produced by Mat Bevel Company’s Bevelvision Productions. Initial footage is live at matbevel.com.

MOKA is managed by the nonprofit organization Mat Bevel Company which is located at 3113 E. Columbia Street in Tucson, AZ. Vice President Paula Schaper says, “One of our goals has been to develop new ways for people to experience fine art, science and technology in a personal and energetic way. With the re-opening of our Museum Of Kinetic Art and the Surrealistic Pop Science Theater, we’re offering just that."

For more information, visit www.matbevelcompany.org or contact Paula Schaper by phone at 520-604-6273 or email: [email protected].