Multilens-Spectral 1966
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One of Manfred P. Kage’s concerns was to achieve a formal unity between information and form within optical reproductive systems. Kage’s fascination for the scientific optics also led him to carry out numerous experiments in the field of optical alienation. In this context, he developed and invented special effect lens systems such as multi-lens technology for his microphotographic art („Science Art“). He also invented a groundbreaking „giant multi-lens system“ on an optical bench of rows. Kage’s multi-lens photographs were presented, among others, in 1970 as part of the exhibition „Impression 70 - Modern Photography and Audioscope“ in BW, Germany. Herbert W. Kapitzki, a famous German graphic artist and designer, also gave Kage a variety of orders in the area of multi-lens technology.
Prof. Manfred P. Kage (1935-2019) was a renowned artist, science photographer, filmmaker, and inventor. Cited as one of the most important pioneers of multimedia and video art worldwide, Kage was a visionary and preeminent figure in microphotography since 1957, who also conceived and coined the terms "Science Art" and "Modern Science Art". Kage was a prominent member of the ZERO art movement, who saw a challenge in the depiction of the complexity of the wonders of nature, especially its beauty and its sensitivity, the "visualization of the invisible" as well as the photographic observation of intelligent natural design. To visually uncover the aesthetics of the tiniest micro-worlds and to bring them to the viewers of his works with innovative techniques had always been Manfred P. Kage's artistically challenging task. With "Science Art" Kage achieved an aesthetic of its own dimension and manifested with this vision his interpretation of the synthesis of science and art. In 1958, Manfred P. Kage had the groundbreaking idea for his "Optical Concert", a multimedia concert played live. Starting in 1965, he integrated the audioscope he had invented, a device for making music visible, into concerts. From the 1960s on, he made numerous artistic films, such as in collaboration with his friend Prof. Herbert W. Franke together with Salvador Dalí. Kage also developed video special effects for various science fiction films. In 1971, as a world sensation, he photographed moon rocks from the first Apollo missions in brilliant colour. He achieved this with his 1957 invention, the "polychromator," a kind of optical synthesizer. In 1976, Kage invented colour for scanning electron microscopy and was one of the first science photographers to show moving SEM images. Kage's work has been shown and collected by major museums, including the Olympic Games, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Biennale, EXPO and Ars Electronica. The Deutsche Post honoured Kage by publishing his works on the special stamp series "Microworlds". In the early 1990s Kage was appointed a visiting professor at the Hochschule für Gestaltung in Karlsruhe as well as a member of the DGPh (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Photographie) and the DFA (Deutsche Fotografische Akademie). Schloss Weissenstein in Baden-Württemberg, is the seat of Manfred P. Kage's artistic collection and houses the company KAGE GbR, in which his family continues Kage's life's work and visions with a museum and various artistic projects.
