| BiographicalHistory | Sculptor and performance artist Stephen Cripps (1952-82) showed early artistic ability when he attended Cranleigh School and with the encouragement of his art master, Howard Pickersgill, began painting and making sculpture. Cripps went on to study at Bath Academy of Art, Corsham, Surrey, (1970-4), where he developed and staged choreographed performances involving machines, film, sound and light. His interest in kinetic art developed during the course and for his thesis he wrote on the work of Jean Tinguely (1925-91). On graduating, Cripps took a studio in Butler's Wharf, London, a location that was then the hub of experimental artistic practice. Here he lived, worked and stored salvaged objects for his work.
His artistic practice was realised in performance based and transitory works, utilising a heady mixture of automotive sculptures made from found objects, urban sounds and explosives. During his short career Cripps exhibited machine and sound installations including 'Spills and Thrills' at Bath Academy (1974), 'Machine Dances' at Bath and Tufnell Park Community Festivals (1974-6) and 'Machine for Birds' at the Serpentine Gallery Summer Show III (1975). He staged three solo exhibitions at The Acme Gallery, London, (1978, 1980 and 1981), and numerous pyrotechnic performances in the UK, Europe and America. He increasingly collaborated with other artists and musicians, including the percussionist Paul Burwell, the performance artist Anne Bean and the London Musicians' Collective.
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