The Zoetropes could be hand cranked, and included a human figure modeled from clay, and a worm shape moving up stairs. At first, I thought the interiors were projected, and I peered over the top to assure myself that they were real models. The light seemed almost silvery, magical, and I couldn't figure out why. Later, I asked Toshio about this. I don't think this would be a trade secret - he told me the clay figures were painted with golden acrylic paint, reflected in silver paper edging the slits.

The Phenakistoscopes were framed in wooden boxes, under glass, displayed as moving paintings. Curiously, there was no strobe light, or cut slits, but they were animated nonetheless. In 1990, Iwai had developed a Step Motion system. These stepping motors created intermittent movement, so that the images moved constantly, so fast that the intermittence was not visible. It was elegant, and it looked effortless. That is, until one began to question how this animated movement could be achieved without strobe lights or slits.

Iwai's Step Motion system (1990).

The "crystal ball" installations, from the Time Stratum series, were compelling. The largest piece was a pyramid-like structure. Inside, 120 little paper dolls of the artist wearing a TV head were mounted on a disc three feet in diameter, surrounding a reflective silver ball. These dolls gyrated, moved in and away from each other, turned, and rotated. It was like a crowded dance floor of choreographed clones.Three slightly smaller domes vibrated with metamorphic plants, animals and crystals. Video monitors were suspended above each dome, tube down, playing a strobe light signal with changing colors and rhythms. At one point, the video signal stopped strobing and the disc just swirled past, a blur of movement. By showing us the video strobe and the effect, Iwai intentionally exposed the technology for us. With the changing colors synchronized to music composed by Iwai, I stayed for a long time enjoying these reconfigured Zoetropes.

Time Stratum II featured 120 paper dolls gyrating around a reflective silver ball (1985).

Time Sratum III

Musical, Digital Insects
The third pre-cinema inspirational toy for Iwai was a hand-cranked antique music box. This little toy uses paper cards, punched like the rolls on a player piano. It also came with a punch, so that the owner could create their own musical punchcards. Iwai found this device intriguing -- an early depiction of "visual music."

In 1990, inspired by this technology, he created a computer game called Music Insects, as a tool for visual music performance. In the game, the player can make marks with a mouse, which are akin to the punches on the music roll. On the screen little insects react with sound, direction and color changes when they hit a mark. Later, he made a more complex version of this for Nintendo, called Sound Fantasy.