The "Fire and Water Fountain", also commonly referred to as the "Dizengoff Square Fountain", is a Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...

 landmark in the center of the Dizengoff Square

Dizengoff Square

Dizengoff Square is an iconic public square in Tel Aviv, on the corner of Dizengoff Street, Reines Street and Pinsker Street...

. Dedicated in 1986, the fountain is a kinetic sculpture, the work of the Israeli artrist Yaacov Agam

Yaacov Agam

Yaacov Agam is an Israeli sculptor and experimental artist best known for his contributions to optical and kinetic art.-Biography:Yaakov Agam was born Yaakov Gipstein on May 11, 1928, in Rishon LeZion, then Mandate Palestine...

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The fountain was developed by Agam for ten years and is one of Agam's most famous creations. Agam has gained international recognition as one of the founders of the kinetic art

Kinetic art

Kinetic art is art that contains moving parts or depends on motion for its effect. The moving parts are generally powered by wind, a motor or the observer. Kinetic art encompasses a wide variety of overlapping techniques and styles.-Kinetic sculpture:...

 movement. The fountain consists of an illusory dimension and a movement dimension, both typical to works of Kinetic art and Op art

Op art

Op art, also known as optical art, is a style of visual art that makes use of optical illusions."Optical art is a method of painting concerning the interaction between illusion and picture plane, between understanding and seeing." Op art works are abstract, with many of the better known pieces made...

, which is achieved by the use of technology and by the observer's movement. The fountain is composed of several big jagged wheels, which were designed in the kinetic style (colored geometric shapes, which are perceived as different images from different angles). A technological mechanism is automatically activated at different times of the day and the night, turning the wheels on their hinges, injecting water upwards in various forms, spitting fire upwards and playing music.

Through the years the fountain drew a lot of criticism from the Tel Aviv residents for the high cost of its ongoing maintenance. Nowadays, the fountain is poorly maintained and occasionally will not be operating.

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