{{short description|Artistic novelty toy}} {{multiple issues| {{original research|date=May 2010}} {{Refimprove|date=November 2006}} }} thumb|The impression of a person's nose and mouth on a pinscreen '''Pin art''', also known as a '''pinscreen''', is an executive toy. It consists of a boxed surface made of a crowded array of pins that are free to slide in and out independently in a screen to create a three-dimensional relief. Other similar product names are "PinPressions" and "Pinhead". The original Pinscreen toys were made of metal pins, which were heavier and tended to bend easily; newer Pinscreen toys are generally made of plastic pins. Pinscreens have also been used for animation production; a larger device working on a similar principle was invented by Claire Parker in 1935.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Neupert|first=Richard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AvD7olaX74sC&pg=PT68|title=French Animation History|date=2011-03-08|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-4443-9257-9|language=en}}</ref> <ref>{{cite news |last1=Peter |first1=Anton |title=Desk toys |url=https://www.palmblock.com/ |access-date=15 May 2024}}</ref> [[File:Parque Explora pin art.jpg|thumb|A large pinscreen at the Parque Explora in Colombia]] A {{convert|4|x|8|ft|m|adj=on}} pinscreen is at the Swiss Science Center Technorama in Winterthur, Switzerland. This screen is like a large 3D drawing pad that can work with different sizes of paintbrushes for calligraphy.
==In popular culture== * The pinscreen was popularized in the 1985 music video for the Midge Ure song "If I Was", which included a giant body-sized version. * In the 1988 film ''Vice Versa'', Marshall Seymour keeps a pinscreen on his office desk. Charlie (Judge Reinhold) pushes his face into it and sticks out his tongue. * In another 1988 movie ''Earth Girls Are Easy'', as Valerie is wrecking various things of her philandering boyfriend Ted, she takes his pinscreen and also sticks out her tongue. * In the 1990 film ''Darkman'', a pinscreen is used to duplicate a character's hand. * In ''Tiny Toon Adventures'', Elmyra (Voiced by Cree Summer) is seen using a pinscreen on her belly. * A 1997 Coca-Cola ad, directed by Industrial Light & Magic, involves the use of a computer-generated imagery pinscreen. * The 1999 film ''Toy Story 2'' features a pinscreen that Buzz Lightyear is pushed into whilst fighting Utility Belt Buzz Lightyear. * In the 2000 film ''X-Men'', a computerized pinscreen displaying a model of New York City is used by the X-Men to plan an attack against Magneto. * A digitally produced pinscreen is featured in the 2005 music video for the Nine Inch Nails song "Only", directed by David Fincher. * Similar to "Only", a digitally produced pinscreen is featured in the 2008 music video for the Eagles of Death Metal song "Wannabe in LA". * A 2007 advertising campaign by the Discovery Channel involved a pinscreen forming various images, such as that of the Sydney Opera House and whales. * The 2013 film ''Man of Steel'' involves several CG pinscreens which serve as personal computers on Kal-El's homeworld of Krypton.
== References == {{reflist}}
Category:1980s toys Category:Office toys Category:Pinscreen animation Category:1987 introductions
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