I stumbled onto a new site recently that demonstrates a different style of mechanical kinetic sculpture. There are some YouTube videos at the artist's channel that depict fascinating motion - although all electric.
Wave sculptures by Reuben Margolin
I'd LOVE to see this work in place. I've done a lot of thinking about wave generation but the energy input and complexity has always scared me off. Reuben Margolin took the challenge head on and came up with some amazing forms and motion.
And How Did You Spend Your Vacation?
by Marji
David and I decided to spend our vacation doing a collaborative outdoor sculpture. It is a design that has been rattling around in my head for awhile but we never had the time to make it a reality. Last week it became priority #1. We combined my design with David’s refinements, technical assistance and problem-solving skills and together built “Trilogy”.
The final sculpture is almost 10 feet high and, yes, it does move. It is not powered like Dave’s traditional work but the two inner tetrahedrons rotate in the breeze creating many varied compositions. “Trilogy” resides in the woods near our home. It was a great vacation week!
Kitten and kinetic sculpture
I've been exploring some our our "vintage" video from the early 1990's and stumbled on this clip.
The is my daughter Amy's new kitten Jasmine finding all the joys of exploring the home of a kinetic sculptor. The sculpture is called Symphony, one of my few freestanding sculptures. I built it in 1994.
For the Love of Gears
by Marji
Time for me to start adding my two cents to this blog!
David and I love to visit the various craft shows around the northeast. The roots of Wood that Works are firmly planted in the now historic Rhinebeck shows of the '70s so there is some nostalgia mixed in with our exploring and the collecting of inspiring ideas. At these events we also continue to add to our collection of American Crafts and odd and wonderful things. Years ago we found "Cogworks" at the Mt. Sunapee Craft show and we left with one of their "educational gear toys" under our arm. It is beautifully crafted and has provided us with hours of enjoyment - however, we feel it is not correctly marketed. It should be sold as a puzzle!
At the time of purchase we were told that there was only one way to get the gears onto their backboard, without any part hanging over an edge, and have all the gears turn. This is the "original one solution".
But oh, a challenge was born and for years guests at our house, especially engineers, have spent hours trying to find additional solutions. Their perseverance has paid off and to date, two other solutions have been found. Each has been named after the friend or relative that first discovered it. The "Russell Solution" was the first alternative and whereas the original solution was perfectly symmetrical, this one is a radial symmetrical design.
The third solution is the "Evan Solution" and it is totally random - no symmetry at all. You should meet Evan!
So we have 3 solutions but the question remains, are there any others...