kinetic sculpture

Check it out: Tipsy

Tipsy1

Tipsy3

Tipsy5

I’ve explored the corkscrews-as-people theme before, but it was the discovery of an unusual brass one that got me interested again.  This piece was also an excuse to delve into patinas.  Note that the figure is polished shiny, while the rest is stained a deep brown/purple.

Materials:

Corkscrew, door hardware cover plates, cooking pot, candle stick parts, toy gearbox, motor, aluminum and brass stock.

 

mechI’ll have a number of small pieces in the show “Mechanical Life” at the Wallace L. Anderson Gallery, Bridgewater State University in Bridgewater MA October 15 through November 7.  I’m honored to be alongside the likes of Tom Haney and J. Shea.  I won’t be able to attend the show in person, but I’ll post photos as soon as they are available.

 

Just a reminder to anyone in the San Francisco Bay area, my new piece “Armed and Dangerous” will be on display at the Exploratorium through the weekend.  There is an outdoor event that is free to the public on Saturday, and I’ll be hanging around from 11-3 just inside the main entrance (where my sculpture is installed).

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A litte while back I did a piece titled “Zip Synch“.  After it found a home I was approached to make a similar piece on commission.  The client was interested in the thematic value of the little vintage film canister cases and he even managed to source another pair for the project.  In keeping with the theme, the base was built using two heavily modified winding mechanisms from a film editing machine.

The resulting piece was titled “The Conversation”.

TheConversation

Getting “Head Case #2” ready for the destructive force that is Maker Faire!  He’ll be on display in the Applied Kinetic Arts booth in the South East corner of Expo Hall, San Mateo fairgrounds Saturday and Sunday, May 19-20.

He’ll be in good company too: Benjamin Cowden, Mark Galt, Aaron Geman, Jonathan Foote, and Tal Avitzur.

See the link below for a full program of exhibitors and events:

http://cdn.makezine.com/make/makerfaire/bayarea/2012/MF12BA_Program_LoResFINAL.pdf

Mayday! Mayday!

New piece finished up last minute before our show this weekend!

A stranger in an even stranger land finds himself in peril, desperate for a safe place to land.

Materials:

Radio cabinet, chalk line, license plate light bulb cover, typewriter cooling fan blade, radio tuning knobs, book illustration clippings, fresnel lens, LEDs, motors

Mayday! Mayday!

New piece finished up last minute before our show this weekend!

A stranger in an even stranger land finds himself in peril, desperate for a safe place to land.

Materials:

Radio cabinet, chalk line, license plate light bulb cover, typewriter cooling fan blade, radio tuning knobs, book illustration clippings, fresnel lens, LEDs, motors

Here is the video for my new piece: ”High Voltage“ 2012 (102” x 65” x 24”)

This sculpture uses an effect known as a “Jacob’s Ladder”.  A high voltage arc is produced by way of a neon sign transformer, and then transmitted up the electrodes in the sculptures head.  I’m personally very pleased with the movement with this one.  All the action is generated within the abdomen.  The little pistons in the ankles act as shock absorbers to smooth out the motion.

Materials:

Industrial water valve, scaffold tubing, street light support arms, glass tube, vacuum cleaners, lamp fixtures, bicycle pedal cranks, neon sign transformer, gears from floor polisher, magnifying lens, drain cover, high voltage vacuum tubes, hydraulic dampers, plastic, phenolic, motor, LEDs

New piece to share: “High Voltage“ 2012 (102” x 65” x 24”)

This sculpture uses an effect known as a “Jacob’s Ladder”.  A high voltage arc is produced by way of a neon sign transformer, and then transmitted up the electrodes in the sculptures head.  I’m personally very pleased with the movement with this one.  All the action is generated within the abdomen.  The little pistons in the ankles act as shock absorbers to smooth out the motion.

Materials:

Industrial water valve, scaffold tubing, street light support arms, glass tube, vacuum cleaners, lamp fixtures, bicycle pedal cranks, neon sign transformer, gears from floor polisher, magnifying lens, drain cover, high voltage vacuum tubes, hydraulic dampers, plastic, phenolic, motor, LEDs

Here is the video for my new piece:

Cycloptopus” 2012 (65” x 57” x 29”)

Cycloptopus is a fearsome hybrid of two of my favorite monsters, one real, one mythical.  This creature is particularly dangerous because of its irritability.  You’d be irritable too if you were powered by an open flame and your body was made of wood.

Materials:

Radio cabinets, rocking chairs, fake fireplace, decorative clock elements, cabinet knobs, wall paper, chair parts, lamp parts, wheel hub, motors, LEDs

New piece to share: “Cycloptopus” 2012 (65” x 57” x 29”)

Cycloptopus is a fearsome hybrid of two of my favorite monsters, one real, one mythical.  This creature is particularly dangerous because of its irritability.  You’d be irritable too if you were powered by an open flame and your body was made of wood.

Materials:

Radio cabinets, rocking chairs, fake fireplace, decorative clock elements, cabinet knobs, wall paper, chair parts, lamp parts, wheel hub, motors, LEDs