New Kinetic Sculpture Screen Savers

There are three new Wood That Works screensavers available for downloading over on the WTW website. David finally upgraded the screen saver software and that, combined with all the incredible video footage we shot for the TEDx presentation, inspired him. Choose any of these to grace your digital window and bring calm to your computing arena.

Silver Symphony:

This screen saver incorporates the zen like chime sounds created by this sculpture. It is soft and soothing as well as visually interesting.

Silver Symphony download page 

 Portfolio-1

This silent screen saver includes a snippet of five different sculptures currently available from David.  You'll see Gyration, Shimmer, Quandary, North Star and Avalanche. Put this one on your desktop to give hints to others about what you'd love to receive.

Portfolio-1 download page

Portolio 2:

In this screen saver David experimented more with the capabilities of Final Cut and create a video that combines beautiful sculptures with interesting video work as well. Included are Journey, Fiesta, Evolution and North Star.

Portfolio-2 download page

David needed to upgrade the software because the previous version could not create screen savers for the newer operating systems.  This one can.  So if you have Mac OSX or Windows 7, and your older WTW screensavers stopped working, give these a try.

Snowed Under •

David's kinetic sculptures don't require electricty to run but they do require electricity to be made. A freak snow storm charged through Connecticut last Saturday dumping 12" of heavy, wet snow.  Twelve inches is not unusual for us, 12" in October is. Unfortunately many trees still had leaves and the weight bent them low and for many, past their breaking point.  This week production has come to halt as we deal with living without running water, power, Internet, telephones and cell coverage.  It was a beautiful sight though.

 

Hopefully power will be restored soon and work can continue.  In the meantime David has a lot of chainsaw work to do!

David to Speak at TEDx • BGSU

Exciting news! David has been invited to speak about his work at a TEDx conference on September 16th at Bowling Green State University in Ohio.

David generally doesn't do speaking engagements because there just isn't enough time in the day.  If you are a follower of TED talks you'll automatically understand why this one is different.  If you have never seen a TED Talk then you should take some time and watch the best.  You'll not be disappointed. TED stands for technology, entertainment and design and the universal theme is "Ideas Worth Spreading." Local organizations can sponsor regional TED Talks called TEDx events.  David has been invited to participate in the TEDx conference at Bowling Green State Univeristy on September 16th. The theme of this event is "Passion, Inspiration, Action!".

Needless to say things are in a turmoil here as we prepare. We have been searching through the physical archives. Tucked away is the histroy of this 35 year odyssey and in that history one finds the roots of the passion and insipiration behind Wood That Works.

We have been unpacking boxes and video taping some of David's earliest work. The gallery is in shambles because it is currently a video studio as we try to capture designs David created long before personal video was an option.

 The boxes are filled with surprises, the original working prototypes for so many of his editions. We uncovered the very first B.W. Cornwallis which was the first wall mounted sculpture created in 1976. Although B.W. required some tweeking to get it operational almost all of the designs worked as soon as the weights were attached. It has been a nostalgic week to say the least. Images and videos for many blog posts are being collected.  Here is a teaser sampler of some close-ups from B.W.©1976

If you live in the vicinity of Bowling Green, Ohio consider getting a ticket to the conference. The hope is that David's presentation will make it into the TED Talks archives so that even those that can't attend wil be able to hear and see what David has to share via YouTube.

Directions for Your Kinetic Sculpture!

David has been creating kinetic sculptures for a very long time - since the 70's. And for each design out there we have created directions for the owners.  This started long before we had a computer so many of the directions aren't in digital format. Here is an example of the illustration that is part of the Inventor Released Directions Packet. 

Others are in formats no longer readable by today's software. We have known for awhile that we needed to make this archive of directions available online but oh, what a job! Thanks to our daughter Amy that project is now well on its way to completion. She has scanned all directions that were not digital or could no longer be opened and she saved them in pdf format. She has also saved all directions that could still be accessed in pdf format as well. And she has uploaded them all, created links to their photos and made it all accessible to you. 

Available today is the the Wood That Works Directions Page here. There is a phenomenal listing of sculptures created by David over the years.  

Now, the next time you need the instructions for your David C. Roy kinetic sculpture you can simply download a copy here.

Many of the newer designs have online directions already. The most recent designs will be getting similar webpages and downloads as well.

Thanks, Amy! 

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Kinetic Sculpture at Ashford School

Nearly two years ago a team of four 7th grade students at our local school saw my website. They were working on an Internet unit created by their teacher, Martha Hardisty. Mrs. Hardisty requires her students to complete a community service project and Michael Varga, James Potter, Ron LaMonica and Jordan Parent approached her with the idea of earning enough money to purchase a David Roy sculpture for the school.  The boys were impressed by the combination of science and art and felt that connection made it a perfect sculpture for the school. Two years later, as they are graduating from 8th grade, they have achieved their goal.  Last week at a school assembly they presented Fiesta to the school and helped me install it in the Main Office where it can been seen by students, staff and parents

Left to Right: David Roy, Jordan Parent, Michael Varga, James Potter and Ronald LaMonica at the presentation of Fiesta to Ashford School, May 25th 2011.

Michael Varga helping with the installation of the sculpture in the Main Office at Ashford School.

The group first approached me and selected the sculpture that best fit their goal.  They then did brainstorming on ideas to raise enough money to purchase Fiesta. It was at the presentation I learned that they had raised the money by offering a series of after school workshops for younger students at Ashford School centered on arts and crafts.  How appropriate.

I extend my congratulations to the four boys for completing their community service project in a unique way.  Their teacher Mrs. Hardisty also deserves recognition for encouraging community service and inspiring her students to strive to give back to their community.  I am honored to have one of my sculptures on display as a result of these efforts.

Michael Varga winding the Fiesta for the first time.