I built Dyad in 1986 when was experimenting with small freestanding sculptures and random motion. This is a small piece standing about 13 inches tall. It has two independent mechanisms each with its own spring and winder. Each mechanism contributes part of its momentum to the common base motion creating a jerky back and forth rotation. The sculpture only runs for about 30 minutes which was pretty typical for my small sculptures of that time period.
I started the Variation series in 2003 with Variation Wind. It ended up being a series of 9 different designs all using the same drive
mechanism but different satellite wheels to generate a fascinating variety of patterns.
2003
Variation-Wind
Variation-Stars
Variation-Fire
2004
Variation-Surf
Variation-Water
Variation-Fractal
2006
Variation-Jazz
2007
Variation-Zen
2008
Variation-Dream
Several sculptures and drawings that Marji made during her years as a student at Rhode Island School of Design started me thinking about wooden machines as sculptures. Here's a video showing some of her works and one of my first attempts at a moving piece c.1975.
For more information on the history of Wood That Works and spring driven kinetic sculpture visit this link.
by Amy
When I was designing my son's nursery last year I knew that I wanted to include one of my Dad's pieces in the room. I thought the soft clicking would add some great white noise to the space. I had two pieces already. I had Nova hanging in the dining room and Pulsar was in a box in storage until I figured out where to put it. (We have been doing a lot of construction on the house over the past three years.) I really liked Pulsar for the space for two reasons: 1) It runs longer than Nova and 2) the fabric backer matched the color scheme I was planning for the room.
I'm really happy with how it looks in the room. We wind it up for Taylor for naptime and bedtime. He loves to watch and listen to it as he drifts off to sleep.
In early 1987 I showed my work at the Baltimore ACC show. By chance we were located near Woodstock Percussion and Gary Kvistad. I checked back in my journal to find out exactly what year this took place in and found this quote,
" I got a couple of good ideas at the show. The most interesting is that of trying to make a sculpture using the chime tubes from the booth next to us, Woodstock Percussion. I spent all week listening to them and I thing a nice, gentle "Chime Machine" can be designed."
I spent about a year playing with the idea and in 1988 introduced Chime Carillon. It was a challenging piece. I wanted the mechanism to ring the chime tubes gently and in random arrangements but I also wanted the sculpture to have enough motion to be visually interesting.
I sold out the edition long ago but kept the initial prototype piece up in my studio gallery because it was such a rewarding design challenge and I still like the sounds it makes. It never fails to get a good bit of attention from visitors.