Limited Edition of 150 Modules • 45"h x 67"w x 6"d • Run Time: 18+ hours
No longer in production
Avalanche ©2010 • Avalanche Kinetic Sculpture Directions • Avalanche Wall Mounting Template
About This White Water Series:
Once in a while it is nice to design without regard to practical considerations. This was the case with my sculpture Falling Water. I designed and built it for a particular wall in our home without regard to how I could break it down and install it in a different location. Over the past 2 years Falling Water has become one of my favorite designs. I love the constantly shifting and yet relaxing patterns, the quiet clicking sounds and the long run time. It has also garnered quite a bit of favorable interest from the web community.
One of my challenges during this winter's design period was to capture the essence of Falling Water in a more manageable and shippable form. New possibilities emerged with the solution because, by dividing the sculpture into individual modules, I created a component that can be assembled in multiple ways defining a variety of larger assemblages. A new concept has been born. These sculptures can be modified to fit various locations!
Kinetic art by David C. Roy titled White Water
White Water: The individual component is named White Water. It is made of two offset overlapping wheels and a satellite spring drive mechanism. The wheels are smaller iterations of the ones I used in Falling Water. Each wheel moves independently so the pattern constantly changes, slowly creating and destroying the tumbling "white water" effect.
Falling Water II: Once the basic module was designed the real fun began combining modules to create more complex forms. The first of these is called Falling Water II. It is made from two White Water modules installed vertically creating a sculpture very similar to Falling Water in patterning but smaller, easier to set up and longer running. It can be made to work in either a vertical or a horizontal orientation.
Avalanche: In Avalanche I've nested two modules in a diamond formation.This creates a very complex and somewhat chaotic meshing effect at the center of the sculpture. This design was a surprise that evolved as I explored possibilities with the individual unit.
Double Cascade: I built Double Cascade for a couple of reasons. I wanted to see the visual impact of 4 intertwined White Water sculptures operating together and I wanted to see how practical it was to wind a sculpture with that many winding points. After a month or so of living with the sculpture I found that winding wasn't an issue mainly because one winding a day kept the piece running continually. The visual effect is well worth the winding effort, complex, ever changing and yet relaxing.
Additional Possibilities: Could you combine more than two? Consider three. In all four I have simplified the drive mechanism and slightly modified the way I use precision ball bearings to make the sculpture long running and reliable. The result is a run time far beyond any single spring sculpture I have created at more than 24 hours on a full winding.
