For the Engineers out there...

From Marji Roy

A lot of significant people in David's life where mechanical engineers. This recently published article by Michael Abrams in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Journal/Blog is a special one because of those people. They would have enjoyed reading this.

Read the full article here: The Beauty of Movement by Michael Abrams ASME.org

The line between nature and nurture is often a blurry one and David ending up as kinetic sculptor emphasizes that. He could have had so many careers but for certain, creative problem solving would have been a requirement.  Thank you, Mr. Abrams for this article. 

Kinetic Penguins - Makes Me Smile

Looks like I need to make bitforms in NYC a regular stop for our occasional visit to the Big Apple. We missed this show of interactive Penguins by Daniel Rozin but also, in looking at the list of past exhibitions, there have been many fun kinetic art exhibitions. 

I certainly would have spent some time interacting with these dancing Penguins.

Links of interest:

• Daniel Rozin - Interactive Art
• Daniel Rozin - About
• bitforms

Using Moiré Patterns in a Different Art Form

I have often used moiré effects in the designs of my kinetic sculptures.  You will notice them especially in my sculptures with stronger optical designs like Shimmer , Radiance or Illusion. A moiré effect is a “secondary and visually evident superimposed pattern created when two patterns overlap” but they aren't limited to forms in motion. Andrea Minini is a graphic designer based in Milan that uses this effect in a very different application. She creates vibrant posters of abstract animals using the moiré effect. Here are some dramatic examples.

And one example that is not an animal, just an abstract design:

Her work is available for purchase from Society 6 or My Modern Shop.

On Being Noticed.....

It has been a busy few weeks here at Wood That Works.  I have been creating kinetic sculptures for nearly 40 years and have had a website since 1995. As all of us with websites know, we jump through hoops to try and get noticed in the big wide online world. Marji and I have tried all kinds of things to get the website mentioned on some of the known "neat things" blogs to no avail. Little did we know the method was to go on vacation! As our plane touched down in Reykjavik for a 15 day tour of Iceland, I received a much appreciated email from a collector (thanks Scott!) wondering if we knew I was trending on Gizmodo. No, we weren't paying attention at all but we probably would have figured out something was up shortly there after. Yup, email jumped, views jumped, youtube viewings soared and vacation started with work!

We think it all started September 10th on Booooooom....

Which got picked up by Colossal....

And then onto Gizmodo

And it continued onto other blogs from there. We send thanks to whomever started th balling rolling.

Guess we need to go a vacation more frequently!

Theo Jansen- Stranbeest in Boston

Exciting news for those of us who love kinetic sculpture. The Peabody Essex Museum located in Salem, Massachusetts is having the first United States show of the work of kinetic artist Theo Jansen.

Strandbeest by Theo Jansen

The exhibition opens September 19th and runs through January 3rd. Most exciting though is coming up in the next 2 weeks are scheduled walks for the sculpture in public places. The first is this Saturday, August 22nd at Cranes Beach from 10 AM- noon. The wind powered structure will take a beach stroll. 

Information about additional planned events can be seen here on their website. Those of us in New England need to plan to see some of these happening and visit the museum for a rare opportunity to see the marvelous work of Theo Jansen