or
Comment
View Photo
View Jamboree Directions
Jamboree
One-of-a-kind
Size: 65"h x 45"w x 20"d
Power Source: spring
Approximate Run Time: 10 hours
Jamboree ©2010
Price: $7500 • Sold
With Willow Wind, my first large "off the wall" kinetic sculpture, I explored the additional space using many layers. Jamboree is a further exploration of this space by breaking patterning wheel forms out of the plane of motion. I built two large wheels with arc shaped spokes that ballooned outward. My goal was to create motion patterns that changed as the viewer changed perspective.
I sketched up the idea on the Mac using Adobe Illustrator and then converted those drawings to 3D and animated them using a program called Strata Design 3D. The animation showed that the patterns did indeed change with viewing angle but animations on a 2D screen, even 3D ones, don't always "work" in the real world.
The actual construction of the wheels turned out to be quite a challenge. Balance is critical with this type of mechanism and the wheels had to be designed so that the arc forms' mass was nearly perfectly balanced by the shapes on the other side of the wheel. I do most of this work using a computer program called Working Model which I use to calculate the center of mass of a complex "system" like this wheel followed by some good old fashioned trial and error!
I was thrilled to find that the virtual and real worlds yielded the same results. The patterns do shift dramatically as one walks around the sculpture. A side benefit that I had not realized in the virtual world is that the mass of the wheels would lead to slow graceful motion and very quiet operation.