The Peaks and Valleys of Kinetic Sculpture
Updates
Read our Revisited post and view photos of this event here.
Original post
Reuben Margolin, a longtime Bay Area maker, creates kinetic wave sculptures that combine the logic of math with the sensuousness of nature. First inspired by the mysterious and mathematical qualities of a caterpillar’s crawl, Margolin began capturing the complex movements and structures of nature in sculptural form. His sculptures, which use a diverse range of materials, from cardboard to tungsten and from found to precision machined, undulate, spiral, bob, and dip in gloriously natural-seeming ways, driven by arrays of pulleys, motors, cogs and gears. Focusing on natural elements, his work is both elegant and hypnotic. As a child, Margolin delighted in maths and physics. At Harvard University, he switched to a liberal arts degree, before studying painting in Italy and Russia. Now, at his studio in Emeryville, California, he makes large-scale installations and pedal-powered rickshaws. Hear how he creates some of his extraordinary mechanical installations.
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