Posted: February 27th, 2012 | Author:admin | Filed under:Uncategorized | Comments Off
I designed and fabricated these mobile room dividers to subdivide a large studio room at CalArts.
One of the challenges of the space was that natural light only came in through one window in a corner of the room, so it was important that a sense of “lightness” was preserved. The panels are made of Polygal, which allows for some privacy but still allow light to be transmitted, and they also have a kind of “hook and eye” linkage at front and back, that allow them to be connected to each other. They have a “tripod” design, with a stabilizing strut on only one end- this allows them to be connected at any angle. All in all, they’re very versatile, lightweight, and easy to move around.
In April I worked with Noah Hutton and Couple 3 films to create some contraptions for a series of short films for Scientific American. What I created was a machine to illustrate Pavlovian Conditioning, (where a stimulus, like the ringing of a bell, is associated with something unrelated, like a plate of food. Eventually, the ringing of the bell independently stimulates a reaction, like salivating, that was originally associated only with food) and the firing of synapses in the brain.
Posted: May 26th, 2011 | Author:admin | Filed under:Uncategorized | Comments Off
I was commissioned in May by Sub Rosa to create a memorable machine to dispense samples of Kiehl’s skincare products for their flagship store in New York, as part of their 160th anniversary retrospective. I created five machines out of steel and brass. Here are some photos of them installed in the store.
Posted: March 28th, 2011 | Author:admin | Filed under:Uncategorized | Comments Off
I was commissioned by GE to build a kinetic sculpture for the 2011 TED conference in Long Beach CA. The piece is inspired by a Jenbacher natural gas engine, and is intended to point out the engine’s capability to meet the energy needs of 18000 typical homes. Each little house represents 100 homes.
Tom Jennings and I designed and built this calligraphy robot for director Chris Milk and Radical Media, as part of “The Wilderness Downtown”, an interactive music video for the band Arcade Fire. The machine uses a custom pen plotter to print postcards generated by viewers, and it is intended to travel with the band. Tom wrote the software and designed the electronics. More documentation of this machine can be found on Tom’sWorld Power Systems website.
Here’s a Rube Goldberg machine that I built for Syynlabs for the Disney XD channel. I built and designed about 90% of this (didn’t build the pneumatic cannons at the end, these were repurposed from the OK Go video. I did work out the wiring and the trigger mechanism. Also I didn’t do the part which knocked kick drum, which was done by Hector Alvarez). Jonah Kagan was an intern on this project, and spent a lot of time working out the trajectory of the softball launch, so he deserves a special nod.
I built this Rube Goldberg Machine for the Colbert Report, and set it off in front of a live audience to begin the show.
Some things that may not be clear: The book dominoes close a switch which activates the little music box toy piano. This plays out the opening notes of the Colbert Report theme song (which was, incidentally, written by Cheap Trick, but is arranged and performed here by OK Go).
The drum of the music box releases a weight that drops and releases a stuffed eagle that flies down a string, crashing into the pyramid of ice cream containers.
Viewers have assumed that somehow the ice cream pyramid triggers the little car- it doesn’t. The eagle continues and knocks over a hammer which closes a switch, activating the remote-controlled car (with custom paint job, naturally).
The car rolls along a kind of treadmill, that takes up fabric. The fabric then pulls a stick out from beneath a ramp, and the ramp drops.
A hot dog (originally a ball park frank, but the hot dog rolled unpredictably. Ultimately it was a thick dowel rod painted to look like a sausage) rolls down the ramp, landing in a bun, which is in a little red wagon. There’s a little catch that the hot dog triggers, to allow the wagon to roll down another ramp.
The hot dog wagon rolls down the ramp and through a life-size cutout of Ronald Reagan, who has just put an apple pie on a windowsill to cool. The hot dog passes through Ronald Reagan’s crotch, crashing into the pie, which falls off the window sill, tripping a lever.
The lever releases an Eagle paperweight which drops and causes a Jesus Christ Action Figure to rotate on a lazy susan to trip another lever, which drops a cage over a customized “Godless Killing Machine” teddy bear.
This releases Stephen Colbert’s Emmy Award Statuette, which is mounted on a hinge, and has a razor blade attached to the wingtip (the original plan was for the Emmy to be skewering a hot dog on the wing, and drop the hot dog in a bun, but as mentioned before, hot dogs are unpredictable).
The razor blade on the emmy wing pops a balloon, which releases a hammer. The hammer swings down, knocking a big “C” backwards.
The C rolls off the table, but just before doing so, snags a metal loop. The C drops off the table pulling the loop with it, and unfurls the “Colbert Report” banner, also triggering a cutout of Stephen Colbert to swing into view.
The End.
The machine was built in pieces in my studio in Irvine CA, and shipped to New York City. It was assembled there the night before the show. You are watching the second take (the first one that Mr. Colbert initiated).
Here’s a short “behind the scenes” video shot by Thoma Kikis while setting up the night before:
Also a special thanks to the crew of The Colbert Report, particularly prop master Brendan Hurley, supervising producer Tanya Bracco, and talent coordinator Emily Lazar and director Jim Hoskinson. There are also a number of crew members whose names I never quite got, but these were some of the most generous and supportive people I’ve ever met!
I was a primary engineer on this video. I worked out the majority of triggers on the upper level, as well as designed and built several of the individual modules, including the Sunrise, the flags, the typewriter mechanism, and the rolling ball/kabuki screen theater. I also contributed the “Make: magazine” race car that rolls down the ramp.
