Hoop Jumper

I spent two days making these little toys, with joy and fun, thinking of different ones to make and then last night delighting at making a cat and mouse that endlessly chase each other. They are easy to make especially if you make them a little bigger than I have.

Kinetic Match Boxes

The last two days I have been making matchboxes and miniature sculptures, often getting lost in them and the tiny worlds they inhabit, as I try and fail to share how to make them. At last, I managed to put together the very basic starter design before getting carried away. This is great fun, you just need a matchbox (or some card to make one) card, a split pin, wire( a paperclip) or thread.

Fly

For over a week now, I have been trying to produce activity videos for children or adults, often they have involved me making things that I have been meaning to try for some time, but also they are tried and tested fun activities that I have undertaken with kids, young adults or adults.
I have to say that I have wanted to have a go at making these flyers for some time as I love making kinetic things. These are wonderfully easy, could be very simple or extremely complex.

Rui Miragaia

The last few weeks I have been focusing on Portugal because I visited Lisbon last week, everything so far has been from research and now I am going to share a few personal finds and experiences of the city.
One evening we stumbled upon this giant, kinetic, paper mache rooster sculpture by Rui Miragaia. It is situated in Martim Moniz Square, Lisbon. As it is outside and has been exposed to the weather for a number of months, it is a beautiful, if slightly disheveled bird made even more magical by its survival in the sun, the wind and the rain.

Dunja Schandin I

Dunja Schandin is a German paper mache artist and puppet maker, based in Mannheim, who has been increasing animating her sculptures with a simple kinetic mechanisms, including flying seagulls and cranes that have a delicate, fragile beauty.
You can see youtube video's of Dunja's kinetics on her channel here, her sculptures here and her shop here.
Thank you Mary X

Tammy Smith

 

 

Tammy Smith grew up near an old abandoned amusement park, in its state of disrepair it has had a  great impact on Tammy's visual language. 

After working for many years as a professional illustrator at Hallmark, Tammy Smith now creates ever more intricate and wonderful circus shows as sculptures and wall pieces into which she incorporates lighting fixtures or includes kinetic elements. (interview)

Jessica Ramm Revisited

I stumbled upon 2009 in my blog and I have to say it needs some dusting, like the back of  cupboard, it was a time when I didn't know how to add links and now some of those links have expired. 
However in attempting to tidy up, I wandered off and had a look at what various artists were doing now.
In 2009 I had the chance to see Jessica Ramm's degree show at Dundee. Jessica is still producing work that explores movement and sound. This is a beautiful fluttering installation called Icarus Machines where the wings are programmed to flap silently every 20 minutes a fussion of the myth of Icarus and the propulsion of moths to fly to close to the light.

Sharmanka (Hurdy Gurdy) Eduard Bersudsky

Top: Forget Me Not Detail

Middle: Time of the Rats

Bottom: Noah's Ark

Sharmanka has touched my life on a number of occasions. A theatre of kinetic sculptures founded by Eduard Bersudsky in St Petersberg in 1989, it has now been based in Glasgow since 1996.

It captures me obviously with its kinetic and automata elements constructed from old sewing machines, wheel chairs ect, but it also has the fantastic added drama of the Shadow theatre. An inspiration on many levels.

Robert Race

Top: Moon Priest

Middle: Robert gathering drift wood next to one of his large pieces.

Bottom: Canoe with Birds

http://www.robertrace.co.uk/ Robert Race makes moving sculpture and automata's, lately he makes these from mainly drift wood, they are very poetic and beautiful.