 ROLLING BALL SCULPTURES
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BRUCE BROWN
Kinetic Artist/Computer Scientist ARTIST STATEMENT: I like to watch things move and I like to make things. I could spend an hour watching pelicans and or a tractor moving earth. I can also spend all day shaping wood or bending wire until it becomes the thing I want. Art was a hobby most of my life. My career took me overseas fo many years. I managed computer systems in developing countries for U.S. Government relief and development efforts. Wherever I was, I enjoyed looking into the workshops and seeing things being made. Craftspeople with limited resources make up for it with perseverance and planning. I saw a plumber in Ethiopia drill a faucet hole in a sink by tapping on it with a screwdriver for an hour or so. With each tap, a tiny flake of porcelain broke loose. It seems tedious, but it probably didn’t take any longer than it would take me to drive to the hardware store and buy a carbide drill bit. It seems like rolling ball sculptures and other kinetic art are always in the background somewhere. I see them in movies and commercials frequently. I’m not sure when I knew I wanted to make them, but I remember two pieces in particular that probably pushed me over the edge. Many years ago, I lived in Yellow Springs, Ohio. there was a jewelry store with an elaborate wire-work clock. It had many gears with human wire figures turning cranks and such. I always enjoyed stopping to look at it through the store window. A few years later I was delayed on a flight out of Sacramento. In the terminal was a big glass box with a rolling ball sculpture. I looked at it for hours; it had a wonderful chain lift and a couple of track switches. I never throw anything electrical or electronic away. I have to take it apart and salvage things. Motors, wires, springs, screws. I like to make my art with what materials and tools I have on hand when I start. Often it begins with a leftover piece of wood... |