kinetic Art

Manipuable Exhibition: Felipe Pantone

See the amazing works of Felipe Pantone: https://www.felipepantone.com

More about the recent exhibtion at: Gallery COMMON

Explore some of the other physics based art in my collection: physicsfun art

Manipulable Exhibition: an incredible interactive souvenir from artist Felipe Pantone’s recent solo exhibition at @gallerycommon entitled “Manipulable”. Pantone takes op art to the next level- mixing physics and the psychophysics of vision within forms that invite physical interactivity, astounding the senses and giving new insights to our perception. I’m eternally grateful to Galley COMMON for sending me this opening day souvenir for my collection.


Double Pendulum with Glow Tracer Screen

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Double Pendulum with Glow Tracer Screen: A UV diode traces the intricate path of the pendulum on to a phosphorescent screen, revealing its chaotic motion. It’s amazing that such complex motion can arise from a simple assembly of two pendulums, one attached to the end of the other. Chaotic motion, such as that observed here, is characterized by extreme sensitivity to initial starting conditions, tiny differences in how the system is released leads to dramatically different outcomes each time. 

Mercury Fountain of Calder

This fountain is on display here:

Visit: Fundació Joan Miró

Here is a discription of the artwork by the artist Calder himself.

See my other posts: cautious fun with mercury

Mercury Fountain: Some amazing physics fun from my January holiday in Barcelona- a fountain of flowing metal with 150 liters of mercury filling a two meter in diameter reflecting pool. This fountain is kinetic art created for the 1937 World’s Fair in Paris by the famous artist of mobiles, Alexander Calder, and features aspects of his trademark design. Given the density of mercury at 13.5 g/ml, the liquid in the fountain weighs in at roughly 2000 kg (4500 lbs), and at the bottom of the fountain Calder utilizes the small but massive droplets to impact a paddle which keeps the mobile components in motion. This work also has important historical significance as a political statement against injustice. Note that the top of the mobile includes, in cursive, Almaden, in remembrance of the mercury mining town that suffered under Franko’s siege during the Spanish Civil War in 1936. The fountain now sits behind thick sealed glass on display in the Joan Miró Foundation museum atop Montjuïc in Barcelona.


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Hexacon and Sphericon Rollers

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Hexacon Roller: beautiful 3D printed versions of a recent mathematical discovery of new developable rollers (objects that roll where every point on the roller’s surface comes into contact with the plane upon which it rolls). Similar to the sphericon (based on a square) the hexacon rolls in a straight line with a peculiar wobble motion but has a hexagonal cross section (swipe to see video loop of each in motion). The hexacon (2019) and sphericon (1980) are two of a family of such rollers called polycons discovered by David Hirsch, and described in a paper by Hirsch and Seaton published in 2020. 


Motion of Rolling Sphericons

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Sphericons are unique solids that roll in such a way that every point on their surface comes in contact with the plane. Solids from the sphericon family all have one side and two edges. Each sphericon is based on an even sided regular polygon, with the basic sphericon derived from a square, and the next two possible shapes are the hexa-sphericon and octo-sphericon, each rolling with a more complicated path.

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Spinning Liquid Pen

Get this pen set here (dolphin, turtle, polar bear, penguin):

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Spinning Liquid Pen: two immiscible fluids (three if you count the air bubble) are sorted under gravity by density with the densest on the bottom and the lightest on top. When the container is rotated, the boundary between the layers forms a parabola due to the added influence of centripetal acceleration as seen here in 240 fps slow motion. The plastic dolphin has a density between that of the two liquids so it stays at the boundary layer. A rather silly toy- but so much physics to explore here! 


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Mirror Rattleback Pair

The amazing work of Emmanuel Péluchon can be purchased here:
From Boisselier.ca: BUY NOW: Fine Woodworked Rattleback

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Other rattlebacks variations found here- check them out: physicsfun rattlebacks

Enantiomorphic Rattlebacks: due to mirror reflection construction, one prefers to spin counter clockwise the other prefers clockwise. This behavior is related to an asymmetry in weight along the left/right symmetry axis of these beautifully crafted objects- the dark wood is Apple which has twice the density of the light colored Basswood(Linden). This asymmetry in weight induces an instability, quite like the vibrations that arise from an unbalanced tire, that transfers the rotational energy to the intermediate rocking vibrations. This amazing set was made by Emmanuel Péluchon, fine woodworker and artist. 

Zulu Telephone Wire Bowl

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Geometric Weaving: this Zulu telephone wire bowl, made in the traditions of South Africa, features a brilliant spiral pattern. The bright colors come from weaving strands of colored wires- the kind used to connect phones throughout buildings. This particular pattern inspired using a rotating base to display this bowl as kinetic sculpture.


100 Carat Diamond Timer

This item came in my Curiosity Box subscription. Join today to expand your science toy collection! 

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100 Carat Diamond Timer: a classic one minute timer glass but filled with tiny diamonds! Another novel creation that just arrived in my @thecuriositybox — ideal timing for a New Years day post. Actual diamonds but synthetic from a process called chemical vapor deposition, think less gemstone and more industrial- such as those used in diamond tipped saw blades used to cut gemstones. Yellow gold in color due to nitrogen impurities that facilitate the carbon atoms to join into the diamond lattice structure. These tiny crystals seem to be quite elastic and they rebound energetically as they hit glass below. 

 

HoverPen Interstellar Edition

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The HoverPen (Interstellar Edition): A sleek writing pen trapped against gravity- at an elegant angle of 23 degrees - by a magnetic field via precision engineered placement of neodymium magnets in the base. Produced by the Novium line of awesome physics based products- and a financial supporter of science education including a personal favorite YouTube channel: PBS SpaceTime. 

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