Sisyphus
It’s been a rather long time since I’ve last been to the Technorama science museum in Winterthur. It appears that the museum now displays an installation called Sisyphus, by Bruce Shapiro, a Californian artist who uses motion control tools as a medium for artistic expression. In Sisyphus [1], a two-axis mechanism moves a powerful magnet under a wide board covered with fine sand. The magnet drags a metallic ball (hence the name) that will draw shapes in the sand as it moves, resulting in truly fascinating figures.
The ball moves very slowly and the figures take many hours to reach completion. Look at the videos available on the Technorama website too see what it looks like.
I like the concept of a complex mechanism being used to draw works of art. Some of the drawn structures are mathematical curves of rare beauty, which demystifies what may sometimes pass as a rather dull and abstract discipline.
Shapiro’s other creations, like the Stratograph or his egg-plotters are equally fascinating.
[1] Maybe at the end of this post I will know where to put the i and the y…