Springy Mobile

This sculpture is like a mobile, but with springs. The rods are all interconnected and so they influence one another, setting up beautiful undulations when you set the whole thing in motion. It is designed to be hung from above so it can swing freely.

Springy Mobile (2017)
Oak, bamboo and music wire
24 x 24 x 12 inches

My favorite way to get this sculpture moving is to have the whole thing swinging from its point of suspension. Then the rods, which are each balanced, try and maintain their original horizontal orientation while the hoop is banking and angling back and forth and around and around. The result is that the rods develop a pivoting motion with respect to the stirring hoop and everything comes alive.

Here’s a video which shows off the sculpture from multiple angles and demonstrates a few different movement patterns:

I also tell the story of the development of the original concept and construction of a few prototypes in this video:

And in this last video you can see the making of the final sculpture:

The creation of this sculpture involved a lot of trial and error. In the end, I think it came out well. And along the way I was able to make a few discoveries that I intend to apply to upcoming sculptures.