Reuben Margolin’s Kinetic Wave Sculptures

I'm a word nerd who loves to geek out on how emerging technology affects the lexicon. I was an editor on the first 40 volumes of MAKE, and I love shining light on the incredible makers in our community. In particular, covering art is my passion — after all, art is the first thing most of us ever made. When not fawning over perfect word choices, I can be found on the nearest mountain, looking for untouched powder fields and ideal alpine lakes.

Contact me at snowgoli@gmail.com or via @snowgoli.

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March 23rd, 2011 22

Our Mechanics theme brought to mind San Francisco Bay Area kinetic sculptor Reuben Margolin, one of my all-time favorite artists. He makes mind-blowing, moving art based on tiny observations in nature. His collection of waves has the ability to quiet, soothe, and inspire awe in the viewer. Margolin combines math and simple materials (and insanely neat string and pulley systems) to recreate and amplify subtle effects that often go unnoticed in nature, like a tiny ripple or the movement of a caterpillar. One of my favorite Make: television segments is this fascinating 10-minute profile of Margolin:

22 thoughts on “Reuben Margolin’s Kinetic Wave Sculptures”

Cail Young says:

March 24th, 2011 at 2:26 am

Apologies for the poor video link. A local dance company has just put on a production collaborating with Reuben where one of his sculptures is “driven” by some dancers. It’s pretty awesome.

http://media.theage.com.au/entertainment/red-carpet/chunky-move-gets-connected-2233278.html

Anonymous says:

March 24th, 2011 at 5:33 am

Wow–very cool! Thanks for sharing!

Chris Emerson Wooten says:

March 24th, 2011 at 4:19 am

please look at this — moving / mobile sculpture. loved it.
Thomas Gaskin says:

March 26th, 2011 at 9:11 am

getting it done like a boss
Audrey Lynne Cook says:

April 3rd, 2011 at 4:23 pm

love this guy’s mind; be sure to see it through to the end…
Audrey Lynne Cook says:

April 3rd, 2011 at 4:25 pm

art is the search for truth some say; love the way this person thinks and the implications for energy!
Goh Chun Fan says:

April 6th, 2011 at 4:37 pm

Amazing!
Alparslan Erden says:

May 23rd, 2011 at 8:31 am

Iskenderiyeli Heron mübarek
scott silva says:

June 9th, 2011 at 4:40 am

far out
Elliott Cole says:

November 3rd, 2011 at 10:34 pm

this was a mind blowing video, i’m speechless
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December 29th, 2011 at 7:15 pm

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