Gears, mechanisms, pulleys, linkages, and motors are all around us, although we often don’t notice them. Clocks, automatic doors, movie projectors, bicycles, cars, all use clever and simple mechanisms in order to work.
In this month-long event, we explored things that move and ways to control them. We’ve covered and entire room with pegboard, so that you could build marble machines as big or as small as you want.
We are always inspired by makers who explore ways of turning simple motions into delightful works of art. So we have accumulated a collection of automata (crank-operated machines) from a variety of local and foreign artists. You may recognize many of the mechanisms used, and even build your own automaton out of simple materials, such as cardboard and foam.
Few things have become so pervasive as motors: they’re everywhere, even inside our cell phones these days! We put some motors to good use by turning them into machines that draw and scribble as they bounce around.
Take a look at the slideshow for images from this event.
