Kinetic Sculpture

If you live in the Los Angeles area, be sure to check out Pershing Square as soon as you can where an amazing kinetic sculpture, entitled ‘Liquid Shard’, is currently on display. There is no word on how long it will be up.

The sculpture was designed by artist Patrick Shearn of the Poetic Kinetics group, a group responsible for several similar projects, which you can often see at gatherings like Burning Man.

I love this particular piece for it’s apparent simplicity. Kinetic sculpture can often be deceptively complicated. But this sculpture seems to make the most out of a simple arrangement of tinsel trimmings and uses the wind to create it’s complex, and ever changing form. There is something so natural feeling about it, that it seems to evoke something fantastic, yet familiar.

You can see more footage of the sculpture at the group’s Facebook page found HERE.

Likewise, I recently discovered the work of sculptor Anthony Howe, who creates these absolutely mesmerizing sculptures. They are obvious far more complex in design than the sculpture above, but still evoke much of the same sense of awe at their naturalness.

Anthony, who is based out of Salt Lake City, Utah, begins his creations with the use of computer aided design and plasma cutter. The sculptures are then finished by hand using traditional metal working techniques.

But don’t get your hopes up, even though Howe does accept commissions, they start at a Quarter of a Million dollars.

However, if you like that work, you may also like the work of David Roy, whose sculptures are created as limited runs and are affordable enough that even a modest art collector can own one.

These sculptures rely on simple spring to create their motion, but are so delicate that even a few turns of a dial can send the sculpture into their dance-like state for over 15 hours!