Loops and Bounds

This rolling ball sculpture was commissioned for a clients home. It was built to fit directly onto the banisters of a staircase. The balls are lifted to the top by one main auger, which runs about ten or so feet along the stairway. As the balls reach the top a switch gate sends every other ball to the opposite side of the stairs. To get there it rolls through a metal pipe under the staircase to another auger taking it to the top of that side where it rolls down a course from the top to the bottom of the stairs. Where it then travels back under the stairs to get back on the main ball lift to the top.
The balls that stay on the main side randomly take one of three tracks to the bottom of the sculpture. Overall the balls travel through several large loops and a few jumps. One of which launches the ball about two and half feet straight up where it lands and continues down the course.
To get the measurements correctly while building the sculpture a replica of the staircase was built in the studio that the sculpture could be built directly onto. When the sculpture was finished it was taken apart and then transported to the site where it was then bolted back onto the identical stairway. However before being installed on site the sculpture was part of the "Poetic Kinetics" exhibit at the BYU Museum of Art during the summer of 2003. Brackets were made to attach it to the wall at the entrance to the exhibit. One side of the sculpture was on the outside entrance side and the other was inside the gallery space. A hole was cut in the wall to allow the balls to travel from one side to the other.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• kinetic
• rolling
• ball
• art
• sculpture
• cool
• stairs
• assemblage
• artwork

[Balarick]

they should make a roller coaster version of this.

[animespreader]

That is so dope! gotta love it.

[dragondeth48]

2:25 is sick!!

[CaptainFeigh]

Brilliant

[ttharold]

Excellent! Fantastic! I've seen a number of RBS, but this is probably the first one that I've seen to be incorporated into an existing structure. What a great idea! Must...build one!

[junkymagi]

This would drive me nuts, hehe.

[tharonmiller]

I'd LOVE to know just how much something like this, installed in my stairwell would cost - especially with all of the tweaking that must be required like Abeferraro mentioned. How much??

[austinvs]

i saw this at BYU while i was a student there, very cool!!

[abeferraro]

Nice...now that must have taken a long time tweaking and re-tweaking.