"Rhymes With 'Biscuit'" rolling-ball sculpture

April 17, 2023 12:09 AM

"Rhymes With 'Biscuit'" rolling-ball sculpture
Link goes to 3:30 YouTube video. Rolling-ball sculptures typically involve lifting balls via some mechanism and then letting them roll down various interesting routes. Rhymes With "Biscuit" takes a different approach; it has the balls rolling round and round without going up and down (very much).

Role: designer maker

posted by mpark (8 comments total)

Very satisfying to see the shifting balance, but I also like the dog-like sound of the servo shifting the track segment.
posted by ignignokt at 9:17 AM on April 17, 2023 [2 favorites]

Mesmerizing in the way that good juggling is. There's not really much going on, but it still feels a little like the chaos of a good multiball pinball run, where your eyes want to be everywhere at once. I love a good rolling-ball sculpture, and I love that this one takes a very different approach and totally nails it. Extra points for looking very finely crafted rather than cobbled together.
posted by rikschell at 5:27 AM on April 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

rikschell, the juggling comparison is very apt. I was definitely thinking in terms of cascades, though not airborne of course. And it just occurred to me that this could be considered a form of contact juggling. Maybe? I might post to r/juggling and see what they make of it. (Huh, turns out there's an r/contactjuggling).
posted by mpark at 11:46 AM on April 20, 2023

Oh. "Lemniscate." Nice.
posted by nebulawindphone at 6:08 AM on April 28, 2023 [1 favorite]

Finally!
posted by mpark at 8:53 AM on April 28, 2023

This is how I learned that I've been pronouncing "Lemniscate" wrong in my head for my entire life.
posted by nebulawindphone at 10:09 AM on April 28, 2023 [1 favorite]

How did you discover the word in the first place, nebulawindphone? I learned the word just a few months ago while working on this thing (I posted some lemniscate-related AskMes).
posted by mpark at 11:10 AM on April 28, 2023

I think the science museum where I grew up used it in the wall text next to an exhibit. Maybe there was a pendulum that drew lemniscates? It stuck in my head as the name of the shape, but, reading-focused kid that I was, I must never have used it out loud. I'd always imagined it pronounced like "roller skate."
posted by nebulawindphone at 11:13 AM on April 28, 2023 [1 favorite]