The Kinetic Wood Sculptures of David Roy

Each of David C. Roy's kinetic wood scuptures is a self-contained technological marvel, a clockwork river leaking entropy with immeasurable grace and elegance.

There are no batteries, no hidden cords, nothing beyond a simple spring that provides up to a day of operation, depending on the compexity of the mechanism. Since 1975 David has created dozens of these curious works of art, many produced in limited edition only, as if revealing artefacts from some strange and fey culture to which the rest of the world is denied access:

"A final design is usually the product of equal measures of planning, engineering and serendipity. A successful sculpture has to be entertaining and have an interesting motion. I have to be able to make it for a reasonable price and it has to be reliable. I also have to be able to ship it any where in the world and have people unpack it, set it up and operate it without problems."

Roy's far from the only artist working with finely-crafted wooden automata. If you're not mesmerized by these tilted mills of abstract physical engineering, try Pablo Lavezzari's chattering demons, presented for your inspection by John Brownlee at sister blog Table of Malcontents.

Wood That Works