Main Project Plans and Inspiration

What is your personal aesthetic?

The aesthetic that I have been running with thus far is spacecore, and previously it was retro-futurism. Both of these aesthetics share some qualities: some retro-futuristic artworks could be considered spacecore as well. The reason I switched is because the retro-futurism aesthetic requires that I include artwork with the style of the early-mid 90s, and I don’t have much talent when it comes to drawing, especially replicating a style. That being said, the space race and the emerging concepts of space travel from that time period were huge influences to both of the aesthetics, and it could be argued that the two aesthetics have influenced one another.

Space has always been interesting to me. It is fun to think about how old the stars in the sky are, how far the sky goes beyond what we can see, and how we’re seeing less and less of it every day. It is also fascinating to think about how Earth is the only planet we know of with intelligent life, thinking about the Great Filter Theory, and how even if there are aliens out in space, we may never find them, or they already died, or they haven’t been born yet. Even trying to write this paragraph, I’m getting off track thinking about space and all of its mystery. I’ve also listened to a lot of Pink Floyd, which gets me thinking about space when I listen to Dark Side of the Moon. Obviously, it is a metaphor, but even still, it gets me thinking. I’m also really into dubstep music, which often carries some spacecore themes with it.

At the moment I’m planning on sticking with the spacecore aesthetic, though that is not yet set in stone. My current idea is to make a kinetic sculpture. When I think of kinetic sculpture, these are a few things that come to mind. Newton’s Cradle, the desk decoration with the balls that swing and transfer momentum, a chaotic motion pendulum, made up of two rods with pins joining them, creating some unpredictable motion, and the classic balancing eagle, which I’m sure about everyone has seen.

Some other kinetic sculptures that come to mind are the ones shown below. I’m not exactly sure what they’re called, but the one on the left has feathery structures that rotate around the large middle ring, creating a sort of infinite turning-inside-out illusion. The one on the right is meant to be spun, and the angular acceleration makes the pieces shift and un-align to form a flowery geometric pattern.

I will not be copying any of the examples shown. I hope I can manage to take elements I like from each design to make something interesting and new. As far as the aesthetic, I’m hoping to continue with spacecore, and I think I will be able to, but there is also a chance that I transition to something like a natural or industrial aesthetic. Once I get further into the design and building process of my project, I will have a better idea of what direction I want to take it in, and a better understanding of how all of these kinetic sculptures are made.

Image Links:

Chaotic Motion Pendulum Gif

Balancing Eagle

Newton’s Cradle

Wind Kinetic Sculpture 

Spinning Kinetic Sculpture