PHOTOGRAPHY – Abstract Series 26

AS26 Announcement, posted by hanswendland

Abstract photos of the “energizer human hamster wheel” at the St. Louis Science Center in Saint Louis, Missouri.

I really love this thing! This is the second time I visited the museum and this time specifically to photograph the “energizer human hamster wheel”. The motion is hypnotic, I could stare at if for ever, your eyes become glued to the balls as they travel the course.

I could photograph this contraption endlessly and wish I could do so at nigh… maybe next time I will try to arrange this. The photographs I took this time and published here are by far the best of the two sessions. This time I really tried to capture the motion, isolating small parts of the tract or supporting frame work.

This subject is exactly the kind of work that lends itself best to being printed in very large format (1m x 1.5m on canvas), and I really hope to get the opportunity to print these and show them. I printed a number of photos of the machine from my last visit on photographic paper 50 x 75cm and sold them out.

From the Saint Louis Acience Center web site

Reenergize yourself at the St. Louis Science Center with the Energizer® Machine! Three stories tall and almost as wide, the Energizer® Machine branches throughout the entire, renovated Emerson Lobby, stretching from floor to ceiling like an enormous indoor tree. Its 30-foot metal infrastructure supports spirals, funnels, loops, and slides that send colorful balls tumbling and plummeting around the lobby.

The Energizer® Machine is the largest kinetic sculpture of its kind in the world. Visitors supply the kinetic energy needed to power the Energizer® Machine. Walking a treadmill or turning a crank send the machine into action. The machine performs 50 different “events,” all that exhibit the principles of physics and all that entertain, captivate, and engage visitors. Watch balls fly through conveyer belts and aluminum tracks, set off spinning flags, and swing a pendulum with the help of simple machines like the pulley, the screw, and the inclined plane. The machine entices visitors to learn, welcoming them into the lobby and persuading them to linger in an environment designed to spark science learning.