David C. Roy | |
---|---|
Born | 1952 |
Education | Boston University |
Known for | Spring-driven kinetic sculptures of wood |
Notable work | Dimensions - capable of running 40 hours on a single wind [1] |
Movement | Kinetic art |
Spouse(s) | Marjorie E. "Marji" Roy, 1974-present [2] |
Relatives | Karen Rubin (daughter) [3] |
Website | woodthatworks |
David C. Roy is a kinetic sculptor. [4] [5] He has designed over 150 different moving sculptures and produced one-of-a-kind or limited edition instances of each: In total he has hand-built thousands of pieces. [6] [7]
Roy's father was an aeronautical engineer working on jet engines, and as a boy he was interested in invention and science. In 1974, Roy received a degree in physics from Boston University and then got a job as a computer programmer for an insurance company until becoming a sculptor in 1975. [8] [9] [10] The idea for the career direction came from his wife-to-be, Marji, who was at the time an art student at Rhode Island School of Design. [9]
His sculptures, which are mainly made from laminated Baltic birch hardwood, are not timepieces but they do include clockwork-like mechanisms such as escapements, suspended weights, counter-weights, and (more recently) constant force springs. [1] [11] [12] They are not electrically powered because an important connection is that the viewer winds the piece by hand. [13] The run time of early models was about 30 minutes, but he has refined the technique to the point that some run up to 40 hours on a single full wind. [14] Many include the moving moiré pattern from co-axial spoked wheels rotating in opposite directions. [15] Roy focuses not only on the motion but also the sound. He has developed escapements that are either nearly silent or that produce the soft clicking of wood on wood. [16] A few incorporate wind chime tubes. [6] In the beginning he hand drew his schematics, but he has gradually migrated to computer-assisted design and animation. [17] [18]
His studio is in Ashford, Connecticut. [2]
His work has been displayed since the late 1970s in science and art museums, in art galleries, and is in corporate and private collections around the world. [19] His work and life has been covered in publications including the New York Times, [20] [21] Discover magazine, [22] the Hartford Courant, [23] and the Boston Globe. [24] Writing for the Baltimore Evening Sun, Carl Schoettler waxed poetically that "Echo ... looks like a spinning wheel for ghost tales at midnight. Serendipity ... might measure rainbows." [25] Bill Aller of the New York Times found them "intriguing." [21] A turning point in Roy's career was acceptance to exhibit at the Northeast Craft Fair in Rhinebeck, New York. [13] Reviewing this exhibit at the 1979 show, Nancy Pappas of the Hartford Courant was impressed with the sculptures' "silent, hypnotic motion." [26] In the Journal Inquirer Richard Tamling wrote about the "...constantly shifting relationships among shapes - as occurs in mobiles - as well as motion and sound [27] In InformArt Magazine, Tyler Chartier found the moving parts create "...wondrous patterns that spin, swirl, flutter, and undulate in the most entrancing ways." [28] Writing for American Woodturner Journal, Peter Rand observed that the motion in the pieces is "...intriguing in its sequence, which is infused with rhythm and evolves over time." [29]
In 2020, Roy was interviewed about his art by Wired magazine. [30]
Kinetic art is art from any medium that contains movement perceivable by the viewer or that depends on motion for its effect. Canvas paintings that extend the viewer's perspective of the artwork and incorporate multidimensional movement are the earliest examples of kinetic art. More pertinently speaking, kinetic art is a term that today most often refers to three-dimensional sculptures and figures such as mobiles that move naturally or are machine operated. The moving parts are generally powered by wind, a motor or the observer. Kinetic art encompasses a wide variety of overlapping techniques and styles.
Woodturning is the craft of using a wood lathe with hand-held tools to cut a shape that is symmetrical around the axis of rotation. Like the potter's wheel, the wood lathe is a simple mechanism that can generate a variety of forms. The operator is known as a turner, and the skills needed to use the tools were traditionally known as turnery. In pre-industrial England, these skills were sufficiently difficult to be known as 'the misterie' of the turners guild. The skills to use the tools by hand, without a fixed point of contact with the wood, distinguish woodturning and the wood lathe from the machinist's lathe, or metal-working lathe.
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Each machine relies on a constant force spring ... earliest sculptures employed a suspended weight to induce the motion, much like a pendulum clock.
Today, from a small Ashford, Connecticut wood shop,
Her father studied physics in college and has since become a professional artist specializing in kinetic motion devices. Her mother studied sculpture and runs the family business that sells her husband’s art.
Since 1975 David has created dozens of these curious works of art
...he has designed and handcrafted over 150 different limited edition and one-of-a-kind kinetic sculptures and built thousands
...engineering scholarship to Boston University. He switched to chemistry for a while and eventually received a degree in physics.
Towards the end of my degree, I started spending time at the Rhode Island School of Design, where my future (and present!) wife Marji was studying sculpture and art education.
By the summer of 1975 ... David quit his job in insurance and began working full time on...
The "arms" at the top of David C. Roy's Geppetto ... are counter-weighted by long "legs" that frame the left side of this movable piece.
I started using the springs and never looked back.
The idea is for you to put in your energy, then sculpture runs for half an hour to an hour
mechanical wind-up mechanisms without the aid of electricity ... capable of whirling around for a whopping 40+ hours.
...wheels so they always move at the same pace but in opposite directions...
Roy designs all his kinetic sculptures using Illustrator 88. He uses Swivel 3D and MacroMind Director to produce animated prototypes.
...using Adobe Illustrator on an Apple Mac is just the start.
Also featured here are mesmerising kinetic sculptures by David Roy...
Some of the more intriguing pieces are kinetic wall sculpture by Dave and Margie Roy
David Roy is an artist in Ashford, Connecticut, who has always been fascinated by motion and mechanics.
Echo ... looks like a spinning wheel for ghost tales at midnight. Serendipity ... might measure rainbows.
...wind-up weights attached to almost-invisible strings can keep the sculptures in silent, hypnotic motion for as much as three hours at a stretch.
...figures that travel - that spin, somersault and rotate - and form shifting constellations of shapes ... constantly shifting relationships among shapes - as occurs in mobiles - as well as motion and sound.
[The real art] is a visual interplay between the different physical pieces that creates wondrous patterns that spin, swirl, flutter, and undulate in the most entrancing ways.
Motion in these geometric pieces is complex, of variable speed and pattern formation, and intriguing in its sequence, which is infused with rhythm and evolves over time.