David C. Roy

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David C. Roy
David C. Roy, Kinetic Sculptor.jpg
David C. Roy, Kinetic Sculptor in 2006
Born1952
Education Boston University
Known forSpring-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.com

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]

Contents

Education and career

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]

Reception

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]

Related Research Articles

Kinetic art Genre of artworks that contains movement

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 Craft

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.

Whirligig Object that spins or whirls

A whirligig is an object that spins or whirls, or has at least one part that spins or whirls. It can also be a pinwheel, spinning top, buzzer, comic weathervane, gee-haw, spinner, whirlygig, whirlijig, whirlyjig, whirlybird, or simply a whirly. They are most commonly powered by the wind but can be hand-, friction- or motor-powered. They can be used as kinetic garden ornaments, and can be designed to transmit sound and vibration into the ground to repel burrowing rodents.

Theo Jansen Dutch artist

Theodorus Gerardus Jozef Jansen is a Dutch artist. In 1990, he began building large mechanisms out of PVC that are able to move on their own and, collectively, are entitled, Strandbeest. The kinetic sculptures appear to walk. His animated works are intended to be a fusion of art and engineering. He has said that "The walls between art and engineering exist only in our minds." He strives to equip his creations with their own artificial intelligence so they may avoid obstacles such as the sea, by changing course when detected.

Ralfonso Gschwend Swiss kinetic sculptor (born 1959)

Ralfonso "Ralf" Gschwend is a Swiss kinetic sculptor.

The American Association of Woodturners (AAW) is the principal organization in the United States supporting the art and craft of woodturning. It is sometimes stylized as American Association of Wood Turners (AAW). Established in 1986 and headquartered in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the organization encompasses more than 15,000 members in the United States and many foreign nations. As of 2013, the AAW was affiliated with nearly 350 local chapters worldwide. In addition to sponsoring an annual national symposium, the AAW provides support to local clubs for outreach and education. The 25th anniversary of the AAW was celebrated in 2011 at the annual symposium held in Saint Paul. Phil McDonald is executive director of the organization.

Anne Wilson (artist) American artist

Anne Wilson is a Chicago-based visual artist. Wilson creates sculpture, drawings, Internet projects, photography, performance, and DVD stop motion animations employing table linens, bed sheets, human hair, lace, thread and wire. Her work extends the traditional processes of fiber art to other media. Wilson is a professor in the Department of Fiber and Material Studies at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Jeff Lieberman (artist engineer)

Jeff Lieberman is an artist and engineer working in a wide variety of artistic and technological media. He was also the host of the documentary show Time Warp on Discovery Channel, and directed a number of short films featuring greatly speeded-up or slowed-down time sequences.

Mark Lindquist is an American sculptor in wood, artist, author, and photographer. Lindquist is a major figure in the redirection and resurgence of woodturning in the United States beginning in the early 1970s. His communication of his ideas through teaching, writing, and exhibiting, has resulted in many of his pioneering aesthetics and techniques becoming common practice. In the exhibition catalog for a 1995 retrospective of Lindquist's works at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, his contributions to woodturning and wood sculpture are described as "so profound and far-reaching that they have reconstituted the field". He has often been credited with being the first turner to synthesize the disparate and diverse influences of the craft field with that of the fine arts world.

Jansens linkage

Jansen's linkage is a planar leg mechanism designed by the kinetic sculptor Theo Jansen to generate a smooth walking motion. Jansen has used his mechanism in a variety of kinetic sculptures which are known as Strandbeesten. Jansen's linkage bears artistic as well as mechanical merit for its simulation of organic walking motion using a simple rotary input. These leg mechanisms have applications in mobile robotics and in gait analysis.

Angela Conner FRBS is an English sculptor who works in London. Conner has exhibited internationally and has large scale sculptures in public and private collections around the world.

Robert Perless American artist

Robert Perless is an American artist whose particular focus is kinetic art sculptures.

Noeline Brokenshire was New Zealand sportswoman, who represented her country in field hockey, and as a hurdler at the 1950 British Empire Games. Later she was a gallery owner and noted woodturner, and the founder and publisher of New Zealand's first woodworking magazine, Touch Wood.

Kay Sekimachi is an American fiber artist and weaver, best known for her three-dimensional woven monofilament hangings as well as her intricate baskets and bowls.

George Rhoads American painter and sculptor

George Rhoads was a contemporary American painter, sculptor, and origami master. He was best known for his whimsical audiokinetic sculptures in airports, science museums, shopping malls, children’s hospitals, and other public places throughout the world.

Binh Pho was a Vietnamese-American artist best known for his pierced and painted works in wood.

Karen Rubin American serial entrepreneur

Karen Ann Rubin is an entrepreneur. She joined HubSpot where she co-hosted HubSpot TV, and was entrepreneur-in-residence at Matrix Partners in 2013-2014. In 2014, she joined Quantopian as Vice President of Product Management. In 2015 she authored a study that shows that women-led companies perform better than average. She started her career in 2004 in investment banking.

<i>Halo</i> (sculpture) Kinetic sculpture in Sydney, Australia

Halo is a wind powered kinetic sculpture in Sydney, Australia. Located at Central Park, the artwork is part of a major mixed-use urban renewal project to redevelop the old Kent Brewery site in Broadway.

Michelle Holzapfel

Michelle Holzapfel is an American woodturner and a participant in the American Craft movement. Michelle Holzapfel has five decades of experience turning and carving native hardwoods in Marlboro, Vermont, where she has lived her adult life. Holzapfel fits the definitions of both Studio artist and Material movement artist. A product of the revolutionary back-to-the-earth movement of 1960s and 1970s, she attributes the expressiveness of her turned and carved forms to the idealism of those years. Raised in rural Rhode Island, she has worked alone in her Vermont studio—shared only with her husband, the furniture maker and educator David Holzapfel—since 1976. Her wood pieces which feature intricate carvings have been exhibited in museums and galleries in the U.S., Australia and Europe. Publications featuring her work include but are not limited to House Beautiful, American Craft, Woodworking, and Fine Woodworking.

Alexandre da Cunha is a Brazilian-British artist, who produces sculpture and wall mounted works, often using found objects. His works have been exhibited around the world, and are located in several major public collections.

References

  1. 1 2 Ouellette, Jennifer (2015-09-14). "These Cool Kinetic Sculptures Can Run 40 Hours After a Single Wind of the Spring". Gizmodo. Retrieved 2016-01-05. Each machine relies on a constant force spring ... earliest sculptures employed a suspended weight to induce the motion, much like a pendulum clock.
  2. 1 2 Crockett, Zachary (2015-05-13). "The Kinetic Wood Sculptor". Priceonomics. Retrieved 2016-01-05. Today, from a small Ashford, Connecticut wood shop,
  3. ↑ Ben Mirin (2013-04-29). "VF Profiles: Karen Rubin - A Passion to Build in Boston". VentureFizz. Retrieved 2015-04-08. 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.
  4. ↑ Beschizza, Rob (2006-11-06). "The Kinetic Wood Sculptures of David Roy". WIRED. Retrieved 2016-01-05. Since 1975 David has created dozens of these curious works of art
  5. ↑ "Now That's Craftsmanship, Boyo". WIRED. 2004-04-22. Retrieved 2016-01-05.
  6. 1 2 Roy, David (2011-09-16). "TEDxBGSU - DAVID ROY- KINETIC SCULPTOR". TEDx Talks YouTube Channel, TEDxBGSU, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio. Retrieved 2016-01-05. ...he has designed and handcrafted over 150 different limited edition and one-of-a-kind kinetic sculptures and built thousands
  7. ↑ Roy, David C. "Portfolio" . Retrieved 2016-01-09.
  8. ↑ Abrams, Michael (November 2015). "The Beauty of Movement". American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Retrieved 2016-01-05. ...engineering scholarship to Boston University. He switched to chemistry for a while and eventually received a degree in physics.
  9. 1 2 "Once a physicist: David Roy". Physics World (Institute of Physics, UK). February 2010. Retrieved 2016-01-05. 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.
  10. ↑ Kim, Damon; Carlson, Patricia (December 1977). "Small Business and Crafts: Wooden Kinetics". Yankee Magazine. 41 (12): 131. By the summer of 1975 ... David quit his job in insurance and began working full time on...
  11. ↑ Worrell, Pat (Summer 2002). "All the Right Moves". AmericanStyle Magazine. 8 (4): 80. 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.
  12. ↑ Mok, Kimberley (2015-09-18). "These mesmerizing kinetic sculptures run up to 40 hours without electricity". TreeHugger. Retrieved 2016-01-05. I started using the springs and never looked back.
  13. 1 2 Schiro, Anne-Marie (1980-06-28). "America's Craftsmen Gather at Rhinebeck". The New York Times. p. C1. The idea is for you to put in your energy, then sculpture runs for half an hour to an hour
  14. ↑ Jobson, Christopher (2015-09-14). "These self-propelled kinetic wood sculptures by David C. Roy can spin for nearly a day". Colossal. Retrieved 2016-01-05. mechanical wind-up mechanisms without the aid of electricity ... capable of whirling around for a whopping 40+ hours.
  15. ↑ Roy, David C. (December 2010). "Principles of Design, Kinetic Art" (PDF). Northwest Woodturners Newsletter. 17 (12). ...wheels so they always move at the same pace but in opposite directions...
  16. ↑ Ehrlich, Lara (Spring 2016). "Art in Motion". Boston University, College of Arts and Sciences magazine. Retrieved 2017-03-26. includes a video How to Make a Kinetic Sculpture
  17. ↑ MacWorld, Macintosh Master Calendar. April 1991. Roy designs all his kinetic sculptures using Illustrator 88. He uses Swivel 3D and MacroMind Director to produce animated prototypes.
  18. ↑ Bedford, Mike (September 2001). Computer Shopper UK: Sculpture Club. p. 320. ...using Adobe Illustrator on an Apple Mac is just the start.
  19. ↑ "'Energy Sculpture' at Bruce Museum – a visual motion study". The Greenwich Times. 1983-03-12.
  20. ↑ Malarcher, Patricia (1986-12-07). "CRAFTS; A Guide To Holiday Shopping". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-01-05. Also featured here are mesmerising kinetic sculptures by David Roy...
  21. 1 2 Aller, Bill (1979-05-24). "Handmade Crafts by Theater Artists". The New York Times. Some of the more intriguing pieces are kinetic wall sculpture by Dave and Margie Roy
  22. ↑ Kim, Scott (2003-10-01). "Bogglers: Spinning". Discover Magazine. 24 (10): 83. Retrieved 2016-01-05. David Roy is an artist in Ashford, Connecticut, who has always been fascinated by motion and mechanics.
  23. ↑ Croft, Jack (1987-02-20). "Couple toy with kinetics, succeed in business". The Hartford Courant, Eastern Edition. p. D3.
  24. ↑ Temin, Christine (1982-05-27). "Critic's Tip: Exhibits: Sculpture that does things". The Boston Globe.
  25. ↑ Schoettler, Carl (1978-02-17). "Some Ado About Machines Working Well Doing Nothing". The Evening Sun, Baltimore. Echo ... looks like a spinning wheel for ghost tales at midnight. Serendipity ... might measure rainbows.
  26. ↑ Pappas, Nancy (1979-06-22). "Rhinebeck: A Crafts Mecca". The Hartford Courant. ...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.
  27. ↑ Tamling, Richard (1984-06-25). "Sculpture that Performs deserving of Applause". Journal Inquirer. p. 23. ...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.
  28. ↑ Chartier, Tyler W. (Fall 2004). "David Roy – Sculpture in Motion". InformArt Magazine. 15 (4): 46. [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.
  29. ↑ Rand, Peter (February 2012). "Turning to the Next Dimension. Real Movement in Turned Objects". American Woodturner Journal. 41 (12): 38–45. 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.
  30. ↑ "How This Guy Builds Mesmerizing Kinetic Sculptures". Wired. 2020-02-20. Retrieved 2021-04-18.


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