Moving Sculpture

THIS CLASS IS NOT CURRENTLY OFFERED DUE TO COVID-19

Moving Sculpture: Mechanical Confections

When you make a sculpture that moves, you make a living sculpture. A simple hand crank machine can turn a heavy steel rod into delicate, flapping bird wings. And it’s a fun process, trying to get that steel rod to move exactly how you’d like it to; changing the location of a pivot one inch left or right can make the difference between a cumbersome pterodactyl or a graceful tern. We’re going to spend six weeks in this class, bringing things to life. We’ll cover cams, levers, bearings, and linkages in six weeks of directed projects, building up to making your very own flying bird sculpture. If you’ve ever seen a moving or kinetic sculpture and wanted to learn how, this is the class.

The first week we’ll build a cam-based machine, learning how to tack weld, use the plasma cutter, drill press, and the band saw. The following week we’ll build four-bar linkage, turning rotary, predicatable, hand-crank motion into linear and non-linear erratic motion. Then there will be some pistons, chain drives, and a few other things mixed in.

And to get your inspiration flowing, here’s a YouTube playlist of moving sculpture (or “mechanical confections” as the first video beautifully puts it). LINK

Class Details: Six session class building five different kits emphasizing different mechanisms each week (four are take-home). Instruction fee is $210, Materials and shop fee is $250 (Total: $460) Note about wait lists.

Requirements: No experience required. Six students max. Must be 18 or older or instructor permission. Standard clothing.

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Refund/Rescheduling Policy: We hope you can make the class, but things happen. If you need to cancel, we can refund your money 7 days ahead of the start of the class (minus a $25 registration fee). You can reschedule the class 7 days before the start of the class as well. There are no refunds or rescheduling within 7 days. By not budgeting for missed classes, we can keep the prices as low as possible for everyone.

For six week classes, the first two classes cover the most critical material. If you miss one of those, we’ll need you to make it up with a private lesson before continuing on with the class (at a discounted rate of $45/hr). After the first two, you can make up one class for free during open shop hours when it’s slower (so not Weds or Saturdays). After that, regular open shop rates apply. There are no refunds after the first class of a multi-session class.