Dynamic sculptures are works of art which mix beauty with physical motion so that the end result is visually stunning. What makes these works special is that the creator needs to have a deep knowledge and skill of multiple disciplines eg.painting and physics, sculpture and electronics. Obviously there are not many such people but the few who exist have astonished the world with the beauty and complexity of their creations.
Metropolis 2 by Chris Burden
The Metropolis 2, created by Chris Burden, at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, is probably the world’s most realistic and biggest dynamic model of a modern city. It has fast-moving cars on 18 roadways and trains running on railway tracks. The entire model is built out of steel girders. with the buildings, roads and other structures made out of wood and metal.
It took Burden and his chief engineer , 4 years to build this.The model creates a lot of noise and sound when it is functional, just like a modern city and the mechanics need to wear safety glasses and earplugs when they need to work within the model. The model is purely mechanical and there is no computer involved in controlling the functions. The cars are custom built in China and the design and structure of the roadways and lanes are made in such a way so as to lessen the chances of a crash or a pileup, though every once in a while, you do have crashes because nearly a 100,000 cars run through the system every hour. Due to the nature of the model, the cars face a lot of wear and tear , so Burden makes sure they have a large supply of cars to replace the faulty ones. Metropolis 2 will be on display for the next 10 years.
Leave a Reply