Flying Fish (Fishbowl #2)
©2008 FLYING FISH - interactive wire sculpture, 14.5'' h x 15.5'' w x 9.5'' d • Turning crank at bottom right causes fish to 'swim'
©2008 FLYING FISH • V-shaped part of crank mechanism at top right makes hanging fish move back and forth, causing them to 'swim' in a realistic manner
The past couple of months I’ve been pouring over books with photos of Alexander Calder’s motorized and crank operated sculptures and toys, and am duly impressed with the number and diversity of his creations, some very simple and others incredibly complex.
In my September 15 post under the ‘Something New’ category I talked about Alexander Calder’s 1929 wire sculpture ‘Goldfish Bowl’, how it inspired me to fabricate a similar version, and I challenged any wire workers out there in the blogosphere to make one and send me digital images. Making the bowl and the two articulated fish was easy enough, but not so the crank mechanism - I made several cranks before I got one to work properly. I posted two images of my fishbowl in that post.
This month, I challenged myself to make another fishbowl with three fish, a larger bowl, shaped differently, with wire and tin ’seaweed’, a base, and a different crank mechanism. The first two photos show my completed ‘Flying Fish’ wire sculpture, the third photo is a closeup of the crank mechanism, and the subsequent images depict the sculpture under construction. Enjoy!
©2008 FLYING FISH • Closeup view of crank mechanism • Note spiral wire 'tube' which places L-shaped rocker pivot 3 inches into bowl - necessary to make mechanism work, and a challenge to figure out!
- ©2008 FLYING FISH • Basic fishbowl, three fish with ‘hangers’ and foam board base • The U-shape in wire crank at bottom right was too deep and I modified it many times to make the fish movements realistic
- ©2008 FLYING FISH • One of many configurations in figuring out components for upper part of crank mechanism
- ©2008 FLYING FISH • Three hanging fish in place, crank mechanism is complete and successfully transfers circular (up-and-down) motion at the crank, to oscillating (back-and-forth) motion at the top
- ©2008 FLYING FISH • Five ’seaweed’ plants in place and four more in various stages of completion • ‘Leaves’ are constructed from hammered and bent pieces of a tin can lid, with punched holes, and freely hang from seaweed stems • Foam board base is covered in papier-mache • I attached the water line at the top of the bowl, made from black and blue wires, after this photo was taken
FLYING FISH is for sale - please click here if interested.
FLYING FISH is maintenance free and you’ll never spend a dime on fish food (with real fish, you’ll be buying fish food forever). Not only that, you’ll be the proud owner a very cool interactive wire sculpture which will be a big hit with your friends when you entertain. And finally, the fish will only swim when you turn the crank, so you’ll never get dizzy watching real fish swimming monotonously back and forth.
Nice Wire