Building a Better Land/Water/Mud Artmobile

March 5, 2013 5:47 AM

How to Build a Kinetic Sculpture: "The original idea was actually to call these next few paragraphs “How to build.” How silly! That would be like declaring “Everything A Man Should Know About Women.” It would be impossible, and still wrong half the time. One of the attractions of this sport is precisely that there are infinite ways of doing most everything. So what we have here are hints and notes, thoughts and ideas—to be revised and added to as experience dictates."

Previously. In addition, the American Visionary Art Museum's 15th Annual Kinetic Sculpture Race, to be held in Baltimore, Maryland, is coming up! Photos from last year's race.

posted by MonkeyToes (5 comments total)

I have it on good authority that the spiritual figurehead of the event, Sister Euphonia O'Blivion, endorses this FPP.
posted by sonascope at 5:54 AM on March 5

Is she any relation to Father Vivian O'Blivion?
posted by TedW at 6:07 AM on March 5

Heh. There's a $10 per barnacle fee listed on the entry form.
posted by yoga at 6:58 AM on March 5

Very cool. I thought about doing this race for a while and then got caught up in the Atlas Armada in Washington along with some other MetaFilter folks. Sadly our "Aramada" of trolley track parade floats has been an fleet of one both times so far, though we encourage others to join us.
posted by exogenous at 12:42 PM on March 5

Kinetic Sculpture Racing originated in Humboldt County, CA in 1969, and is still run every year in 2013. I wish some of the original documentation was available online anywhere--some wacky fun stuff. A high point of my childhood, for sure. Especially the year I got to be part of it.

Some info on the origins on the wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinetic_sculpture_race

The Grand Championship in Humboldt: http://www.kineticgrandchampionship.com/
posted by mollymayhem at 2:37 PM on March 5