David C. Roy is an artist from Connecticut and a self-taught wood maker. Roy builds gorgeous, limited edition wall-mounted sculptures that are powered by mechanical wind-up mechanisms without the aid of electricity. Not everything cool has to be digital these days.
The sculptures move solely by the controlled release of energy from a spring, and each one can run for 5-18 hours on a single wind. There’s no motor, battery or power source of any kind. Roy’s latest work, Dimensions (in the video above), can run for 40+ hours. Neat, right?
From his website, Roy describes each piece as “a wooden machine designed to produce interesting patterns. A simple winding sets them in motion where they entertain for hours with random patterns and soft sounds.”
Roy is the son of an engineer who worked on jet engines, and he himself studied engineering at Boston University with dreams of becoming an inventor. However, he was soon fascinated with mechanics and motion, and switched to physics. As for his interest in art, Roy credits a friend from the Rhode Island School of Design with sparking that interest. He says, “to this day I find art and science to be closely linked,” and we can definitely see that marriage in his work.
Like what you see? Dive into more of Roy’s work here. You can also see some sculptures in action via his YouTube channel, and follow his Twitter feed @DavidCRoy.
What do you think of Roy’s sculptures? Let us know in the comments below.
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IMAGE: YouTube/David C. Roy
