ENTROPY DREAMS Date: currently commissioned Dimensions: 13’L x 28’’W x 20’H Location: University of Alaska, Anchorage, AK
Entropy Dreams is an audio-kinetic ball machine sculpture inspired by the mission of the University of Alaska Anchorage’s engineering building. The building strives to put engineering on display. Likewise, this sculpture acts as an instrument to spark engineers’ imaginations, intrigues them with the basic principles of engineering and encourage investigation of the sculpture’s kinetic and graphic parts. Entropy Dreams seeks to tap into the inquisitiveness that drew these students into the engineering field by engaging their desire to figure out how mechanisms and natural forces operate under different conditions. Unlike other static artworks and sculptures with limited motion, Entropy Dreams creates a dynamic mechanism that will
draw students and visitors to its constantly changing behavior. Each ball machine sculpture is composed of two main parts: track that the ball travels on through the sculpture and devices that transform the balls’ movement. Entropy Dreams contains devices that highlight root principles of engineering including simple elements such as gears, levers, and pulleys. Each of these mechanisms is on display expressing the design and engineering of the machine. Finally, the machine is largely two dimensional with the idea that the ball machine is like an engineering drawing that comes to life highlighting the process of translation that nearly every engineer faces when bringing a drawing or idea into reality.
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