This machine is designed to portray mechanical disorder in such a way that it seems like a beautifully choreographed dance.

At the heart of this piece are three horizontal shafts suspended between fixed supports. The central shaft, which is manually turned by a hand crank, is connected to the right shaft by a pair of gears, and to the left shaft by a 'Geneva stop'. While one full turn causes the right shaft to rotate several times, it causes the left shaft to rotate only 1/7th of a turn.

Attached to this left shaft are five staggered cams, which each operate a gracefully curved "snake" that moves in a seemingly random pattern. On the right shaft are five crescent-shaped "tails" that are free to rotate in an odd, tumbling manner. To complicate things, the "snakes" not only move back and forth, their position also influences the random tumbling of the "tails".

Since this machine has adjustable parts, many interesting movements can be explored. Indeed, some people find themselves pleasantly hypnotized while turning the crank over and over again. This is one set of snakes that charm back!

The main base is made of walnut and the curved legs are made of 'fiddle back' maple. The other various components are made of a combination of cherry, beech, maple, and walnut. The two large gears are made of walnut and maple. (I just love wooden gears!) Both the "snakes" and the crescent "tails" are made in an alternating walnut and maple harlequin-like pattern. The crank handle, and some other small components, are made of macassar ebony.

The shafts are made of brass and run on nylon bushings. Brass is also extensively used for the various collars and fittings.

Approximate Dimensions: 15" long x 8.5" deep x 15.5" high.

There was a lot of tedious woodworking involved with this machine, mainly because the cams, "snakes", and crescent "tails" all had to be duplicated by hand.

As for the engineering design, it's not easy to generate truly random movement by mechanical means, particularly if you want it to look visually pleasing. (Of course, this machine is not truly random in a formal mathematical sense, but it's random enough.)

The key to creating this "randomness" was to have the movement on the outer shafts operate in different 'parallel universes', yet be forced to interact with each other in some peculiar fashion. A great deal of thought went into how this could be achieved, and the version you see here is actually quite a departure from what I had originally planned.

Regardless, many people are intrigued by this machine. In fact, one person asked me whether I was on LSD when I designed it. My reply was, "No, just a few martinis here and there along the way."