Rolling Ball Sculptures, Automata, curiosities and Virtual Mechanisms

Some call it "Kugelbahn." I, on the other hand, call it my connection to just about everything I could imagine wanting to know about Rolling Ball Sculptures, Automata, curiosities and Virtual Mechanisms. In fact, I wouldn't even have thought I needed to know anything about Rolling Ball Sculptures, etc., until I moused my way to the Kugelbahn.

A climb along the Kugelbahn takes you past monumental achievements in the art of playfulness, and the playfulness of art.

Rolling Ball Sculptures - you know, the kind you've seen in the airport, like maybe at the International Terminal at LAX? Or like the kind kids make, exercising their skills in engineering, logic, the scientific method, maybe even in design, but above all something actually fun to play with. And watch. And be fascinated by. And marvel at. Like the famous "Nerf Herder" of artist Andrew Smith. And get a gumball from.

But Automata? Toys, grown-up is what they are. Like the Cabaret Mechanical Theater, until they become too beautiful to play with, like the Mechanical Poetry of Malcolm Brook.

And that's only the tip of it, iceberg-like-wise. And what about the curiosities and Virtual Mechanisms? The Kugelbahn is a delightful find, upon which you will find much, um, delight.