Portfolio     Contacting Norman    OscylinderScope   Reviews

Traveling Exhibition   About Me
 
 
 
 

Lariat Chain


 

Lariat Chain
12 feet  high x 5 feet x 6 feet

Originally developed as an Exploratorium A.I R. Project in 1986
 
 

LARIAT CHAIN is a large interactive piece in which a loop of light chain passes over a motorized bicycle wheel.  The chain is constantly moving and it reacts to hand contact by creating sinuous slow moving waves.  You can send pulses through the chain or hold the chain in your open hands as it plays out.

This piece invites you to touch and feel a rapidly moving
 chain which reacts with a mysterious serpentine motion, demonstrating the “standing, traveling wave” phenomenon.
 
 

"From the top of a windmill-type construction, a bicycle wheel whirs, fueled by electricity. A long, rotating chain hangs from the wheel to the ground and dances into beautiful arabesques when moved gently by hand."
Blue Greenberg, The Herald-Sun, Durham, N.C.

"uses a motorized chain - lightweight and safe in supervised little hands - that moves continuously. A touch changes its regular pattern of movement. A viewer can either appreciate that the piece represents 'the phenomenon of the standing traveling wave' - or stand and enjoy the mesmerizing visual treat of the dancing chain."
Genie Carr, The Winston-Salem Journal.


 

Museums currently exhibiting LARIAT CHAIN by Norman Tuck include:
    The Exploratorium (2 pieces), San Francisco, CA.
    The New York Hall of Science, Queens.
    Technorama Museum, Winterthur, Switzerland.
    Museo de la Ciencia, Barcelona, Spain.
    Hong Kong Science Museum.
    SciWorks, Winston-Salem, NC.
    The Science Museum of Minnesota (2 pieces), St. Paul, MN.
    The North Carolina Museum of Life and Science, Durham.
    The Great Lakes Science Center, Cleveland, OH.
    The New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, Albuquerque.
    The Explorium Museum of Science, Mobile, AL.
    The Big Bang Museum, Osaka, Japan.
    Fundacion Tiempos Nuevos, Santiago, Chile