FLIPPER

Instructional Graphic  #1

Gently crank this machine to see what does—or does not—happen.

By focusing on an everyday scene or activity, an artist can make us more aware of things that we usually take for granted.

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Instructional Graphic #2

Gently crank this machine to see what does, or does not, happen,

Why would someone make a device that shows a badly animated picture of a moving hand when you already have the real thing at the end of your arm?

 

Description

 

A small handle that extends out to the viewer is attached to a paddle that rotates when the handle is turned.  On the paddle is an engraved image of a hand turning a handle.  The rotating image mimics the actions of the viewer as the handle is turned.

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Reviews

 

...'truly stupid.' It makes a little visual joke. The viewer turns a handle that flips a black Formica circle incised on both sides with a drawing in a hand turning a handle.      Genie Carr, Winston-Salem Journal, 1991.

 

The simplest of the viewer-activated mechanisms is Flipper, which consists of a disk on an axle that extends beyond its supporting frame to form a hand crank at one end. When the crank is turned, the disk revolves so that the slightly varied images on either side - both showing a hand holding a crank - create a simple animated illustration of the viewer's activity.      Tom Patterson, Winston-Salem Journal, Sunday, January 19, 1992, Page C3.

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