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Project Description

The Ferrous Wheel is a kinetic sculpture in which a series of magnets draws a circle on a sheet of paper with iron filings. The iron filings make different marks based on the strength of the magnetic field that holds them in place. As the magnets revolve, the friction from the paper causes the iron to collect in a tray at the base of the sculpture. The magnets pull more iron from the tray on each revolution.

The paper is periodically removed from the sculpture and labeled with the dates indicating the duration of the mark making. The sheet is then replaced. Each day new iron filings are added to replenish the drawing.

This piece is essentially a drawing machine, and asks a question about what separates sculpture from other mediums. How does the piece function as both a sculpture, and as a sculpture that produces a drawing? What does that drawing represent? Is it a part of the sculpture after it is removed from the ‘apparatus', or does it exist in its own right, separate from the process that created it.

I am interested in the accumulation of marks, of how time is evidenced in a work and the relationship between process and end-result.