CREATIVE MACHINES

Artwork for Camelback Commons has made its way to Phoenix, AZ for installation. This sculpture is a large-scale suspended stainless steel mobile that will hang in the open-air atrium section of the building and gently rotate with the wind. Check out behind-the-scenes photos below of our team loading the sculptures onto not one, but two trucks! Check out past blog posts about the making of this artwork: New Art for Phoenix, Fabrication for Camelback Commons, Hanging Demo and C

All Systems Go is a brand new interactive ball machine going into Cayton Children’s Museum by Sharewell (formerly known as Zimmer Children’s Museum). This ball machine is loaded with an array of interactive devices and functions. It’s equipped with hand cranks, foot pedals, a bouncy seat, and special gears to twist and turn that will change the course of the circulating golf balls depending on how the user decides to interact with the machine. The machine is designed to illus

Over the past few months, we have been working on a large-scale suspended sculpture for Camelback Commons in Phoenix, AZ. The sculpture will hang within the atriums of a new office building in the financial center of Phoenix. We held a hanging demonstration in our shop to see the 30ft tall, 1,100lb sculptures in action. Here are some photos of the demonstration! Look back at past blog posts about Camelback Commons: New Art For Camelback Commons, Camelback Commons Fabrication.

Growing Home was recently featured in Modern Luxury San Diego. We are so proud of this piece and can already see it begin to make a lasting impression on the surrounding community. “I wish to express how impressed I am with your work, “Growing home!” You are indeed the special artist and craftsman we wanted to make Park/12 a unique setting for residents and public alike.” – Jerry Brand, Senior Managing Director, Greystar Check out the digital version of Modern Luxury San Dieg

The City of Tucson (where we are based) has commissioned a piece titled Wet Wheel, a 20-foot wide and 14-ft tall bike wheel that will straddle a portion of a mixed-use biking/pedestrian path like a gateway. The spokes would be absent except when a cyclist rides through the center, water jets appear in the place of spokes and give the rider an approximately one-second spray of water— a much needed and refreshing way to cool off in the intense, Arizona sun! Wet Wheel will strad

Fabrication has begun on a brand new, state-of-the-art ball machine for Zimmer Children’s Museum by Sharewell, which is reopening as The Cayton Children’s Museum in late spring 2019! (#TheCaytonIsComing)! This highly specialized and interactive ball machine titled All Systems Go illustrates and promotes healthy living through exercise, rest, and healthy eating. The interactive components follow the idea that if you exercise and treat your body well, good things happen. Here a

Fabrication is ongoing for the new suspended artwork commissioned for Camelback Commons, a set of office buildings located in Phoenix, Arizona. The monumental hanging sculpture will hang in the center of two atriums and will gently rotate in the space. The leaves will be painted in shades of yellow, green, and blue. Here are some photos of its progress. Look back at our first post about this project: New Art For Camelback Commons. #joeoconnell #kineticsculpture #StainlessStee

We’re in the process of designing and fabricating a large-scale suspended, stainless steel sculpture for Camelback Commons, a beautiful set of office spaces located in the financial district of Phoenix, Arizona. This sculpture consists of five massive steel stems supporting giant colorful leaves at their base. The sculpture will hang in the outdoor atrium of the building and will gently rotate within the space. Sketches of both the side and aerial view of the steel sculpture.

Our newest piece Body Politic has been installed in Lenexa, KS outside of the city’s brand new recreation center. We hope Body Politic brings joy to visitors to the rec center for many years to come. Here are some photos from the installation. Look back on the making of these sculptures in our past blog posts → New Art for City of Lenexa, Fabrication Update, Fabrication Update 2. #joeoconnell #community #StainlessSteel #kansas #bodypolitic #interactiveart #3dart #Sculpture #t

Our newest ball machine, Newton’s Convergence, has just been installed at The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, PA. Here are some photos of the completed machine! Look back at past blog posts on this ball machine and see it come together from start to finish: Blog 1, Blog 2, Blog 3, Blog 4. #joeoconnell #kineticsculpture #StainlessSteel #kineticart #rollingballsculpture #georgerhoads #Exhibits #3dart #ballmachines #Sculpture #InteractiveExhibits #tucson #franklininstitute #

Growing Home is in its final stages of fabrication and our team is now focusing on getting the internal LED lighting all set up within the massive sculpture. At night, our powerful point-source lights will project through the perforated stainless steel shell to activate the space around the sculpture with the projected silhouettes of the words that make up the surface. The illuminated landscape around the shell becomes a magical space for exploration at night and when viewed

Our newest kinetic ball machine, Newton’s Convergence, is coming together quite nicely! All of the parts and pieces have been painted in bright, bold shades of blue and orange and installed into the frame. The machine is currently in testing to make sure all of the kinetic properties and devices are working without any glitches. Here are some photos of many of the fun details and contraptions that make this rolling ball sculpture tick! It even circulates golf balls for an add

Growing Home is a monumental depiction of a spiraled seashell; perfect for its new home in beautiful San Diego, California! The sculpture is going to be installed in Park 12 near Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres. The shell is perforated with text that tells the history of San Diego. The text is arranged in bands that spiral down the shell in the same way that a shell grows from one season to the next. The most recent dates and events in San Diego history are closest t

Cathedral Coaster, our newest kinetic ball machine creation, received a fresh powder-coating in vibrant shades of blue, yellow, orange and purple! The machine has made its way to its new home Reims, France and is ready to delight young patients at American Memorial Hospital. Check out past fabrication updates HERE & HERE. #kineticsculpture #StainlessSteel #powdercoatedsteel #kineticart #rollingballsculpture #americanmemorialhospital #Fabrication #georgerhoads #3dart #ballmach

Growing Home is a new monumental sculpture we will be installing in San Diego, CA later this year! A monumental shell sculpture at the center surrounded by enlarged beach pebbles works together to form a welcoming place for visitors to meet or sit in small groups. The stainless steel shell sculpture is perforated with text that tells the history of San Diego and will be lit from within with brilliant, color changing LED lighting. Check back for more updates on the progression

The newest addition to The Franklin Institute’s array of clever, interactive exhibits is underway in our workshop here in sunny Tucson, AZ. This ball machine, Newton’s Convergence, celebrates physics, kinetic energy, and all things Isaac Newton. This rolling ball sculpture features an array of fun devices from loop-de-loops and helixes to hammer-bells and a giant wok, and is filled with jaw-dropping twists and turns! Here are some photos of the kinetic sculpture coming togeth

At the beginning of the year, Camaraderie was installed at a brand new, state of the art, veterans clinic in San Jose, California. As the landscaping and construction came to a close and all of the finishing touches for the facility were put in place, we were able to get an official glimpse of the family of three laser-cut, stainless steel sculptures in their beautiful new home. The clinic has an ultra-modern, sustainable design and is meant to offer a “healing oasis” for pat

Our ball machine team has been busy putting together our newest kinetic rolling ball sculpture, Cathedral Coaster, for American Memorial Hospital in Reims, France. The kinetic sculpture will feature a variety of devices, including hammer-bells, loop-de-loops, ball lifters, swinging-birds and spiral helixes. This ball machine will be adorned with hand painted panels of cute animals and will picture a CNC-cut depiction of the famous Reims Cathedral. Be sure to check out the las

We’ve just begun fabrication of a brand new ball machine to be installed in The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, one of the oldest and most beloved science museums in the US. This machine titled Newton’s Convergence will be replacing the popular and well-loved Newton’s Dream ball machine that was installed in the museum in 1990. This new kinetic sculpture will delight thousands of museum visitors of all ages for many years to come. This rolling-ball sculpture will feature

Our Cathedral Coaster Ball Machine is in production! This new rolling ball sculpture was commissioned by American Memorial Hospital, a hospital located in Reims, France that specializes in pediatric medicine. This ball machine celebrates the history of the region with a depiction of Reims Cathedral integrated into the structure among many other whimsical elements. Here are some photos of the first stages of this kinetic ball machine coming together. #workshop #joeoconnell #ki