Graduating art student Shun Onozawa has created a mesmerizing device as part of his graduation thesis project. Titled “Movement Act,” a total of 16 balls are loaded onto a star-shaped platform that continuously “juggles” the balls from side-to-side. The 16 balls move back and forth from 8 different directions, all passing through the middle, yet never colliding. It reminds me a little of Shibuya crossing.
After building out the hardware, Onozawa spent 4 months testing his contraption and making slight adjustments until he finally arrived at the golden formula that would allow all 16 balls to continuously move through his device without ever colliding. Onozawa happens to also be a juggler so he was able to combine his hobby with his art studies in creating his graduation thesis project.
Onozawa is a graduating senior at Tokyo University of the Arts, which is currently hosting an exhibition of senior thesis projects at Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. The exhibition is open to the public through February 3, 2019.
Here at Spoon & Tamago we love writing about student artwork and senior thesis exhibition. You can find all our previous posts here.