Jitterbug (2016) is a dynamic kinetic suspended sculpture that in its closed form, is the geometric Platonic solid Octahedron shape, then opens like a robotic ballon to an Icosahedron then in its fullest form, a Cuboctahedron, then, playfully while continuing in its direction of motion, collapses back down to an Octahedron.
The term Jitterbug was coined by R. Buckminster Fuller (most famous for his Geodesic Domes), who used this movement to describe a geometry with many unique and useful properties. The common architectural application that you might recognize is that the Octahedron is the basis of the architectural Space Frame, a common roof truss used in atriums, stadiums, airports, etc.
While mathematicians and architects often build Models of Jitterbugs (as I did in 2004) out of sticks and rubber, or paper, very few structurally-sound sculptural versions have ever been built because of the difficult and complex assemblies required. Indeed only one monumentally large Jitterbug has ever been executed, at the Swiss National Science Expo 1991, and it failed halfway through the show.
My build includes geometrically correct complex hinges and a novel suspension scheme which allows the sculpture to easily hang in a large open space (loft, lobby, atrium, etc) and be operated remotely by pulling on a rope, much like raising a flag. It is currently hanging in my loft space and I plan to build a much larger version out of welded steel for interactive display at Burning Man or a similar participatory outdoor venue.
Materials: wood, stainless steel aircraft cable, steel, hinges, pulleys