The Bay Lights
Leo Villareal is trying to illuminate the San Francisco Bay Bridge by covering the northern expanse of the bridge with The Bay Lights, a dynamic light display that reflects off the surface of the water below. A nod to the 100th anniversary lighting of the Eiffel Tower, the project should come to life just in time to celebrate the 75th silver anniversary of the Bay Bridge in 2012.
The ongoing fundraising for the $7 million project will pay for the installation of 25,000 bulbs (outward-facing to avoid distracting commuters). With the environment in mind, project architects aim to keep energy costs to a fairly modest $11,000 over the proposed two-year installation period.
Bouncy Ball Photography
Danish photographer Peter Funch was on hand when Sony let loose 250,000 colorful bouncy balls into the streets of San Francisco to launch their BRAVIA brand. Do you remember that commercial?
A team of 50 interns was on hand to gather up the balls for the six takes it took in the more than four days to film the advertisement.
One man, 100,000 toothpicks, and 35 years
Thirty five years ago Scott Weaver had begun work on this insanely complex kinetic sculpture, Rolling through the Bay, that he continues to modify and expand even today. The elaborate sculpture is comprised of multiple “tours” that move pingpong balls through neighborhoods, historical locations, and iconic symbols of San Francisco, all recreated with a little glue, some toothpicks, and an incredible amount of ingenuity. He admits in the video that there are several toothpick sculptures even larger than his, but none has the unique kinetic components he’s constructed. Via his website Weaver estimates he’s spent over 3,000 hours on the project, and the toothpicks have been sourced from around the world:
I have used different brands of toothpicks depending on what I am building. I also have many friends and family members that collect toothpicks in their travels for me. For example, some of the trees in Golden Gate Park are made from toothpicks from Kenya, Morocco, Spain, West Germany and Italy. The heart inside the Palace of Fine Arts is made out of toothpicks people threw at our wedding.
(h/t @jessebrightman)
