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Chaos Contained in a Cat

With an attention span seemingly inversely proportional to my age, I can hardly bear to walk through a museum. Stopping at an exhibit? Forget it. However, that all changed at Gestural Engineering: The Sculptures of Arthur Ganson, the display of the mechanical engineer’s kinetic sculptures at the MIT Museum. Perhaps it was that the chaotic motions of “Margot’s Cat” surpassed even my restlessness. Whatever it was, I was drawn in.

A motor spins a long metal shaft. An arm at the end of the shaft extends radially outward and ends in a wheel trapped between two vertical supports of a cart. The rotation of the arm causes horizontal translation of the cart, which is covered with an eighteen-square-inch cut of an intricate red Turkish rug. An eerie white plastic cat with glossy blue eyes rests on the carpet, glued in place. The cart is one unit of the contraption.

“An eerie white plastic cat with glossy blue eyes rests on the carpet, glued in place. The cart is one unit of the contraption.”

The other unit is a chair-counterweight system. Elevated above the small motor, another shaft runs through a perpendicular cylinder that enables the shaft to swing up and down but restricts all horizontal motion. The shaft is hollow. A thinner shaft sits within it, connecting a smooth black counterweight disk to the central of attraction: a miniature club chair with red satin upholstery and elegant wooden armrests. The configuration enables vertical translation and rotation of the chair and counterweight together. As the cart moves left and right, the horizontally fixed chair slides along the rug and collides with the rigidly mounted cat. Because the precise balance of the chair-counterweight system amplifies minuscule disturbances, the chair is sent spinning, flying upwards when it collides with the cat.

I stare at the chair. Each time it soars to a different height and twirls at a different speed. One time, it speedily plummets, strikes the carpet evenly on its side, and rebounds upward instantly. Another time, it gently greets the carpet with one leg, rotates so that the other legs contact the carpet, and then smashes into the plastic cat. The chair violently twirls over the cat. The top of the seatback slams into the carpet on the other side of the cat. The chair propels upward with a new, not-so-gentle speed. Yet another time, it hits the cat directly out of the air and rotates vigorously while hovering an inch above the carpet. No repetition. Not a single pattern or reoccurrence. Each time there is a different collision and different trajectory for the chair.After thirty minutes of staring, I still cannot wrap my head around all the variables. The random chaos awes me.

“More mind-rattling is the realization that this complex randomness stems from simplicity.”

More mind-rattling is the realization that this complex randomness stems from simplicity. The energy from the orderly flow of electrons into the motor sends the chair soaring and twirling and colliding. All the mechanical parts are ordinary, and the antique rug and chair suggest rich complacency.

This interplay between simplicity and complexity in this kinetic sculpture captures MIT’s motto, mens et manus. Rather than lecture about mechanics, Ganson used simple parts to construct an apparatus that demonstrates the complexities of mechanical engineering. It embodies play, practice, ingenuity, accessibility. “Margot’s Cat” unifies mind and hand.

Angles 2014

Editorial Board
Karen Boiko, Lucy Marx, Cynthia Taft, Andrea Walsh

Co-Editors
Karen Boiko, Lucy Marx, Cynthia Taft

Student Editorial Assistant
Dalia Walzer