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"Flight of the Bubble Bee"
This sculpture is a very unique piece commissioned by the Bubble Bee Car Wash in Lakewood, CA, a town in the greater Los Angeles
metropolitan area. It was designed to be a permanent fixture in a display case on the exterior wall of the building. While Customers are waiting for their
vehicle to be washed, waxed, and detailed, they can marvel at the beauty of this sculpture. The "Bees" float through the landscape and zip
through sound elements to delight the visual and auditory senses.
What makes this Rolling Ball Sculpture unique is how the artistic mural was incorporated seamlessly with the stainless steel track.
I was able to keep the contemporary stainless steel look, while adding the colorful theming. These two attributes create a very visually appealing
display that keeps in-line with the car washes image. The sculpture has many elements that delight and captivate everyone who watches it.
This Sculpture is built in a steel and wood frame, with 3/16" stainless steel, two-rail track. There are 5 track switches,
6 different ball paths, and 13 sound elements. The balls are collected using a unique ball-return system and return to the top using a chain-lift.
The sculpture is 8 feet long, 6 feet tall, and 16 inches in depth. Another interesting feature of this sculpture is the ball-counter, which
can be seen in the lower right of the display. How long will it take the counter to hit 1 million if the sculpture lifts balls at 6 balls per minute
and is run continuously during regular business hours for a year?
This sculpture was completed in May of 2004 and will be on permanent display during regular business hours.
The following video shows some elements of the sculpture in full action with full sound.
You can see the balls zip through the loops
and slam into the bells and chimes.
Be sure your speakers are on to fully appreciate this sculpture.
The Flight of the Bubble Bee Video for High-Speed (512Kbps, 5.4MB WMV file)
The Flight of the Bubble Bee Video for Dial-Up (48Kbps, 568KB WMV file)
Before the sculpture was delivered, Shannon Young and Scott Ayers, a news team from the local CBS station WDBJ7,
visited my shop and put together a nice piece on my work for the 6 o'clock news. The interview with Shannon Young and the filming of my sculpture
was quite fun and just reinforces my belief that these sculptures have magical appeal.
Not only was the piece shown on the 6 o'clock news, but a similar segment was shown on the 11 o'clock news as well. I wasn't ready for that one!
Click on the link below to view the 6 o'clock news segments.
This video shows the 6 o'clock news segments from WDBJ7 out of Roanoke, Virginia. All clips are property of and used with permission from WDBJ7.
If you would like more information, please visit www.wdbj7.com.
WDBJ News 7 at 6 Video for High-Speed (512Kbps, 8.95MB WMV file)
WDBJ News 7 at 6 Video for Dial-Up (48Kbps, 910KB WMV file)
If you live in the Los Angeles area and would like to view this sculpture, or if you would like
to visit the Bubble Bee Car Wash, please click on the logo below for more information.
If you live in the area, be sure to stop by and get your car washed. While waiting, watch the sculpture! Click on the map for location information and directions
by Mapquest.
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The Bubble Bee and Bubble Bee Logos are trademarks of the Bubble Bee Corporation, Lakewood, CA.
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