Orthodontic Arts, in Lynchburg, Virginia, has to be the most beautifully detailed orthodontic office in all of America. Through
the seamless blending of materials, shapes, and moods, the office puts clients at ease as their wishes for a beautiful smile come true.
If you are familiar with orthodontics and dentistry, you might recall the reclining chair that limits your views to the ceiling.
Sometimes you get to stare at a poster of a kitten hanging on a wire with the caption, "Hang in there!" Other times, you get to count
ceiling tiles as you utter indeterminable responses through a gaping mouth. Now, imagine your gaze locked on a rolling ball sculpture
hanging overhead. Your eyes follow the smooth curves of the steel track as balls whip by. You imagine how it might feel to be on that
track, zooming through the banked turns as your speed increases with every turn. The words, images, and videos on this web page cannot
begin to do justice to the beauty of this sculpture when you see it in person... but I'll try.
Use the above control panel to navigate the slidehow.
Building a sculpture for a ceiling installation is unlike any other installation.
With safety being a high priority, I had to make sure the ceiling mounts were very strong and all the components had a sound design. I
built a replica of the ceiling, with all the mounting points, in my shop. The replica ceiling was built 4 feet lower to aid the construction.
As can be seen in the photos, all the tracks have guardrails on both sides of the track to provide full ball containment. Since the sculpture
was so large, I built it in three individual sections, each being installed at different times. Regardless of what went into the construction,
the final results speak for themselves.
The sculpture runs constantly during business hours. The speed of the lift can be changed from zero to about 7 balls per minute for each section.
The sculpture runs best at around 3.5 balls per minute. Any faster and all the motion creates sensory overload!
One challenge of a ceiling installation is the limited available vertical drop. I had a total of 30 inches to work with vertically. The ball queue at
the bottom took up three inches, and the top unloading ramp took two inches. This left me with 25 inches of total vertical drop to work with.
Most rolling ball sculptures have steep drops and fast track elements that reduce the vertical height very quickly. I couldn't afford to loose
that much potential energy, so I had to conserve vertical displacement as much as possible. Swirly, for instance, has over 103 feet of track.
Since I had to ensure the balls would never get stuck along the track, I had to always keep the track pointing downhill. 25 inches of displacement
over 103 feet of track produced a constant slope of -0.02, or a 2% grade. Accuracy was very important. Measure twice, weld once!
When designing and building this sculpture, as with all my sculptures, artistic composition was always in the back of my mind. I try to create
an interesting composition by using contrast and balance. A good example is with Squiggle. When you look at squiggle from below, the organic
shapes of the track stand out against the straight lines of the supports. When I needed the ball to cross back under the whole sculpture, I used
a straight track section supported by an integrated truss. This causes the intersecting track to blend into the background, rather than standing out.
When you look at the same sculpture from the front, you can see the straight track section located below the whole sculpture. This helps to
balance the composition of the sculpture from the front view, while completing the ball's motion as it travels back to the lift.
"Swirly, Speed, and Squiggle" definitely rounds out the whole theme of Orthodontic Arts, where there is much more to see than just this sculpture.
The Sculpture is definitely a one-of-a-kind and well worth the trip to see it in person.
Sit back and relax while enjoying the show... Trust me, you will be all smiles.
If you live in the area, or are driving through Virginia, you must see this sculpture. While you are there, see what Orthodontic Arts
could do for your smile! Click on the map for location information and directions
by Mapquest.
The sculpture runs constantly during business hours. The speed of the lift can be changed from zero to about 7 balls per minute for each section.
The sculpture runs best at around 3.5 balls per minute. Any faster and all the motion creates sensory overload!