'Kinetic Man'
23-foot interactive sculpture makes its Springfield debut
Springfield News-Leader

by Lisa Langley

Kinetic Man in action



It's hard to imagine a 2-year-old child moving 1,000 pounds of metal. But when children turn the wheel controlling Kinetic Man, gears turn and metallic limbs fly.

The 23-foot high aluminum interactive sculpture makes its Springfield debut at the Ozarks Public Television Street Party today. And with the turn of a wheel, even the tiniest observer can control Kinetic Man's gigantic arms, legs and head.

"It's kid-powered," Said Pamela Pyatt, director of marketing for Ozarks Public Television. "It's a real sight to see these little kids turn itty-bitty gears and make these enormous ones move."

Kinetic Man, created by Springfield sculptor Russ RuBert, is the feature attraction at the station's 20th birthday celebration. Other festival activities include hands-on exhibits, contests, games and an intercultural area where children can learn how other cultures celebrate birthdays.

Kinetic Man will be displayed on the south lawn of the Washington Avenue Baptist Church.

The sculpture originally was commissioned for last summer's Walt Disney Children's Arts Festival in Jefferson City. It returned for this year's festival, held on the lawn of the Missouri State Capitol Building.

"I hope it's a nice draw for them," RuBert said. "At the Disney festival, there were 2,000 people lined up from the sculpture to the capital building. Kids were captivated by it—by lunch time there were 10,000 kids hanging around K-Man."

K-Man caught the eye of the Ozarks PBS staff who worked for nearly eight months with the state to have it transported here for the street party.

"It's really educational, so it fits in with our mission," Pyatt Said. Kids get to see the gears turning and working together to make the smaller gears turn the larger ones."

Ironically, when not in the annual two-day Disney festival, Kinetic Man remains motionless in storage the rest of the year.

"I felt this was something that needed to be used, so I did everything I could to help—like donating my time to set it up and take it down," RuBert said. "When it's out of storage is the only way it can be used to its potential."

Bringing Kinetic Man to life from sketch to sculpture required more than a little elbow grease. RuBert consulted with engineers to design the intricate gear system that makes the larger-than-life appendages move.

"They all said it wasn't going to work," he said. "They said there was no way the children would be able to turn the gears by themselves."

The legs alone weigh more than 100 pounds apiece.

But RuBert redesigned and spent six months welding, grinding and finishing the aluminum sculpture.

"I've seen 2- and 3-year-olds doing it," he said. "It gives them a real feeling of accomplishment and control. They'll jump back and watch what they did."

Ozarkers already may be familiar with RuBert's works—they include the Eternal Flame at the Mid America Cancer Center and the EchoSphere on the Southwest Missouri State University Campus.

And RuBert is fairly confident that no one else in the country create kinetic interactive sculptures.

Inspired by K-Man's success, he's already planning other interactive sculptures he'd like to create.

Next on his list: Kinetic Dog.