The Hokin Gallery had been turned into a laboratory of sorts, exposing the intricate processes behind the creation of motion. Inspired by the imaginative machines of the concurrent Glass Curtain Gallery exhibition, Rube Goldberg’s Ghost, this installation showcased Columbia College Chicago student-artists as they generated kinetic sculpture.

WILL IT WORK?  placed particular emphasis on process-based materials – sketches, blueprints, plans, and models – along with the objects themselves. Here we followed the kinetic artists as their projects unfold at the expansive workbench, added our own work to the interactive Rube Goldberg-esque Exquisite Corpse, and investigated the world of kinetic structures. Many of the works featured were in a constant state of progress, as the projects developed and evolved from the artists’ initial ideas. Once an end is within reach, the ultimate question still stands: WILL IT WORK?

WILL IT WORK?  was presented in collaboration with students in Kinetic Sculpture, an A+D course taught by Whitney Huber.

Special thanks to Erik Lundquist, Mark Porter, and Elizabeth Burke-Dain.