The BMW Museum's kinetic sculpture takes your brain to another dimension

Ready to have your gray matter softly stroked? Perhaps you should take a trip to BMW's recently opened museum in Munich, where a kinetic sculpture comprising 714 metallic balls suspended in air will soothe your weary mind. It's one of those things that's better seen than described, but if you can imagine a wave of undulating orbs that appear to weightlessly float, you'll start to get the idea. Can't afford the flight? Check out the video -- which features some serious easy listening jams -- after the break and see the installation in action.

[Via BMWCCA]

[v3xx @ Jul 6th 2008 3:11AM]

powerful magnets and computers or fishing line and grey beads?

[WaffleMatt @ Jul 6th 2008 3:15AM]

They're suspended on strings, clearly. You can see them in the photo.

[Rob @ Jul 6th 2008 3:17AM]

If you would have checked the video, you would have clearly seen the wires holding the beads up.

But then you would not have had your first post I guess.

[v3xx @ Jul 6th 2008 3:30AM]

i was making a point that its not a big deal to have balls hanging on strings moving up and down. use some magnets and computers to control metal balls and it'll be really interresting. man people here are quick to shoot someone down. i guess people like you could never confront someone in real life.

[Andir3.0 @ Jul 6th 2008 5:51AM]

Check out the video around 2:10 .. you'll see them.

[paul @ Jul 6th 2008 6:47AM]

1 - Re-read your initial post and consider it from someone else's point of view who does not know the rest of the thoughts in your head. See the question mark at the end? That means that you are asking which method was used.
1 - Learn how to use the shift key. Lazy implies a lack of intelligence.
3 - "i guess people like you could never confront someone in real life." A childish response and Irrelevant in this context. If you are unable to cope with non-complimentary responses then don't post.

[dale_nx26 @ Jul 6th 2008 8:03AM]

wow you guys are intense.

[Tom Moitie @ Jul 7th 2008 10:06AM]

@Paul, Re-read your post, your second point about intelligence has a hilarious error.

[CaberetVoltaire @ Jul 6th 2008 10:02AM]

Uhh.. it's just a comment Paul.
and maybe he doesnt want to use the shift key its not like we're typing an essay

Really cool display BMW.

[Khris @ Jul 6th 2008 11:07AM]

@ Paul

As Tom pointed out......BEST COMMENT EVER!

Giving someone shit and then screwing up yourself! Priceless!!

[Nomi @ Jul 6th 2008 11:20AM]

Maybe he just wants to make 2 important points but he just can't rank them, but the 3rd point is not so important, enough to get a ranking of 2. Where you see an idiot...I see brilliance.

[Khris @ Jul 6th 2008 11:45AM]

I see two idiots now.

[lowdef @ Jul 6th 2008 1:44PM]

its as easy as 1 1 3

[urbanpeasant @ Jul 6th 2008 1:55PM]

The numbers refer to the posts, not to the order of the comments.

[Khris @ Jul 6th 2008 2:22PM]

Yeah......cuz that's obvious!

[Mikey @ Jul 6th 2008 2:24PM]

Paul,

Your name is a noun, is it not? You should try capitalizing the P...

[MMalecky @ Jul 6th 2008 3:50PM]

Internet:
SERIOUS BUSINESS.

[AJ @ Jul 7th 2008 11:23AM]

Awww man I had my hopes up there for a while. Damn.

[Chris @ Jul 7th 2008 11:46AM]

Paul
"Lazy implies a lack of intelligence"
Non sequitur logical fallacy. Your conclusion is based on a false premise that laziness is related to intelligence. If you look at the contraposition, negating the terms and stating the reciprocal, your statement reads "intelligent implies not lazy". That clearly makes no sense because it is possible to be intelligent AND lazy.

[DorianGrey @ Jul 7th 2008 8:20PM]

@Paul

Face!

[thedesolate1 @ Jul 8th 2008 11:45AM]

No actually its Magneto holding the metal beads up...duh!!!

[Matthew C @ Jul 11th 2008 10:27AM]

Ahh... another example of a completely irrelevant sequence of replies.

[Josh @ Jul 11th 2008 2:08PM]

HEY EURAKARTE
INSULT
RETORT
COUNTER-RETORT
QUESTIONING OF SEXUAL PREFERENCE
SUGGESTION TO SHUT THE FUCK UP
NOTATION THAT YOU CREATE A VACUUM
RIPOSTE
ADDON RIPOSTE
COUNTER-RIPOSTE
COUNTER-COUNTER RIPOSTE
NONSENSICAL STATEMENT INVOLVING PLANKTON
RESPONSE TO RANDOM STATEMENT AND THREAT TO BAN OPPOSING SIDES
WORDS OF PRAISE FOR FISHFOOD
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND ACCEPTENCE OF TERMS

[Down @ Jul 6th 2008 3:12AM]

I guess that is one way of distracting us from high petrol prices.

[ShaunAlfonso @ Jul 6th 2008 3:23AM]

Energy is expensive. Get over it.

[NG @ Jul 6th 2008 7:21AM]

indeed it's calming, i think i can sit there the whole day and watch

[Abuzar Baloach @ Jul 6th 2008 7:53AM]

The Sun gives me free energy every day.

[greybaby @ Jul 6th 2008 9:40AM]

we get all of our energy from the sun

[notYou @ Jul 6th 2008 11:22AM]

ShaunAlfonso: the politics that limit/prevent us from acquiring energy freely _make_it_ expensive, the material and the extracation of it is relatively cheap.

Example: A gallon of milk produced locally costs about $3.50, a gallon of gas extracted/processed/shipped/refined/delivered from a 3rd world war-torn instable part of the planet to my back yard costs $4.00. Think how much that milk would be if politicians said "oh, it's illegal for you to get that domestically, it must be imported from the most socially unstable and politically volatile areas of the planet".

Ex2. see all the "Petrol has cost us the equiv of $8US in Europe for the past 2 decades!" posts everytime Americans complain about gas increases in the states - what the Euros don't realize (astoundingly) is that they pay massive higher amounts due to taxes, not because of the cost of the resource. But then, that's how semi-/pseudo-/and real socialist countries work...

Enjoy.

[Motoken @ Jul 6th 2008 1:20PM]

lol that's what i was thinking,
they try to distract us from their incompetence to produce gas free cars.

[ricardjorg @ Aug 19th 2008 11:24PM]

to notYou:
im European (with pride), and pay for ultra-expensive petrol.. but what can i do? my coutry has taxes so high that, most of the stuff that sells for one price in other european countries, sells 30% more in mine..
the one thing i can do is to watch you american cry-babies that complain about the price of the fuel (that is much lower than in post parts of the planet), about the inexistence of free healthcare and about the whole coutry stupidity.. and after watching this i laugh.. which is good, as the main purpose of your coutry is to entertain people
if you take a moment to think, you'll see that the european cars run on much less fuel than american ones.. when we look at the engine sizes and mpg of your cars, we just freak out.. but we say: oh, why would the americans buy economic cars? they don't care about the planet. they're mostly just dumb people who just like to complain for everything.. wha wha wha
i just can't believe how the smart people can live there.. i guess they don't know any better
now come tell me about how countries work
grrr

[Fred @ Jul 6th 2008 3:14AM]

I think I'll show this to my lady when I try to put the moves on her tonight. Oh yeah.

[Jeremy K. @ Jul 6th 2008 3:15AM]

Nothing like low res youtube videos to set the mood.

[Handsome Ian @ Jul 6th 2008 5:50AM]

works for xtube...

[Nando @ Jul 6th 2008 9:17PM]

This sounds like porno music...

[GatgetMan @ Jul 6th 2008 11:50PM]

Your lady would find that video hot... Must have your balls on a string...

[Fred @ Jul 7th 2008 5:14AM]

@Gadgetman: not up on a string... just waving around in the air... rhythmically.

I know you didn't want to imagine that. It's called aversion therapy.

[Bryan @ Jul 6th 2008 5:34PM]

I should have paid more attention to "undulating orbs that APPEAR to float in air", I almost thought they were suspended magnetically until my dreams were shattered at about 2:11 or so.

[sam arieta @ Jul 6th 2008 3:31AM]

Still looks really cool not worth the flight to Munich though lol

[interfaceinterface @ Jul 6th 2008 4:12AM]

ART+COM

http://www.artcom.de/index.php?lang=en&option=com_acstartseite&Itemid=110

[loosely_coupled @ Jul 6th 2008 3:40AM]

That's incredible! The end of the video is the best part when they form the shape of a car... I wonder who the artist is who designed it

[Shaun @ Jul 6th 2008 10:04AM]

It looks like a Z4 to me, or were you asking who designed the entire suspended balls apparatus?

[austin @ Jul 6th 2008 3:45PM]

the Z4 was designed by chris bangle. i dont know the genius that designed this

[footpowder @ Jul 8th 2008 4:26PM]

the sculpture looks like it must be by Elias Crespin.

If people think synchronizing about a thousand stepper motors to create 3-d forms is non-trivial, maybe they ought to give it a shot.

[BrianS @ Jul 6th 2008 3:41AM]

This is brilliant. BMW has such a clear understanding of their brand, and what it entails, that it seems effortless.

[EdgeOne @ Jul 6th 2008 8:26PM]

Now if they could only reclaim that distinctive BMW look instead of appearing to be a Toyota Camry. Their cars just don't stand out like they used to (in my opinion).

[xdfgf @ Jul 6th 2008 3:53AM]

Love the 80s porn movie music

[Tony @ Jul 6th 2008 10:46AM]

Interesting fact: 80's porn music is also the basis for the soundtrack of "How It's Made"

[squished18 @ Jul 8th 2008 9:33AM]

I wouldn't know. I've never seen "How It's Made".

[gabe @ Jul 6th 2008 4:00AM]

can't wait to visit the museum...

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