I’m getting way too big a kick out of the work of kinetic artist & toymaker Joseph Herscher:
Khoi Vinh writes, in an inventory worth of Stefon (“this place has everything…”),
Herscher’s pièce de résistance may be “The Cake Server,” shown above: a gorgeous monstrosity that brings together melting butter, a glass of juice that pours its contents into itself, a baby using a smartphone and much more to serve a slice of upside-down cake to a plate in its God-intended manner of delivery. It’s a marvel to behold.
Enjoy:
You might well enjoy NHK’s 「ピタゴラスイッチ」 (“Pythagora Switch”) segments. It’s on a smaller scale, mostly working off office supplies, household items and marbles, but the creativity in using the small things is impressive. They made well over a hundred setups by now, and they range from simple 10-second experiments up to multi-minute “stories” such as 「びーすけを救え！びーだま兄弟の大冒険」 (“Save Biisuke! The big brothers’ big adventure”):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOjGcyT9qCE
Unfortunately, NHK is quite swift in removing good footage from Youtube, so the surviving examples are not great in quality. And DVDs are a bit challenging to get hold of, even in Japan. However, they do air episodes on NHK World every weekend as part of their “Pythagora Switch Mini” programme.