Rolling Ball Machines - A Miscellany

Global Circus

Built in 1985 by George Rhoads in USA.

4 feet wide by 10 feet long by 7 feet high, 28 balls travel through features such as a loop the loop, funnel, wooden music blocks, baskets, free fall, chimes, xylophone stairway, weighted armatures.

Currently located at Northland Shopping Mall, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
First encountered at Expo 88, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia in July 1988

The Machine
The Artist

Gravitram 5

Built in 1987 by Shab Levy in USA.

50 inches wide by 50 inches long by 90 inches high, unknown number of balls travel through features such as a archimedes screw, horizontal spiral, metal music blocks, vertical drops.

Currently located at Questacon - The Australian National Science and Technology Centre, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
First encountered at Questacon - The Australian National Science and Technology Centre, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia in January 1993

The Machine
The Artist

The Imaginative Chip

Built in 1990 by George Rhoads in USA.

4 feet wide by 12 feet long by 16 feet high, unknown number of balls travel through features such as a Billiard ball model of the movement of information through an integrated circuit chip.

Currently located at The Tech Museum of Innovation, San Jose, California, USA
First encountered at The Tech Museum of Innovation, San Jose, California, USA in July 1996

The Machine
The Artist

Lalaballoosa

Built in 1991 by George Rhoads in USA.

4 feet wide by 4 feet long by 6 feet 6 inches high, unknown number of balls travel through features such as a spiral, maze, wood knock blocks, loop the loops.

Currently located at St. Louis Children's Hospital, St. Louis, Missouri, USA

The Machine
The Artist

Ball Machine

Built in 1997 by Dick Saunders in USA.

15 balls travel through features such as a gong, noise maker, elevator.

Currently located at Private Collection

The Machine
The Artist

The Fairground

Built in 1997 by Chris Vaulter in United Kingdom.

3 feet wide by 3 feet long by 4 feet high, unknown number of balls travel through features such as a ferris wheel, electronic sounds.

Currently located at Private Collection

The Machine
The Artist

Totenreich (Realm of the Dead)

Built in 2000 by Hanns-Martin Wagner in Germany.

79.1 inches wide by 35.4 inches long by 35.4 inches high, unknown number of balls travel through features such as a skulls, bone xylophone, rolling basket.

Currently located at Private Collection

The Machine
The Artist