As I understand the tradition begun by Mr. Robert Wilson, a bell is rung to signal the beginning or ending of colloquiums, cheese and wine time, and or tea time. At one time a gong was utilized for these purposes as well.

Early on in my tenure as AIR I was given three objects from Fermilab. One was a piece of copper buss from the Tevatron, another a bell-shaped spinning from an experiment and the third a cast iron machine base with the words Fermilab Research cast into it. The metal bell spinning was not acceptable for use from a quality control standpoint but it was perfect for my use.

After some thought I came to the realization that a new Bell for Fermilab could be fabricated and the effects of eddy currents could be utilized to ring the bell. After that the rest are the forgeries of grapes, leaf, frog and vine work of the sculpture.

A fabricated bug is about to be lunch for the frog. The bug is fashioned from detector wire from an experiment at Fermilab. It is placed on the frog’s long tongue to bug you. I hope too that the square and cube roots of the grapevine provide only a moment of pun-ishing-pain.

Two antique magic lantern slides are part of top of the piece. They date from the 1880’s They represent nature, art and the fragility of it all. The butterfly slide is cracked as a clear indication of this. The environment is fragile as are our lives.

One parting thought and association. The rare earth magnet cube hidden under the frog’s lily pad is to be dropped down the copper buss. As it tumbles the magic of eddy currents are displayed in a way that is a constant source of delight by anyone who views it. It is science but for most people it’s magic. It takes 15 sec. for Quasimodo to transit the copper buss. Upon exiting it is a little bell ringer.

Thank you for this opportunity to share this story. It is an object made with joy, love and wizdumb.

© J. Jenkins 2018