Research notes for project planning
What the project record tells us
Maker Faire · San Mateo, California · 2009
Soda Bottle Wave: reclaimed material and mechanical rhythm
Margolin built Soda Bottle Wave for the 2009 Maker Faire in San Mateo using 600 reclaimed two-liter bottles. His process included removing labels with steam, cleaning the bottles and joining them in pairs with articulated connections. String, wood, steel and one electric motor produced a moving column, with three wavelengths around its ring. This documented process connects material reuse to the sculpture's mechanism and form; it does not establish the work's current condition or a general specification for visitor access.
Reuben Margolin — Soda Bottle Wave ↗ · Reviewed 2026-10-10
For your project briefHow will material condition, replacement components and visitor interaction be evaluated for the specific work or new commission?
Big Art Partners planning prompt Technorama · Swiss Science Center
Magic Wave: fabrication with a science-center team
Magic Wave at Technorama develops Margolin's earlier Square Wave into an aluminum grid suspended by 256 cables. Four variable-amplitude waves combine with a mechanism that changes the entire grid's height. The artist describes an overhead system of 3,000 pulleys, five kilometers of steel cable and nine motors, and credits Technorama's staff with building and resolving details of the work. This is a specific precedent for collaboration between an artist and a host institution's technical workshop.
Reuben Margolin — Magic Wave ↗ · Reviewed 2026-10-10
For your project briefWhich fabrication, commissioning and ongoing maintenance responsibilities would sit with the artist, host workshop and specialist contractors?
Big Art Partners planning prompt Lyrical Partners · New York, New York · commission initiated 2016
Contours: art coordinated with an interior buildout
Contours grew from a 2016 commission for Lyrical Partners' New York offices. Because the interior was still being built, the team could create a ceiling cove for the mechanism and coordinate electrical service and structural mounting points. Margolin describes 1,089 strings, three motors and a mechanically generated wave, and credits structural and mechanical engineers alongside the architect and general contractor. The account shows why early coordination can determine both the visible artwork and the equipment concealed above it.
Reuben Margolin — Contours ↗ · Reviewed 2026-10-10
For your project briefCan the artwork enter the design process early enough to coordinate ceiling space, structural support, maintenance access and electrical service?
Big Art Partners planning prompt 
