Machines that Almost Fall Over on Vimeo

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15. Water Rites

by Michael Kontopoulos

6 months ago

14. Foot Tap Amplifier

by Michael Kontopoulos

11 months ago

13. Pacing Track

by Michael Kontopoulos

2 years ago

12. Sigh Collector

by Michael Kontopoulos

2 years ago

11. Removal Studies (1-3)

by Michael Kontopoulos

3 years ago

10. Removal Studies (4)

by Michael Kontopoulos

3 years ago

9. Mechanical Umbrella Prototype

by Michael Kontopoulos

3 years ago

8. Machines that Almost Fall Over

by Michael Kontopoulos

3 years ago

7. What You Missed

by Michael Kontopoulos

3 years ago

6. Pass the Funk

by Michael Kontopoulos

3 years ago

5. Machine that Tries to Draw Circles

by Michael Kontopoulos

3 years ago

4. Horizons

by Michael Kontopoulos

3 years ago

3. Conversation Piece

by Michael Kontopoulos

3 years ago

2. Inner Forests

by Michael Kontopoulos

3 years ago

1. Moon Theater

by Michael Kontopoulos

3 years ago

A system of sculptures that is constantly on the brink of collapse. My intention was to capture and sustain the exact moment of impending catastrophe and endlessly repeat it.

Credits

832 Likes

Dave & Max
3 weeks ago
Juan Pablo Venegas Inostroza
3 weeks ago
doma
4 weeks ago
Eocyte
1 month ago
Helmholtz Watzon
1 month ago
Maris Ozols
1 month ago
Matthew Clark
2 months ago
Jamie Hignett
2 months ago
vivian xu
2 months ago
flynnwong
2 months ago

Tags

Emanuel Strömgren 3 years ago

That was cool! But I didn't really understand the, well, the meaning of the movie, but it was nice although!
Matthew Joseff 3 years ago

Very cool
Cheryl Cohen 3 years ago

Very cool. I could watch it all day. Its like banging my head against the wall
Kyle Lowe 3 years ago

Brilliant! Nice social commentary. If that's what it is...
Dean Lewis 3 years ago

It was entertaining.
Patrick Satterfield 3 years ago

Nice. It reminds me of the Steven Wright joke that goes something like, "You know that feeling when you are leaning back in your chair and you lean back just a little too far and you just catch yourself before falling? I feel like that all the time."
Julien 3 years ago

Hey, I love this setup, I really feel some "surge of emergency" each time one of the machines knocks...
Glenn (aka Avene) 3 years ago

That's great! Very funny to watch
Ian Vogel 3 years ago

this is our society. nice one
Sasha Fornari 3 years ago

brilliant work. thanks for sharing :)
cyphaflip 3 years ago

hammer ftw!
Spudgun 3 years ago

I don't know whether there's a metaphor at work here or not; nor do I care. I just think it's a F+++++g brilliant and innovative piece of photography. Bravo!
Richard Huntington 3 years ago

Interesting!!!
Jay Purcell 3 years ago

Cool.
Bee Emtee 3 years ago

I get it, and I like it... Sort of surrealism in motion.
Kyle Shields 3 years ago

Neat!
Derrick 3 years ago

That is amazing. I would have loved to see this in person.
kahve 3 years ago

nice!
Tom Eriksen 3 years ago

Art! The long build-up before the hammer falls gave my mind lots of time to anticipate the outcome. You tell yourself this is all mathematics applied to mechanics. The artist have thought this over. Cool.... But when the hammer hits the board and it starts toppling over I get this feeling in my stomach, like I want to reach out and stop it from falling. Reptile brain - Logic 1-0
Pila Rusjan 3 years ago

all this edgy stuff remind me of rebecca horn's mashines.
I like it! :)
Vormplus 3 years ago

Like the idea. Nice work.
William Hall 3 years ago

Great feeling in the pit of my stomach as 'the machine' almost fell over. Thanks. Visceral art via video.
steve 3 years ago

that is so on the brink, i'm impressed
Curtis Yee 3 years ago

Hmmm, I've heard about this in my car once....
Atnas 3 years ago

I didn't get the deeper meaning, but very nice indeed
Santo W 3 years ago

Very clever! How long did it take you to "tune" them?
Oscarh Ortega 3 years ago

That's just how my country works! it keeps standing miracously after being hit so many times.

Do the machines get just to the point before falling? cuz it feels like they could have gone a little further.
Johan Van der Auwera 3 years ago

In my country they subsidise people who come up with such ideas! Nice work!
Matt Rebelo 3 years ago

What an awesome, original idea! I love it!
vamapaull 3 years ago

Interesting idea, it makes me feel like something it's about to crush at some point...
Dan Valentine 3 years ago

Great. It's like you're cheering so much for the hammer and yet the structure is screaming "Nooooooo!"
nic 3 years ago

Que coisa, dá uma sensação de que vai cair, mas não cai! Haha. É um vídeo bem awesome. It's diferente. Pretty Cool.
Stevo Welsh 3 years ago

very intersting.... but who ever built these has ALOT of time on there hands :P
will Anderson 3 years ago

those sculptures would drive me insane
Max Lampin 3 years ago

this is art!
Ben NCM 3 years ago

You could have done so much more with this.
Two Buds 3 years ago

Love it, simple and poignant!
Logan Reynolds 3 years ago

I liked that so much!
Kyle Stebbins 3 years ago

I love this. Was this on display to the public or made solely for a film? I hope both.
kaspars 3 years ago

really entertaining! made me smile. :) great idea!
Julian Battelli 3 years ago

good idea, but they did'nt crashed soo I'm dissapointed
run 3 years ago

This is the balance
Alex Miller 3 years ago

I will never be able to do something this awesome in all of my life.
Dale Storer 3 years ago

that...is why you fail.
(well, if you 'do' fail or something ^_^)
garrettOverheul 3 years ago

I know what you mean. well said.
Tom Mallan 3 years ago

Movie and sculptures alike are very well done. Mesmerizing, but short enough to leave us wanting more.
brian durkin 3 years ago

very original. good idea.
Tribalwind 3 years ago

creative, and apropos to our times!
Brown 3 years ago

some bizarre comments here eh?
I like the work
Andy Rydzewski 3 years ago

fantastic! great art piece!
Danijel Šivinjski 3 years ago

cool ... nice staff
Matthew Carrozo 3 years ago

this makes me feel warm inside.
pastol 3 years ago

Simplistic, but the tension is incredible.
Steve Calderon 3 years ago

So awesome! Like existentialist robots!
Paul Cooper 3 years ago

Very very nice :) that is literally on the edge!
Jose Gaspar 3 years ago

Very Good!
Nick Camm 3 years ago

Vertigo.
Ian Gutierrez 3 years ago

cool?
kwelwater 3 years ago

Yeah love it dude, like playing on a swing the momentum of hanging and not nowing or you will fall back or go on, nice display.
layedoutnissan 3 years ago

very cool
Ty Acord 3 years ago

please. push....it.....OVER.
True Congress 3 years ago

This really is beautiful. Thank you...
Yann Traboulsi 3 years ago

amazing installation.
benju 3 years ago

terrific concept and realization!
Dale Storer 3 years ago

Absolutly wonderful! Machines that go 'bang' and do not fall over! Simplistic design, grace and balance in equilibrium.
This is something I would love to see on exhibit in a contemporary museum. Elaborate on the idea...
If nothing else to watch an old person passer-by 'cluck' in lack of understanding and contempt for the noise
daniel arenas 3 years ago

good piece. the anticipation is more important that the result, and the way time expands in those seconds when the piece it's about to collapse is great.
reminds me fischli and weiss work - there's a book about the piece "the way things go by" is highly recommended, - that piece has several things in common with this work - the awkwardness, the sense of humor and the way objects are constructed and displayed. cheers.
simon Snowflake 3 years ago

Great, how we seem to hope to see the contructs fall, but obviously they dont. A bit of a metafor for all day problems, they seem devastating but in the end you'll manage.
SymmetryFilms 3 years ago

very cool. any footage of the development of this project???
garrettOverheul 3 years ago

Brilliant. I love the concept of the installation. For some reason it made me laugh each time the "machine" almost fell over, odd huh? Anyway I enjoyed it, thanks.
Adam Beecher 3 years ago

Nice, I like it.
Beanz Ramirez 3 years ago

Those must've been so hard to make!! Kudos.
smpl 3 years ago

Doom! Doom! We're all doomed :-)
Miles Foxglove 3 years ago

That is very nice.. in the randomness of life, does one ever actually fall over?
MariaNYC 3 years ago

So who is the artist that made these wonderful sculptures? Is it you?
I would really like to know, pls give credit
Michael Kontopoulos 3 years ago

Hello,
I am the creator of all these works. I use vimeo to host my documentation. Please visit my portfolio site for more information: mkontopoulos.com
Marco G. 3 years ago

this is the exact technique used in the berlin wall to stop escaping vehicles. After introducing that type of wall, the Dragon's teeth had been removed. So your sculpture has a deeper meaning than you may think. great work!
Timothy Rosenberg 3 years ago

Brilliant work.
Naboo 3 years ago

And do the hammers get their power through some electric cable, or is it maybe some mechanical spring?
Robert Edgar 3 years ago

Beautiful. Thanks.
stevan kojic 3 years ago

Nice homage to Peter Fischli & David Weiss.
Joe Parslow 3 years ago

I like it.
Richard Holdman 3 years ago

Love It!
Ashley Ford 3 years ago

just amazing! love the idea, and really funny.
James Remar 3 years ago

Some snide, high-brow bullshit. Always gets a ton of views. Works like a charm.
Second Brown 3 years ago

Brilliant!
Ben 2 years ago

Niiice. Good thing the video is not longer. Not sure if I could take the tension I felt every time the machines nearly fell over. Puh.
Martin Barnier 2 years ago

Serious business. I like the idea, how long did it take to get right?
Maurice Lock 2 years ago

a real attention grabber and ultimately rather sad for reasons I cannot fathom.
Walter Hop 2 years ago

I can identify with this.
mikedidonato 2 years ago

Stunning.
rob ray 2 years ago

totally great.
hendersontwelve 2 years ago

Fantastic!
Tom Judd 2 years ago

Superb installation. Shared on animade.tv
PSpiliopoulos 1 year ago

oraios
Jack Alton 1 year ago

It's clearly suicidal metronomes. Poor buggers, it's down the highway not across the street!
Synes Elischka 8 months ago

Hey, please submit your film to our festival until tuesday, thanks!
randomfilmfest.com/submit