A new interactive sculpture in the lobby of the Brown Hillel building takes puzzles and art to an extreme level - and it's only the beginning.
Conceived and built by Aaron Gemen, a Brown student currently on leave, the puzzle consists of an intricate jumble of metal, wooden and plastic tracks and mechanical devices, controlled by one crank, one lever and three knobs. To solve the puzzle, one must coax three metal pinballs into three slots.
Although the puzzle seems quite simple, it takes about an hour to solve, according to Gemen.
"My goal was to make it so that if you aren't interested in puzzles, it's entertaining enough to just watch," he said.
Gemen said he drew inspiration from kinetic sculptures in Boston's Logan Airport and the Boston Museum of Science, which he visited as a child.
"I grew up solving mechanical puzzles, and I always wanted to be an inventor since I was young," he said.
Gemen said his ultimate dream is to build larger versions of the puzzle on display in Hillel with more rugged components, he said. He views the piece in Hillel as only a prototype and expects that the final product will measure 10 square feet or more, he said.
After three semesters at Brown, Gemen decided to take time off to find the money to build this prototype.
The Providence Children's Museum has agreed to house the larger piece once it has been paid for and built.
Gemen stumbled upon the available space in Hillel throug friends from Brown on the Hillel Gallery Committee.
Hillel is eager to market itself as a new space for the community and local artists, said Ilana Schachter '05, student coordinator for the Hillel Gallery Project.
"His piece provides an excellent opportunity for us to bring students and the community into this space," Schachter said.
Gemen is currently applying for a grant from the Rhode Island Foundation and, meanwhile, hopes that his piece's location in Hillel will help raise awareness for his project among potential donors.
Although the piece is technically marketed as public art, Gemen said it is more of an entertaining invention than a piece of art.
"I would never categorize myself as an artist, because it's a foreign concept to me. I just like to build stuff in my basement," he said.
Whether it is art or not, Gemen's puzzle is worth seeing, even if only to have some fun playing pinball.
