Ambigrams that move
The word ambigramautomata (plural of ambigramautomaton) is a combination of the words ambigram and automata. An ambigram is a word that can be read more than one way (see Ambigrams); an automaton is (among other things) a device that moves seemingly on it's own. Because of my background in making figurative automata, when I began creating ambigrams I naturally thought of turning them into mechanical devices.
Directly below are plans of several ambigramautomata. Study them to see how they work. Beneath them are videos of actual ambigramautomata in action.
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Silent/Listen The S, I, L, and T are all vertically symmetrical so that they read the same when rotated 180°. The disc with SIL is on a cam so that it moves left and right when rotated. The EN is stationary. © Tom Banwell 2007 |
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I am/We are AM becomes WE when rotated 180°. Since the three discs are indentically sized gears, when one is moved the others move at the same rate. © Tom Banwell 2007 |
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Turn All four letters of the word TURN are made from the same glyph, rotated and mirrored to look different. As the two discs are rotated they repeatedly form the word TURN at each quarter turn. Top to bottom shows the same discs in different degrees of rotation. The red dot gives a point of reference. © Tom Banwell 2007 |
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Nexus The word stays the same but changes from horizontal to vertical when rotated around a 45° axis. The vertical N becomes the horizontal S, and the E becomes the U. © Tom Banwell 2007 |
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"From my point of view, the most exciting new work in this field involves pushing ambigrams into further dimensions—sometimes in actual 3-D, sometimes virtual. Tom Banwell has taken what has been largely a two-dimensional art into tangible, three-dimensional sculptures."
—John Langdon, in the forward to Eye Twisters by Burkard Polster.
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© Tom Banwell 2007-2008