The second module for The Universe Within is falling into place. Called “The Art of Kinetics,” the twenty lessons of Module 2 will be rolled out to students who participate in The Creative STEM Club in the fall of 2021.

The curriculum continues to use Mat Bevel Company President Ned Schaper’s magical world of Beveldom as the framework for students to develop their magical worlds. In “The Art of Kinetics”,  students will focus on developing the physical and temporal aspects of their magical worlds, with the module building up to the creation of a time machine to help students travel through time and space to solve a problem in their world.  Lessons align with Science, Math, Engineering, Visual Arts, Theater Arts and English Language Arts Arizona State Standards.

Though “The Art of Kinetics” was originally taught in the traditional classroom at Patagonia Elementary School, this multimedia edition of the module goes much deeper into classical mechanics, the study of the motion of bodies. Classical mechanics was the first branch of physics and is foundational in further physics learning. “The Art of Kinetics” is being updated to include more science and math by Dr. Bruce Bayly, University of Arizona math professor, Juliette Verley, a science museum educator and curriculum developer, and Paula Schaper, vice president of Mat Bevel Company.

After diving into how time relates to space, students will begin to build pieces of a Time Machine that teaches them about forces, work, tools, simple machines and complex machines while learning skills like measurement, action planning and creative problem solving.

Students will begin to learn about space, motion, and time using real-world examples from Earth and our Solar System, as well as extrapolated examples from students’ imaginary worlds. Students will start learning about time by identifying their location in space and time using “where and when” coordinates, before imagining a “where and when” location in their imagined world. Students will then learn about the relationship between planetary movement and time through exploration of the 24 hour rotational motion and 365 day circulatory motion of the Earth. Students then must create a time-keeping system based off of the rotational and circulatory motion of their own planet.

Students will need to explore mechanical advantage and master the use of tools to create a complex machine out of pulleys, levers, and nuts and bolts: their time machine. The module will culminate in an exhibition and performance of the student’s design where they get into character to show and discuss their creations and explain what they have learned about classical mechanics to a crowd.

“The Art of Kinetics” will build interdisciplinary connections between physics, math, engineering, and art. In the second module of The Universe Within, students will be building machines as well as continuing to build confidence and foster their creative genius.

Research shows that creativity influences quality of life in many ways.

Students built two-gear spinning wheels from recycled materials to help them solve the social issues in their worlds. As they persevered in troubleshooting frictional, mechanical and material failures. their frustration turned into accomplishment!

The Universe Within helps students explore the outer universe through the inner universe.

Don’t think education is your thing?

Gratefully,

Through the Power of Kinetics the sculptures come to life 

In our last update, we reported our progress with Bevelvision. Mat Bevel Company President Ned Schaper has been capturing a mix of footage from three very different cameras.

In the near future, Ned will use green screen compositing to isolate and videotape many of his 52 characters. Called the Creative Forces, these characters will appear in Beveldom as “Junkachinas” who channel the wisdom of junk. In the story, Mat Bevel’s characters are sent into the dumpster culture to liberate the relics of junk and help them find new purpose.

Ned will then place video of these characters into the video footage he’s been capturing of the Museum Of Kinetic Art using the 360fly virtual reality camera, GoPro 5 miniature action camera and the Canon C100 Cinema Camera.

In this next phase of Bevelvision, some characters will begin to develop more. As one example, Jester Physics hasn’t played a big role in the live theater productions. He wears a box helmet that prohibits audiences from seeing his mouth move and hearing his words. With Bevelvision, an important character like Jester Physics will take on a bigger role. Obviously with a camera, you can do a lot of magic with his solid, colorful helmet. And, you may see him at work or making a sculpture. 

According to Ned, “Capturing the characters using green screen and combining them with footage of the museum opens up many more environments for the world of Beveldom. The characters will be placed into the most beautiful variety of backgrounds including micro-footage of sculptures that audiences, up until now, couldn’t experience in live theater productions.”

The Creative Forces locked in the relics of junk are unleashed

What’s next? The key to the evolution of Bevelvision is shooting and combining footage of the Museum Of Kinetic Art with footage of the Creative Forces. Ned is close to establishing Beveldom’s surrealistic setting using his fine-art kinetic sculptures as a spaceship-like backdrop. 

We’re looking for a small space where Ned can green screen Beveldom’s characters. Do you know of a quiet space in Tucson where we can install a green screen and record Beveldom’s 52 characters? If so, please contact Paula Schaper at 520-604-6273 or shoot her an email at: pschaper@matbevecompany.org.

If you’d like to receive monthly updates, news, artwork and inspiration from the world of Beveldom, please sign up for our newsletter The Junk Evangelist.

Update on Bevelvision Productions

Mat Bevel Company is moving forward on technical and creative fronts with Bevelvision Productions. In upcoming videos, you’ll see images that combine a mix of footage from three very different cameras: 360fly virtual reality camera, GoPro 5 miniature action camera and the Canon C100 Cinema Camera. This is helping Mat Bevel Company President Ned Schaper to establish the look and feel of Beveldom through the eye of the camera for a new virtual theater that takes place in a junk universe!

Ned Schaper explains, “The 360fly lets me place characters inside moving sculptures. I can shoot 360 degrees then combine it with a regular high definition video in the editing phase. The three cameras give me multiple perspectives to work with, adding dimension to the world of Beveldom.” 

The lens of the 360fly action camera is spherical, and points straight up into the air. The camera can capture everything happening around all at once, the single eye recording everything in its field of view. The GoPro 5 camera gets up close and personal with an ultra-wide angle view allowing Ned’s characters to interact in close quarters with the sculptures without a camera person. That’s a great benefit since our current production studio is packed with sculptures and equipment, leaving no room for a camera person to move around. The C100 shoots a “normal” live video image and also records the two channels of quality audio for the scene. 

All of this technology is taking us deeper into the Junk Universe of Beveldom! Thank you everyone who has supported Mat Bevel Company over the last three years. Because of you, we’re much closer to capturing the magical world of Beveldom using video technologies.

If you’d like to receive monthly updates, news, artwork and inspiration from the world of Beveldom, please sign up for our newsletter The Junk Evangelist.