Circumvolve is my second sculpture to use a configuration  similar to a four member Ferris wheel, but with a few differences.  The first is that each orbiting member, or what I think of as a satellite, overlaps at the center.  Another difference is that each of the four satellites is rotated 90 degrees from its neighboring satellite and holds its orientation throughout its obit about the center.  And third, the satellites are  bicolored, metallic clad with the colors of your choice.  I have found that the addition of colored metal into my recent sculptures bring a reflective 'pop' on top of the mesmerizing expanding/contracting visual patterns.  I hope you'll agree.

As with the Whorled, my first sculpture with orbiting satellites, the creation of Circumvolve didn’t come without a few challenges.   The biggest of which was getting the main wheel carrying the four satellites to rotate for long periods in between pulses from the spring. I finally prevailed and am very pleased with the sculpture's up to 16+ hour run time.  Amidst the challenges, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the occasional slight wobble of the satellites added to the sculpture’s random visual pattern.

Circumvolve is propelled by a stainless steel constant force spring that is fully wound by placing an index finger next to one of the spokes of the lower right drive wheel and turning counterclockwise for about 22 turns. Once the drive wheel is released, Circumvolve will receive its first 'push' from the spring which lasts less than 2 seconds. The spring will not be needed again until the main wheel carrying the satellites slows enough to rotate backwards.  Once this occurs, a mechanism is tripped that allows the spring to impart another 'push'.