A One-Of-A-Kind Timepiece

146' × 13' × 9'

 

The CHOCABLOCK CLOCK was installed at Strawberry Square in 1988. It is an "Audiokinetic Sculpture" created by artist George Rhoads in collaboration with Bob McGuire of Rock Stream Studios in Ithaca, New York. The artist has hidden no deep meaning in the maze of tracks and devices. There is no set pattern of motion and sound. Random action is achieved by using pendulum switches.

 

CHOCABLOCK CLOCK is a forty foot tower in which numerous pool balls run through a maze that is several hundred feet long, activating a series of sound and motion devices: chimes, xylo bars, bells, wood blocks, drums, helices, a "bounce & catch" and more. With each piece of sculpture that Rhoads and McGuire produce, they try to create at least two new mechanical devices. Here, they have come up with an entire clock striking mechanism that chimes on the hour, has a cuckoo and four large, motor-driven rotating shapes at the top.

 

Rhoads is a painter, illustrator and sculptor, and has been creating "ball machines" and related wind sculptures for more than two decades. McGuire is a former teacher who founded Rock Stream Studios in 1975 to produce stained glass. Similar works by the two artists can be found throughout the world in malls and shopping centers, science museums, art museums, children's hospitals, airports and corporate offices. Look for one of these pieces the next time you are in Canada, Israel, Japan, Korea, France, Spain, or Australia.

 

For more information on the artists…
Visit www.georgerhoads.com or write Rock Stream Studios (Bob McGuire), 233 Cherry St Ithaca, NY 14850