Balancing artist Rocky Byun has filled his YouTube channel with patience and practice. In his videos, he balances rocks, chunks of ice, bicycles, sticks and other objects, but perhaps his signature medium is the glass bottle. See him stack and balance four glass bottles, one with liquid in it, in the video above. Next to him, six bottles stand already stacked. In the video below, he stacks another four bottles on a pedestal:
And in this video, he notes the rough bottom of what appears to be his favorite bottle to work with. That roughness provides some friction that can stop sliding within the balancing act.
Another key to his work is finding the center of gravity—”the point through which the force of gravity acts on an object or system”—for the objects through observation and feeling as he makes micro-adjustments to their positions. Of course, Byun doesn’t always achieve a steady set up:
More recently, he’s leveled up the challenge by balancing objects within unevenly-hung, wiggling, giggling, chiming and candle-lit wooden frames:
Related reading at Khan: The center of mass and the center of gravity.
Try your own balancing act with a bottle, skewers, and some foods: How to Make Balancing Sculptures. Plus, watch Rigolo Swiss Nouveau Cirque artist Maedir Eugster.h/t The Awesomer.
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