Tuesday 9 September 2014

Katikati's World War One Soldier


This solar-operated moving diorama was made by Kate and Bob MacIntyre of Pahioa in 2009, for a sculpture competition at Katikati, and later purchased for the museum after achieving a second placing.  They collaborated in the design and construction, Kate with her wonderful artistic skills, Bob with his incredibly varied engineering expertise, and called it a "Kinetic Sculpture" for entry purposes.  It has a small motor in the panel underneath the soldier, and when connected to the solar photovoltaic panel (later situated below a skylight in the roof of the museum), the Katikati soldier “marches” to war, or home from war, and the scenes behind him turn to indicate his going or coming.  There’s an “On” switch on the side to activate the motion.

Bob MacIntyre sadly passed away last year, so posting this short video is a small tribute to Bob's irrepressible enthusiasm for any number of projects.  Many thanks to his widow Jocelyn and daughter Kate for sharing their memories.

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