The Curious Self-Serving Machines of Dan Grayber

San Francisco artist Dan Grayber builds intricate machine sculptures that, rather than serve humans, fulfill their own mechanical needs. Many of his machines use elaborate mechanisms simply to hold themselves up: they cling to walls or ceilings, or wedge themselves inside glass display domes. He has also created a machine that installs itself on a gallery wall.

Objects are invented in order to satisfy particular needs, specifically, human needs. With my sculpture I investigate the concept of need when the human is removed from this equation. I do this by replacing the human with the object itself. My sculptures are invented only to sustain themselves, functioning as self-resolving problems. The result is an object that has been invented only to compensate for the complications created by its own existence. The piece alone represents the need and the resolution.

via BLDG BLOG