Machine with Concrete - Arthur Ganson

Arthur Ganson
7 HN recommenders · recommended in 7 months, 2009–2026
YouTube
1.2M views · 17 years ago · demo · evergreen

Machine with Concrete is a kinetic sculpture by Arthur Ganson. A motor drives a chain of worm-gear pairs, each cutting the speed to one fiftieth, so the last gear, embedded in concrete, turns far too slowly to see.

HN people share it as a fun, punchline-driven companion to gear-ratio demos, liking how Ganson's work often hides a joke in the mechanism.

“I quite like how a lot of his work seems to have a punchline to it.”
Furniture & object designDesign philosophy & principles
#arthurganson#kineticsculpture#gears#gearratio#concrete#mechanisms

14 comments from Hacker News

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@o4c2026 · in “Machine with Concrete – Arthur Ganson [video]”
Submitted the video to Hacker News.
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D
@Doxin2025 · in “Different Clocks”
I think the artist put it as "and then the last gear turns so slowly it doesn't really matter, so I cast it in concrete." Assuming we're talking about Arthur Gansons "Machine with concrete"[0] of course. I quite like how a lot of his work seems to have a punchline to it. [0] ▶ this video
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r
@robertfw2020 · in “A googol-to-one gear ratio [video]”
In the same vein, check out "Machine with Concrete" ▶ this video
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n
@nicpottier2020 · in “Gears”
A fun one to watch afterwards: ▶ this video
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k
@kybernetikos2018 · in “An artwork by Banksy shredded itself after selling for $1.3M at Sotheby’s”
I think this one is quite interesting: ▶ this video A motor connected to a series of reduction gears, with the last part of the chain encased in concrete.
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g
@gphilip2013 · in “Machine with Concrete”
Submitted the video to Hacker News.
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j
@joshwa2009 · in “Video of a very inefficient concrete drill (read description)”
Submitted the video to Hacker News.
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j
@jrussino2021 · in “'Megascale' structures that humans could one day build”
Reminds me of this one (the final gear is embedded in concrete): ▶ this video
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s
@sgerenser2020 · in “Making a Googol:1 Reduction with Lego Gears [video]”
Might be think of “machine with concrete” ▶ this video
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@zimpenfish2020 · in “Making a Googol:1 Reduction with Lego Gears [video]”
▶ this video "With the motor turning around 200 revolutions per minute, it will take well over two trillion years before the final gear makes but one turn."
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r
@rzzzt2019 · in “A 500-Year-Long Science Experiment”
Arthur Ganson's "Machine with Concrete" is an installation that has 1:50 gears put in sequence, to the power of 12; the last section is embedded in concrete: ▶ this video There's also the pitch drop experiment, which IMO rivals watching grass grow: link
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@erre2015 · in “The 1,000-Year GIF”
This reminds me of "Machine with Concrete", by Arthur Ganson: ▶ this video From the video description: Each worm/worm gear pair reduces the speed of the motor by 1/50th. Since there are 12 pairs of gears, the final speed reduction is calculated by (1/50)12. The implications are quite large. With the motor turning around 200 revolutions per minute, it will take well over two trillion years before the final gear makes but one turn. Given the truth of this situation, it is possible to do anything at all with the final gear, even embed it in concrete.
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