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Artist Scott Weaver has been building “Rolling Through the Bay” for 35 years. The kinetic sculpture of famous San Francisco landmarks is constructed of more than 100,000 toothpicks and lets you take “tours” of the city by watching ping pong balls roll down different routes.
Watch the video above to see the endearing artist narrate a few tours, pointing out easily overlooked details, some of which are actually personal tributes: the hours on the clock towers are the times of birth of his wife and family. You also get a few behind the scenes comments on the more elaborate elements. “Those weird little plants that don’t look like toothpicks are actually what Moroccans use for toothpicks,” Weaver says in passing near the end of the video.
He’s been updating the sculpture over the decades, even replacing his original Golden Gate bridge because “I’ve got better over the years.” See the video below for his behind the scenes peek on how he built the sculpture and other toothpick ephemera. “Richwoods were the best back in the 90s,” he says, but now his toothpick of choice is Diamond.
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The sculpture will be on display at The Tinkering Studio through June. See tons of photos up close, in splendid detail on the Tinkering Studio’s Flickr page.
