Kinetic Sculpture Race

How could I have missed this event last year??? Just imagine.. people are given the task to create a large scale sculpture (usually of something wacky..) that not only has to look awesome, but has to be able to race on land AND in water. My sides hurt from laughing so hard.

Colorado parents came down for the weekend, and thankfully got to experience a taste of “eclectic” Baltimore. The American Visionary Art Museum is a secret jewel in Baltimore, home of the weird art that no other proper museum will display (which btw, houses the giant pink poodle as a permanent exhibition), puts on the KSR every year, and this year marked its 10th year!

It is a man-powered race that goes on for 8 hours and 14 miles, including an obstacle course in Patterson Park and a water-loop in Canton. The majority of the parade goes on in public streets along the city, so I can only imagine what an uninformed observer must have thought to see these creations roaming around town. AVAM’s pictures are much better than mine, but these will give you an idea.

The best part, and I’m sure my family would agree, was the getting-out-of-the-water part. As the majority of the race was based on on land performance and creativity, most of these floats were top heavy and not really made to finish the water loop. It took the Platypus a good 30 minutes to get itself out of the water, and this included ropes, pit crews, and even other floats helping to tow. A lot of other floats didn’t think of the fact that the getting-out would be at an incline, and so made only their back wheels controllable, which was pretty funny also. All in all, lots of laughs and a good amount of sunburn. It was a nice day.