A few weeks ago, we visited an artist in Emeryville who might very well be the next Leonardo da Vinci.
His name is Reuben Margolin, and, aside from designing rickshaws and mechanical caterpillars that clomp along a plank of wood as you turn a wheel, he designs and builds large-scale sculptures, often made of wood, that demonstrate wave motion. Or, as he calls them, "geometric constructions flavored by art."
Reuben told us that he has been making stuff for as long as he could remember. He received a wrench when he was eight years old, and remembers taking apart a seat while riding on a ferry. He has always been fascinated by tools, as well as mathematics and geometry, and, in fact, sees geometry as a "practical, hands-on approach to math."
But Reuben is also a trained fine artist. After graduating from Harvard College, Margolin attended classical painting schools in Italy and Russia, where he learned how to study nature and create large-scale paintings. One day, however, while observing a caterpillar undulating its way across desert sands, Margolin wondered how he could create a device that would mimic that movement.
