“Where Ideas Come From” was commissioned by the amazing creative team from STRUCK for one of their many clients, Nickelodeon. This kinetic sculpture was part of the “Happy Happy Joy Joy” exhibit at CAL State Fullerton in the spring of 2016. The show was the cornerstone of Nickelodeon’s anniversary celebration of 25 years of creator driven animation. The exhibit featured original concept and animation artwork from many of Nickelodeons most popular properties. A good portion of the art had been stored in their private archives and had never been shown to the public.
Along with exhibiting items from their own collection, they hired the creative team at STRUCK to provide additional elements for the exhibit. Which included several original commissioned works. “Where Ideas Come From” was one of those works.
After the exhibit was over, “Where Ideas Come From” was permanently installed in Nickelodeon’s brand new animation studios in Burbank, CA. Where it currently lives today.
One of the key features we wanted to include in the sculpture was a moment where the 8 ball travels inside a miniature vintage arcade case. Once the ball enters the arcade, an “8-bit” version appears on screen, where it navigates through one of several different Nickelodeon themed levels for several seconds. Once it’s game over, the physical ball reemerges to continue its race through the machine. The awesome arcade graphics where created by Chris George at Struck, who also is credited for the above video of the sculpture along with the following photos.
