Rolling ball sculpture
Kind of sculpture and toy
A simple wooden toy marble run

A rolling ball sculpture (sometimes referred to as a marble run, ball run, gravitram, kugelbahn (German: 'ball track'), or rolling ball machine) is a form of kinetic art – an art form that contains moving pieces – that specifically involves one or more rolling balls.

A version where marbles compete in a race to win is called a marble race, in which the marbles go through simple or complex labyrinths, seeing which one is the winner, or even loser. The YouTube channel Jelle's Marble Runs has popularized this idea over the years, especially gaining traction during the COVID-19 lockdown of 2020. Through his video series dubbed "Marble League", also known as the "MarbleLympics", he recorded and uploaded marbles racing through tracks, with them resembling Olympic sports and were recorded in a sports broadcast-like manner (a commentator to educate viewers on what's happening, crowd noises and other SFX as if it's a real like sporting event, etc).[1][2]

Toys

The regular rolling ball sculpture rolling ball structure is usually constructed out of wood, plastic, or metal, with the balls used traditionally being small glass spheres. The objective of it is to load a ball into the sculpture, and then allow gravity to make its way down, usually going through various forms of tracks, like, for example, a long twisty channel leading to a shallow funnel.

World records

Small part of tallest rolling ball sculpture, Energy Machine, in Hong Kong Science Museum since 1991
People watching a kinetic sculpture by George Rhoads

The tallest rolling ball sculpture in the world, at 22 metres (72 ft) tall, is named the Energy Machine, and located in the Hong Kong Science Museum in Hong Kong.[3] The structure consists of two towers, balls moving among them.[4][5] It is also the largest of its kind in the world.[5] The machine contains stream of ball, demonstrating energy conversion, from potential energy to kinetic, sound, light energy, with balls rolling along tracks.[5]

According to Guinness World Records, the longest marble run is 2,858.9 meters long and was completed in Switzerland in September 2017.[6][7]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Marble Racing Is the Sport That Can Save Us From Losing Our Marbles". SI. 2020-03-22. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
  2. ^ Addley, Esther (2020-06-01). "On the run: lack of sport drives fans to madcap world of marble racing". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
  3. ^ Knikkers, Jelle (October 28, 2015) "Marble Run Records" Jelle's Marble Runs Accessed:December 31, 2019
  4. ^ 香港科學館 Hong Kong Science Museum (2022-08-28). 能量穿梭機 Energy Machine. Retrieved 2025-07-21 – via YouTube.
  5. ^ a b c "Energy Machine | Hong Kong Science Museum". hk.science.museum. Archived from the original on 2025-06-01. Retrieved 2025-07-21.
  6. ^ "Longest marble run". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 2023-03-23.
  7. ^ "Marble Run Records – Jelle's Marble Runs". Archived from the original on 2024-09-20. Retrieved 2023-03-23.
  • David Morrell (sculptor)
  • Matthew Gaulden
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