If you saw my piece at the MINT show Here to Go, you will know I have spent a lot of time thinking about paper, motors, gears, and getting them to play well together. So when I walked into the Museum of Craft and Design in San Francisco, I may have gasped. Chris Eckert’s mechanical devises make the industrial poetic by drawing on religious themes for their content. One machine transcribes the Gospel of Mark with a calligraphy pen while subtly responding to the presence of a viewer with slight modifications to the text. Another uses a motion sensor to ring alter bells that would typically ring during a Catholic mass. Combing my love for text and elegant machines, ToDo got the highest marks for me. I don’t know how many machines continuously transcribe Eckert’s to do lists, randomizing the oder so that no list is repeated. The spent paper grows into a undulating sculptural mass beneath the machines. Read Eckert’s blog to learn more about how he made the machines. I’m so glad I stumbled upon this exhibit during my short, but inspiring, trip to San Francisco!!