Isn’t it a dream to do useless and fun things all day long and still make a profession out of it? Well, Joseph Herscher describes himself as a “Professional Useless Machine Builder“. Yes, he builds many useless machines for a living.
The concept of building machines that work on chain reactions seems very intriguing and entertaining. Joseph uses various sorts of everyday objects to build these machines.
He mentioned in a report by the New York Times that he uses these machines to express his frustrations. He said, “You hear that it’s good to recycle everything, and then you hear it takes more energy to recycle paper than it does to cut it down. It’s really hard to know what the right thing to do is. This is a way to express my own frustrations.”
Many artists and dancers use their artwork to express their pent-up emotions just like he expresses them through his machines.
What’s The Story Of Joseph Herscher?
The man built his first machine when he was just 5 years old, named “The Lolly Machine“. He went on a little break before he rediscovered his passion in his twenties and made a career out of it. Even he couldn’t have predicted that his childhood hobby would turn into a daily hustle.
His efficiency in building the machines rely mainly on the inefficiency to perform a simple task. He also believes that creating and playing with “useless” machines help explore a creative side for young minds.
It also expands their knowledge of everyday objects and their variable uses when combined with other small things and used in an elaborate way.
What Do You Mean By ‘Useless Machines’?
Imagine a 5-minute shortcut to the cafe near your place, a direct straight path with no turns. Now you just intentionally take another route, which will take you more than 15-20 minutes, this is the basic concept behind his machines.
His machines are sometimes referred to as “Rube Goldberg machines”. The name comes from a famous American cartoonist named Rube Goldberg who used to depict complicated and intricate machines, elaborately performing simple tasks.
Joseph Herscher’s machines are very similar to the concept depicted by the cartoonist. He even conducts Rube Goldberg workshops all over the world.
Here Are Some Of His Famous Machines:
The Dresser
The machine starts a kinetic reaction as soon as Joseph puts his alarm clock in a glass of water. After a series of reactions, a huge alarm clock rolls and irons his clothes one by one. The process ends with a chandelier falling down and placing his hat on him.
The Tooth Brusher
This one’s pretty simple compared to his other machines but nevertheless pointlessly increasing the process of brushing teeth. In this, he ties a pendulum clock on his head and attaches the toothbrush at the end of the pendulum. He also reads a book while he’s at it.
The Lunch Feeder
This one is pretty long and complex starting with him opening his lunch box and involves him eating a bite every time the hot dog swings. The video ends with a stick providing him with a piece of cloth to clean his mouth.
Passing Salt While Maintaining Social Distance
The amount of time this machine takes to pass salt from one end of the table to another feels like a decade. In the process, the machine even cuts cucumbers and involves a cake too.
Cutting Your Own Hair During Lockdown
The video is quite entertaining to watch with a rapidly spinning chandelier with a knife chopping down hair and a wheel attached to razors as well.
People who plan to get engaged in creative fields of designing, painting, building toys or any other such related profession can enhance their creativity and innovation through such machine building activities.
Along with his workshops for kids all over the world, he has also appeared on a television show ‘Sesame Street’ and given a lecture at Parsons School of Design. You can even check out his YouTube Channel to watch hundreds of more videos.
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: NY Times, YouTube, Joseph’s Machines
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This post is tagged under: Useless, useless machines, useless machine builder, Joseph Herscher, Joseph’s machines, can you make useless machines for a living?, Professional useless machine builder, rube goldberg, rube goldberg machines, american cartoonist, complex machines, YouTube, Rube Goldberg workshops
