Three Feet Of Air
Three Feet Of Air Productions
Website: http://threefeetofair.wordpress.com
Dawn Thomas (cloudsdriftingby@gmail.com)
Bob VanDeWalle (bobpixel@gmail.com)
(707) 245-4735
Basic Info: We design and build interactive art installations and human-powered vehicles for racing and exhibition events in (mostly) Northern California. We strive to use recycled and re-purposed materials in all of our builds.
Recent Projects:
- Humpbacks of Notre Dame a climate change action. We won the “Best Pun” trophy at the SFMOMA’s downhill soapbox derby revival.
- Tiny Gallery/Art Exchange Funded in part with a Creative Sonoma Pop-Up Grant, these small kiosks create a new way for artists to present and share their work at an intimate, neighborhood-scale.
- Aluminum Boat Ramp at Amphibious Bike Race at Pedalfest. Sponsored by Bike East Bay and John Muir Health, we organized the amphibious race and fabricated a portable aluminum and plywood ramp for the event, including painting their logos on the surface. July, 2018
- Kinetic Kompendium: 50 Years Of Kinetic Sculpture Racing book, published in January 2018. 600 page, full-color book documenting the history of the race, pilots and sculptures. Ran a successful crowdfunding campaign to print the first edition.
- 4-person amphibious quadricycle kinetic sculpture. Built a pivoting, 2-part kinetic sculpture from the ground up, including fiberglassing a built-in flotation hull.
In The Media:
- Tiny Galleries encourage artwork exchange, Press Democrat, 2020
- Kinetic Kompendium: A Sonoma County artist’s colorful chronology. Press Democrat, 2018
- Interview with Christien Kafton KTVU T.V. at Pedalfest, 2017
- November, 2014, the Amphibious Trike goes to play in a flood. Stormageddon!
- November, 2014, our “Elon Musk Amphibious Challenge” is picked up on Laughing Squid.
- June, 2014, the Amphibious Trike is featured in Make Magazine’s online blog. Article here.
- August, 2014, “Maker Outdoor Fun” prize for The $100 Dollar Sailboat project on Instructables.com.
- August, 2013, Red Couch Handcar is shown, racing in the Wunderkammer Handcar Races in a 15-second advertisement, being used to promote the city of Santa Rosa as a destination for wine and beer aficionados.
- July, 2013, Our Red Couch paddle wheel is pictured on the event website to promote Healdsburg’s Water Carnivale.
- Engineering prize for the Whittaker Paddlewheel design on Instructables.com, 2013
Event and Race Awards:
CalTrans wins 1st Place Engineering award at the Kinetic Grand Championship in Arcata, 2018
“Jankosaurus” the Amphibious Trike wins “Never Give Up” and “Best Pit Crew” at the 2014 Kinetic Grand Championship in Arcata.
The Whittaker Paddlewheel wins “Best Engineered” at Rivertown Revival, 2013
“Artistic yet Odd” awarded to the Red Couch Paddlewheel at Rivertown Revival, 2013
Red Couch Handcar wins 2nd Place at the Wunderkammer Sonoma County Handcar Races, 2013
Red Couch Hancar wins 3rd Place at the Willits Kinetic Carnivale, 2013
Red Couch Paddlewheel wins “All the numbers” prize, Camp Tipsy, 2012
Red Couch Paddlewheel wins 4th place at Rivertown Revival, 2012
Links:
“Stormageddon” video in which the Amphibious Trike joins Kayaks and Wakeboarders in the Healdsburg Safeway parking lot, during flooding. http://youtu.be/JHGnPqH_F3s?list=UUZU5FVCztllIAuW1-d_cqsw
2014 Pedal-Powered Rail Vehicle Trip along abandoned rail tracks in Northern California. – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMUEtKIJyaU&list=UUZU5FVCztllIAuW1-d_cqsw
Article in Make Magazine’s online blog about our Amphibious Trike http://makezine.com/2014/06/30/how-jankosaurus-the-3-wheeled-trike-got-its-name/
Our Trike goes to Camp Tipsy 2014 – http://youtu.be/3-dzfleT__w?list=UUZU5FVCztllIAuW1-d_cqsw
Our current Kickstarter promotional video for our Sociable Tandem Prototype Trike. – http://youtu.be/ZeUnE35xBj0?list=UUZU5FVCztllIAuW1-d_cqsw
The Whittaker Paddlewheel Instructable – http://www.instructables.com/id/The-Whittaker-paddle-wheel/
The $100 Sailboat – http://www.instructables.com/id/100-Hardware-Store-Sailboat/
