By John Tredrea, Special Writer
What “Junior” does depends on what you do.
If you move to the left, the part of Junior that is an old tobacco spear will move as you move and point to you, and the propeller that is at the end of the tobacco spear will go round and round.
As this happens, a ping pong ball that is part of Junior will light up, over and over. If you come very close to Junior, he gets excited — the propeller will turn rapidly first one way, then the other, while that light keeps blinking at a rapid rate.
”Junior” is an amazingly ingenious kinetic sculpture, made by Barney Stone, owner of a gallery of Junior and Mr. Stone’s other kinetic and glass sculptures, at his gallery at 204 N. Union St. in Lambertville.
Mr. Stone’s glass and kinetic work form an arresting counterpoint. The glass work often gives a strong impression of a classic loveliness and stillness. The kinetic work, with its assemblage of discarded gadgets, machine parts and all manner of other items, brings clever montages of motion to a fascinating realm of eccentric hilarity.
Mr. Stone’s highly developed sense of humor comes through when you experience Junior and his other kinetic sculptures — he also calls them “kinetic contraptions” — in action. If you can watch Junior and his mates go through their paces without laughing out loud, get help.
”I tried to give Junior a personality,” Mr. Stone said. “For instance, he can act bored. If he’s pointing at you, and you do nothing for a few minutes, he turns in another direction.”
”I’ve been working in glass about a dozen years ago,” Mr. Stone said. “It started out as a hobby. Then, about three years ago, I sold a software company I owned, moved to Lambertville and opened my studio and gallery.”
Why glass instead of another sculpture medium, like bronze or clay?
”I just love glass,” Mr. Stone said. “There’s so much you can do with it. It’s so flexible. The optical effects you can get with glass are wonderful, and I love to experiment with that. I don’t do any glass blowing so most of the work I do can be done right here.”
He often works the glass cold, cutting it with a wet tile saw and recombining the pieces he forms with several special glues. He follows that up with grinding and polishing. Use of industrial dyes help gain the optical effects he wants.
Asked how he got rolling with making Junior and his other kinetic works, he said, “A year ago, I took a class in kinetic sculpture at the Tenland School of Craft in North Carolina. It’s a great place that’s been around a long time, I believe since the Depression. While I was there, I learned how to use a device called an arduino. It’s a microprocessor hobbyists use.”
There’s an arduino in Junior, along with pulleys from an old spinning wheel, that ping pong ball and propeller, a miter box, two old hand drills, a seed spreader and all kinds of other stuff.
”I’ve always loved gadgets, especially old-time gadgetry,” Mr. Stone said. “I get stuff from yard sales and flea markets and just here and there.”
He readily admits glass sculpture and kinetic sculpture are “very different. I’ve had trouble trying to combine the two.”
To see the glass sculptures and Junior and other kinetic works in action, visit the gallery or go to www.SeeingGlass.com.

