{"id":13671,"date":"2019-09-22T00:44:52","date_gmt":"2019-09-22T04:44:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/?p=13671"},"modified":"2019-09-22T00:47:42","modified_gmt":"2019-09-22T04:47:42","slug":"lowell-kinetic-sculpture-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/2019\/09\/22\/lowell-kinetic-sculpture-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Photos: Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race Braves City Streets, Mud, Merrimack River, Art"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race<\/a> is \u201ca competitive parade of the arts and science. Otherwise known as the triathlon of the art world,\u201d Bianca Mauro, one of the event\u2019s producers, told me at the September 2017 competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cKinetic Sculptures are all-terrain, human-powered vehicles with an art twist,\u201d according to the contest website<\/a>. Picture contraptions that are a mutant hybrid of bicycle, raft, art and comedy. Today they raced through the streets of Lowell, starting on Market Street near the intersection of Palmer Street, going down the \u2018Bone-Shaker Alley\u2019 of Middle Street to the \u201cMaddening Mud Pit\u201d near the Tsongas Center, then along VFW Highway to Heritage State Park, into the Merrimack River for 100 yards, and up a beach to return onto the streets. \u201cSurvivors race back to Market Street for the dramatic finish.\u201d<\/p>\n

The annual competition was first held in Lowell September 24th, 2016. There are numerous rules<\/a>, one key one being \u201cyour feet can never touch the ground.\u201d There are also numerous awards, including the Golden Dinosaur for the first \u201cbreakdown\u201d or the \u201cmost memorable breakdown,\u201d and a prize for the team finishing \u201cNext to Last.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photos copyright 2019 Greg Cook.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

If this is the kind of coverage of arts, cultures and activisms you appreciate, please support Wonderland by contributing to Wonderland on Patreon<\/a>. And sign up for our free, weekly newsletter<\/a> so that you don’t miss any of our reporting.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n
\"Crossing<\/a>
Crossing the “Maddening Mud Pit” at the Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race, Sept. 21, 2019. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race enters the \u201cMaddening Mud Pit,” Sept. 21, 2019. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Splashing<\/a>
Splashing into the Merrimack River during the Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race, Sept. 21, 2019. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Heading<\/a>
Heading from the starting line to the “Maddening Mud Pit” during the Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race, Sept. 21, 2019. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race, Sept. 21, 2019. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race enters the \u201cMaddening Mud Pit,” Sept. 21, 2019. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race enters the \u201cMaddening Mud Pit,” Sept. 21, 2019. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Crossing<\/a>
Crossing the “Maddening Mud Pit” at the Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race, Sept. 21, 2019. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Traversing<\/a>
Traversing the “Maddening Mud Pit” at the Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race, Sept. 21, 2019. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Pedaling<\/a>
Pedaling along the VFW Highway during the Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race, Sept. 21, 2019. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Splashing<\/a>
Splashing into the Merrimack River during the Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race, Sept. 21, 2019. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Splashing<\/a>
Splashing into the Merrimack River during the Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race, Sept. 21, 2019. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Floating<\/a>
Floating along the Merrimack River during the Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race, Sept. 21, 2019. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Floating<\/a>
Floating along the Merrimack River during the Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race, Sept. 21, 2019. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Floating<\/a>
Floating along the Merrimack River during the Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race, Sept. 21, 2019. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Climbing<\/a>
Climbing out of the Merrimack River during the Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race, Sept. 21, 2019. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Getting<\/a>
Getting pulled out of the Merrimack River during the Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race, Sept. 21, 2019. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Pedaling<\/a>
Pedaling along the VFW Highway during the Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race, Sept. 21, 2019. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Pedaling<\/a>
Pedaling along the VFW Highway during the Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race, Sept. 21, 2019. (Greg Cook photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

If this is the kind of coverage of arts, cultures and activisms you appreciate, please support Wonderland by contributing to Wonderland on Patreon<\/a>. And sign up for our free, weekly newsletter<\/a> so that you don’t miss any of our reporting.<\/em><\/p>\n

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The Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race is \u201ca competitive parade of the arts and science. Otherwise known as the triathlon of the art world,\u201d Bianca Mauro, one of the event\u2019s producers, told me at the September 2017 competition. \u201cKinetic Sculptures are all-terrain, human-powered vehicles with an art twist,\u201d according to the contest website. Picture contraptions that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13651,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[100,111,102,119],"tags":[189,613,614],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13671"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13671"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13671\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13682,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13671\/revisions\/13682"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}