Monocono is a do-it-yourself kinetic and programmed artwork. It is a USB powered electronic kit featuring digitally fabricated parts and a programmable board. A potentiometer controls the speed of a small motor that drives two rods and creates the effect of a virtual conic volume. Monocono is a derivative kinetic artwork inspired to Esacono, a translation of the concept that generated the series Strutturazioni cilindriche virtuali by Giovanni Anceschi (1963–1966). The Esacono concept is described in issue no. 22 of the magazine il verri, but it was never produced due to the constraints of technology of the period. It is a cube suspended by one corner which has six motors embedded into each side.

The motors drive two rotating rods that draw six truncated cone shapes in space, creating virtual volumes. The speed varies from motor to motor, and as a consequence so does the MONOCONO effect of the six shapes drawn in the air at the sides of the hanging cube. In 2015, Esacono has been realized within the project Re-programmed art, a research-action aiming at open sourcing and rediscovering kinetic and programmed art today.

Credits
The kit has been conceived and designed by Lorenzo Romagnoli, Federico Vanzati and Alessandro Gueli for Officine Arduino
www.arduino.cc

To make your own Monocono, visit www.github.com/casajasmina/monocono
Released under CC license BY SA 4.0

Graphic design
Leonardo Angelucci