Interpreting and recreating a movement found in nature, I was inspired by the incredible athleticism of the Golden Wheel spider of Namibia, which, when startled or to escape a predator, folds its legs up into spokes, rotates its body up 90 degrees, effectively making itself into a wheel, and simply rolls away (at 44 revolutions/sec) from danger. This escape plan brilliantly exploits the sand dune environment in which it lives.

I made two spider wheels, one in paper, the other in brass. The paper model’s legs fold when their strings are pulled through a center hole and secured into the rolling position. The brass legs rotate in their sockets for both standing and rolling positions.