Video Artist Douglas Gordon-- interview

Stan Douglas, well-known for his piece, "24 Hour Psycho" which slows the movie down so it plays over a 24 hour period, creates art that "overturns traditional uses of video by playing with time elements and employing multiple monitors" (Wikipedia). Nice interview with him from the Smithsonian:

Jan Svankmajer's "Dimensions of Dialog" (1982, Czech Rep.)

Jan Svankmajer (Czech Republic) is one of the best at stop motion animation and the use of everyday objects. My favorite pieces are psychologically complex and address relationships and power dynamics.
This first one isn't a great YouTube copy, but it's better than nothing...

Jiri Trnka's "The Hand" (1965, Czech Republic)

Terrific Eastern European political stop motion animation about the "hand" of government destroying creativity, independent thought. Playful and dark.

Jan Lenica's "Labyrinth" (1963), Poland

I'm a big fan of these Eastern European animations that costumed their anti-totalitarian message with cutouts and puppets. Made in 1963, Lenica created "Labyrinth" a self-consciously Kafka-esque tale of a winged lonely man literally devoured by totalitarian rule. Along with Jiří Trnka's Ruka (The Hand, 1965), Labyrinth is considered to be one of the finest political animations ever made.

Man Builds Rube Goldberg Machine in Basement Using Common Household Gadgetry

A friend of mine who knows my love of all things kinetic (John Freyer) sent me this great link.

The maker of this fantastical machine (Daniel Heggerty, St. Louis, MO) described the process of making like this:

"Developed organically, the room started with one exercycle on the bench and the thought, "What can this become?" From there, visual and comedic mechanics were added day by day to create a space that with the push of a button, the room would erupt with motion and activity."