With the allowance of a 2nd submission for contest 76, we ended up with 16 total entries, and the voting was all over the place. Yet, YoyoBandalore grabbed first place with the Zen Magnets rose. A very clean looking photo with that pop of red and green on white, plus nice magnet reflections in those metal petals. YoyoBandalore wins $70.

2nd Place: “Gyroid in a Box” by Mathnetism

Mathnetism opted to use Micromagnets for his 864pc build. Each subunit is constructed of rings of 8, arranged in a mind bending gyroid. Amazing how a construction of 864 Micromagnets fits right into that bamboo Triumph Set box. Mathnetism earns $56.

3rd Place: “The hexagon window” by Crazy Cat

“I played with hexagons and a candle and this is what happened.” It’s that easy folks. The candlelight offers some nice strong shadows and contrast, while casting that warm, rosy glow. Crazy Cat is awarded $40 for 3rd Place.

4th Place: “star of balls” by etienne

In 4th Place we’ve got the “star of balls.” A very nice photo with a warm wood background providing nice contrast to the magnets. The short depth of field provides clarity for the shape, as well as a proper sense of proportions for the viewer. 4th Place awards etienne with $32.

5th Place: “Abstract Bird” by Ra Tascon

864 piece origami bird flies into 5th place. Simple and straightforward with a recognizable form. This was Ra Tascon’s 2nd entry and the judges responded positively. There’s something to be said about builds that are clearly recognizable and feel achievable. 5th place awards Ra Tascon with $28.

6th Place: “The Parting Glass” by YoyoBandalore

YoyoBandalore’s 2nd entry sipped into 6th place with a giant musical note that was stumbled upon by accident. “The musical note was a fluke. I was deconstructing a figure and the musical note appeared out of nowhere. I decided to pursue the design and make one with 864 magnets.” Another crisp photo from Yoyo. 6th place gets $24.

7th Place: “Texan Corona” by Miller Magnets

Miller Magnets played the current affairs card with this layered corona ball, slipping in a lone star shot out. The stars made of negative space are quite nice and the mask was good touch. Ya’ll wash yer hands! Miller Magnets gets $19 for 7th place.

8th Place: “King Mandala” by Bastian

Bastian’s submission began as a Qunituple Icosahedron by Magnenaut. With some tinkering and removing the crown revealed itself. After some flourishes, the Mandala was crowned king. Bastian is awarded $15 for 8th.

9th Place: “Sniper Rifle” by DBOI

In 9th we have DBOI’s stunning sniper rifle. I’ve got to say the details on this are incredible for 864 magnets. He had this to say about his build, “Sorry had to do it in a hurry.” Excuse me?! This was rushed? The photos a little blurry, but throw a fat silencer on this and I can already hear the Goldeneye theme song. DBOI gets $10 for 9th place.

10th Place: “Space Battlecruiser ZeeNaaA” by tend2it

Finally, we have tend2it’s Space Battlecruiser ZeeNaaA. A satisfyingly symmetrical spacecraft settled on a magazine illustration. If you’re a fan of this, peep tend2it’s flickr for a full fleet of spaceships. 10th place gets tend2it $6 because we picked so many winners.

Thanks to all our participants and judges, if you haven’t already, click on the images to check out the original size. And keep in mind that contests held here are independent of the Zen Gallery. Magnet sculptors can always submit photos to gallery.zenmagnets.com to win magnets as well. Spectators, keep your eyes peeled for the next contest, because you choose the winners. Contest Winners, we’ll email you your prizes soon.

All entries for the February 2020 are in, we have 16 entries, each one uses exactly 864 magnet spheres. Check out all the submissions, and follow the button at the bottom of the page to vote for your 1st, 2nd, 3rd favorites.

Vote for your favorites here, 1 vote per judge. Deadline for voting is 3/11/2020. $300 in prizes is up for grabs.

[button link=”https://forms.gle/BYLNW4d627QjySBe7″ type=”big” newwindow=”yes”] Vote![/button]

Color is descriptive. Form is interpretive.

The February 2020 contest is to devise a construction of exactly 864 magnets of the same breed. For the first time, we’re also allowing up to two submissions per person.

For reference, 864 magnets is: 4 Triumph sets, half of a Mandala, or 1 Neoballs Tesseract Cassette. There is no theme, art direction or limitation on what your construction may be. You have full freedom to make what you want with 864 magnets. Geometric shapes, impressionist builds of animals or weapons, whatever.

Your construction must be composed entirely of magnets of one type and be free standing. So your the photo may include props, but the build must not be reliant on anything but a single type and coating of magnets spheres. So if you want to use Cyan Neoballs, use nothing but Cyan Neoballs.

Requirements:

• Photo must contain exactly 864 magnet spheres of the same size and coating.
• No brand or size restrictions.
• Up to 2 submissions per person! (submit separately, no collages)
• No photo manipulation aside from levels/color correction
• Deadline February 29, 2020

Pay close attention to framing, composition, lighting, focus, and magnet cleanliness (fingers are greasy). The judges, which will be your peers, are suckers for good photos.

There’s $300 in prizes up for grabs, to be distributed among the winners. Each submission will be posted independently of creator, and we won’t reveal identities until after judging. Everything you submit goes into the public domain. Of course, the first and foremost requirement, is that you have fun!

Enter your submission below, and if you have two, there’s a 2nd image upload field in the form.