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25.5: Hex Race Winners
After the longest delay ever, we finally got around to making the results video for Contest 25. Although the winners were announced on February 6th 2013, and prizes were distributed soon after, our brief summary video is now available, and only about two years late. Remember when we had that “Coming Soon” image on Contest.ZenMagnets.com for two…
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25: Hex Stack to Icosahedron
It’s January, so it’s time for magnet sphere time trials! Only those who have agile fingers, and those seeking a sharper mind should attempt. The 25th Zen Magnets contest is to turn a Zen Hex Cylinder, into a 9-Triangle Icosahedron, which can be made with twenty triangles. The submission deadline is the last day of…
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24.5: Musical Instrument Entries Posted – Winners Announced
16 total entries submitted in the January 2013 Musical Instrument contest. A wide array of equipment was represented, though half of them were string instruments. A total of $232 worth of magnetic prizes were awarded in this contest. 1st Place: GalaxyTraveler This Magnet Glockenspiel, or xylophone if made of wood, is made of a total of…
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24: Magnetic Interpretation of a Musical Instrument.
What do you get when you drop a piano down a mine shaft? A flat minor. What’s the difference between a violin and a viola? No difference. The violin just looks smaller because the violinist’s head is so much bigger. The December contest is to create a sculpture of the musical instrument of your choice.…
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23.5: Mandala Tower Entries Posted – Winners Announced
12 total entries from submitted in the December 2012 Mandala Tower contest. Many abstract beauties submitted. For some reason, the skyscrapers shot in front of a night sky were almost unanimously chosen over towers shot in front of a light background. A total of $207 worth of magnetic prizes were awarded in this contest. 1st Place: Mathnetism…
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23: Mandala Tower
The entire contest.zenmagnets.com site has been updated! More on this below. The November contest, is to make a tall architectural masterpiece with a maximum of 1728 Zen Magnets. The building must be at least three times higher than it is wide at the base. No additional structural objects besides magnets may be used, however building on a magnetic surface…
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22.5: Magnet Shadow Entries Posted – Winners announced
16 total entries submitted in the October Shadow Projection contest. Coincidentally, there were again ties for 4th place, 5th place and 6th place. Don’t expect 9 winners to be something that happens often! Somehow, just like last time, a total of $239 worth of prizes. 1st Place: Benjamingoossen The photo above, The Man in the…
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22: Shadow Projection
Unlike most magnet contests, the focus of the October contest will not be on the magnet sculpture itself, but instead on the shadow dropped by the sculpture. To make a distinct shadow, we recommend using a single, minimally diffused light source. You will also need to submit two pictures. The first will be the actual…
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21.5: 9-Triangle Subunit contest entries – Winners Announced
Contest 21: Winners Announced. entries from all skill levels in the September Triangle Subunit Contest. With ties for 4th place, 5th place and 6th place, there were a total of 9 winners, an a total of $239 worth of prizes. 1st Place: Mathnetism A repeating sculpture reminiscent of molecular structures of organic chemistry. If we learned anything from…
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20.5: Letter Drive winners
All of the letters have been collected. Almost all the magnets have been sent. And we’ll soon be mailing the letters. Thanks to everybody who contributed a quality essay Without further delay, the two winners of a fresh Mandala set are: David Richter Click here to view. and Eric T. Click here to view.
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21: 9-Triangle Subunit
The September contest is to build a sculpture using only 9-Triangle subunits. To create a 9-Triangle, make a ring with 9 Zen Magnets, and pinch three sides into a triangle. For many, this will be an interesting exploration into topology. Connecting six triangles at compatible edges will create a flat hexagon. Connecting less than six,…
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20: Essay Contest – Don’t Ban Magnet Spheres
Click Here to Sign the SaveMagnets.com Petition Submissions Closed If you sent an essay, expect a response by mid September. A lot of prizes this time. And a lot at stake. If you haven’t already heard, the US Federal Government is trying to ban all sales of magnet spheres. All companies have received voluntary stop-sale…
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19.5: Icosa-Dodeca entries – Winners Announced
Winners Announced! Another incredible turnout, and many impressive entries. With ties for third and fourth place, six contestants will be receiving prizes this round. 1st Place: Koozdra Koozdra work represents the pinnacle of geometric mastery, so there’s no surprise that his fractal-esque object took a 30% lead over second place. As with most of Koozdra’s…
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18.5: Two set spaceship entries posted – WINNERS ANNOUNCED
WINNERS ANNOUNCED So after extended voting, the standings were much more clear. These contests just keep getting better and better. There were a lot of ties this time, so a total of 9 people will be receiving prizes. 1st Place: EraZorX Undoubtedly a veteran with magnet spheres, EraZorX is one of the true champions in…
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19: All out Icosahedral-Dodecahedral dual – Submissions closed.
The June contest, is to build a sculpture with magnet sphere sculpture with a symmetry order of 12. That is, that there should be 12 number of different but equivalent views of the sculpture. Don’t be alarmed, this is actually a very easy geometric requirement. If you’ve ever made anything that resembled a ball, it…
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18: Two Set Spaceship
By popular Demand, the May contest is to make a two set spaceship. When you build something abstract, with no real goal in mind, isn’t it odd that the result can almost always be construed as a spaceship. Probably because spaceships come in such varied shapes, and are also essential to our science fiction fantasies…
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17.5: Headgear Entries – Winners Announced
First Place Winner: Tend2it The winner of the April headgear contest, and of two free glimmering sets of Zen Magnets, is Tend2it. Using the montage method, four different angles of this helm are shown. The gold and black contrast really emphasizes the layering and depth of the build, and the four colorful neoballs are modestly…
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17: Hatch Magnetic Headgear
This time Limit 1728 magnets, with no brand restrictions. Photograph a sculpture of some magnetic headgear. It doesn’t need to be to scale, and doesn’t need to fit on your head, or even on your cats head. Quite a wide range of possibilities for this contest. Non-fictional sports helmets, reproductions of historic war helmets, sci-fi…
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16.5: Subunit Contest Entries – Winners announced!
Contest 16: Winners Announced In a massive contest of 33 entries, the quality of the competition was cut-throat. Many were impressively shot, alluringly composed, delightfully lit, and of course superbly built out of hundreds/thousands of Zen Magnets. Of the four that won, each are sharp and precise photos of interesting symettrical builds, lit without flash.…
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16: Subunit Show
Here’s your chance to show off your favorite subunit. Pick one subunit. Then make something, anything, with only the subunit of your choice, and photograph your sculpture beside a single specimen of the subunit. No limit on the number of magnets used. Zen Magnets Only. The concept of subunits are important to construction of complex…
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