Brett Doar
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Brett Doar is an American contraptionist known for building Rube Goldberg machines and other interactive and kinetic devices. Doar is best known for his roles as a primary engineer for the Rube Goldberg machine in OK Go's "This Too Shall Pass" music video,[1] lead engineer and creative director for "Red Bull Kluge,"[2] and creator of GoldieBlox's "Princess Machine".[3] He lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.
Early life and education
[edit]Doar was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts and was raised in Charlotte, NC. As an undergraduate he studied architecture, linguistics, literature and screenwriting at 4 universities before earning his B.A. from New School University in New York City. He earned an M.F.A. from the Arts, Computation and Engineering program at UC Irvine in 2009.[4] He has worked as a commercial fisherman in the Bering Sea, a bus driver, a film and video editor, and a teacher at the preschool, middle school and university level.
Work
[edit]Doar was a primary engineer of the Rube Goldberg machine for OK Go's "This Too Shall Pass" music video, which premiered on YouTube on March 2, 2010 and achieved over 6 million views within six days.[5] Following the viral success of this music video, Doar built a Rube Goldberg machine for The Colbert Report which was set off by Stephen Colbert in front of a live audience to coincide with OK Go's performance on the show on April 29, 2010.[1]
In 2013, Doar created the "Princess Machine" that was featured in an ad for GoldieBlox.[3] The ad launched on YouTube in November 2013 and garnered over 8 million views in 4 days.[6]
In 2014, Doar created the machine used in the promotional trailer for the Android release of the mobile video game, Leo's Fortune.[7]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Itzkoff, Dave (April 30, 2010). "Welcome to The Colbert Machine". Retrieved September 20, 2016.
- ^ Torchinsky, Jason (December 12, 2012). "The Man Behind The World's Biggest Rube Goldberg Machines Explains How You Control Chaos". Retrieved September 20, 2016.
- ^ a b Times, Los Angeles (November 19, 2013). "GoldieBlox video: Inspiring girls to be builders". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
- ^ UCI. "Domino Effect". communications.uci.edu. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
- ^ Hare, Breeanna. "Who killed the music video star?". CNN. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
- ^ Dredge, Stuart (May 13, 2014). "GoldieBlox agreed to pay $1m to charity in Beastie Boys settlement". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
- ^ "Ad of the Day: This Rube Goldberg Device Promotes a Video Game by Bringing It to Life". July 10, 2014. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
- Mone, Gregory (March 2014). "Rube Goldberg Machine Builder". Popular Science. Vol. 284, no. 3. ProQuest. p. 78. ProQuest 1507802910. Retrieved May 18, 2025.
- Seabrook, Andrea (September 28, 2008). "Homework: Odd Musical Instruments". Weekend All Things Considered. Washington, D.C.: NPR. ProQuest. ProQuest 190103935. Retrieved May 18, 2025.
- Wilson, Marie (February 26, 2014). "Contraption central". Arlington Heights, Illinois: Daily Herald. ProQuest. ProQuest 1502029753. Retrieved May 18, 2025.
- Shuster, Robert (February 14, 2007). "Hot to Bot". The Village Voice. New York. ProQuest. p. 46. ProQuest 232301362.
- "Robot Showpieces". PC Magazine. Ziff Davis, Inc. January 2007. p. 21. Retrieved May 18, 2025.
- Uhler, Andy (March 9, 2016). "A contraption artist at work". Marketplace. Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved May 18, 2025.
- Nobel, Justin. "Building the World's Fastest Gumball Machine". Science Friday. Retrieved May 18, 2025.