The pixel rocket on a light oak desk beside a white coffee mug and a keyboard, hanging above its striped launch pad

Pixel Rocket Desk Sculpture

A pixel-art rocket that hangs in mid-air above its own launch pad, held up by cords and nothing else.

A launch pad and a rocket.6.3 × 6.3 × 10.6 in of pixel art: a hazard-striped pad with 3 clouds of exhaust, and a rocket that has just left it.

The arm stays put.A grey arm rises from the deck and curls over at the top. It is part of the pad.

The flame is a hook.The orange flame hangs from the rocket and curls back in under the grey arm. It is part of the rocket.

3 mm of air.At their closest, the two hooks pass 3 mm apart. One cord from the top of the arm to the flame hook carries the rocket's weight.

Three more cords.From the 3 fins, 3 cords run down to clamps hidden inside the base. Pulled taut, they stop the rocket tipping.

Nothing touches.Walk around it: the rocket and the pad never meet. From across the room it just hangs there.

Up close

Made for a desk, a bookshelf or a kid's room: at 6.3 × 6.3 × 10.6 in it fits beside a keyboard or between books, a launch that stays mid-lift-off all day.

The rocket on an oak desk in window light, next to a coffee mug and a white keyboard — It sits by my keyboard and mug, and still makes me look twice when I sit down.

The rocket on a white bookshelf in a kid's bedroom, beside a row of colourful books — On my son's shelf, next to his picture books. He keeps asking how it stays up.

The rocket on a study desk under a lit desk lamp, beside a pencil cup and a spiral notebook — Under the desk lamp in the evening, with the pencil cup for company.

Front view in the studio: the window square on, the flame hook hanging in front of the grey arm — Square on, the flame hook and the grey arm line up, and the rocket seems to stand on its own exhaust.

From low on the left: the rocket rising above the striped pad with the clouds at its base — From low down it reads like lift-off: red nose up, clouds on the pad.

It stands on nothing.

The rocket hangs from one cord tied between the top of the grey arm and the curl of its own flame hook, and 3 more cords from the fins down into the base keep it level; with all of them taut it has nowhere to go.

3 mmbetween the two hooks at their closest. They never touch.
3 clampshidden inside the base, under the deck, where the outer cords end.
8 colourseach part in its own colour, from the red nose to the black engine.

Close on the hooks: the orange flame hook curls under the grey arm with a sliver of air between them — The trick, close up: the flame curls under the arm and stops just short.

Side view, not to scale.

cord
the rocket's weight
the central cord holding it

Pixel Rocket Desk Sculpture

A pixel rocket caught a moment after lift-off, and kept there.

A rocket and its launch pad in the box.

1: pixel rocket: stepped red nose, white body, blue window, 3 red fins and the orange flame hook
1: launch pad: hazard-striped rim, grey deck and arm, 3 white clouds

Size: 6.3 × 6.3 × 10.6 in (width, depth, height)
Height: 10.6 in, pad to nose
Colours: 8, each part in its own
Held up by: one central cord and 3 outer cords
Hook gap: 3 mm at the closest point
Moving parts: none
Power: none needed

The pixel rocket from three-quarters in the studio, hanging above its striped launch pad

Good to know

Does it need batteries or a plug?

No. Nothing in it is powered and nothing moves; the rocket is held where it is by its cords and its own weight.

How does the rocket stay in the air?

One cord runs from the top of the grey arm to the orange flame hook and carries the rocket's weight. 3 more run from the fins to clamps hidden inside the base and keep it from tipping. From a few steps away, the rocket looks as if nothing holds it.

Do the rocket and the pad touch anywhere?

No. The closest they come is where the flame hook passes under the grey arm, 3 mm apart.

How big is it?

6.3 × 6.3 × 10.6 in: the pad is square and the rocket's nose stands 10.6 in above the desk.