Still. Moving: Wind Machine as interpreted by Tara Z. Mullins

As part of the Still. Moving dance series, choreographer Tara Z. Mullins presents “The Wind Machine,” a new work inspired by the kinetic sculptures of Vollis Simpson.

Recycling discarded parts from cars, bicycles, and farm machinery, Simpson transformed castoff objects into intricate, whimsical wind machines. A World War II veteran, he built his first wind-powered device while stationed on Saipan. After returning home to eastern North Carolina in 1985, Simpson began creating large-scale kinetic sculptures from found materials. Years spent designing and building heavy equipment for moving houses—and operating his own repair shop—gave him the technical skill and discipline to construct works that are both mechanically complex and visually alive.

In “The Wind Machine,” Mullins translates that ingenuity and motion into the language of the body—gears become gestures, torque becomes breath, and stillness holds the memory of movement.

About the choreographer
Tara Zaffuto Mullins is a teaching professor in the NCSU Department of Performing Arts and Technology, where she choreographs for and directs the State Dance Company and teaches a variety of courses. She’s created “Operation Breadbasket,” a mixed-media dance that tells the story of this Martin Luther King Jr. initiative; “Against the Railing,” a digital platform and mixed-media dance that tells the immigration stories of the NC State community, and “Resume Normal Activities,” a look at gun violence in schools that was chosen for the 2025 NC Dance Festival. She has presented research at IADMS and NDEO, recently completed her service as a faculty senator, and serves on the Council on Athletics. Mullins has an MFA in dance from Arizona State University.

About Still. Moving
This performance dance series explores the timeless works of the People’s Collection and loaned works through the lens of movement. Each object becomes a partner in a visual and physical dialogue as dancers interpret form, story, and silence with their bodies. Still. Moving reimagines the gallery as a stage where past and present meet and where the boundaries between objects and experience dissolve.

Support for Still. Moving is provided by Dawn F. Lipson.

Images: Vollis Simpson, Wind Machine, 2002, steel and other media, H. 30 ft. × W. 30 ft. × D. 15 ft. (approx.), Commissioned by the North Carolina Museum of Art with funds from the William R. Roberson Jr. and Frances M. Roberson Endowed Fund for North Carolina Art; Tara Z. Mullins: Courtesy of the artist