There's a product called kinetic sand that I thought this was about:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B019K8KIUY/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=...

It's not the same for people who haven't read it.

> It appears the artist is currently working on a tabletop consumer version

That's good to hear!

I wish the article covered how the machine works underneath. How many of us here, right now, are trying to reverse engineer it, or figure out how to build our own?

I’d put a big magnet on a two-axis carriage built on extruded aluminum bars. Simple! There might be a better solution, but I’m the wrong kind of engineer to work it out.

One axis radial, the other linear?

Like an indexable stepper-motor, with another stepper attached that uses a belt-drive, like an inkjet printer?

Looks like it does use one radial axis and one linear [0]

[0] https://sisyphus-industries.com/about/

Link: https://sisyphus-industries.com/customize/

Beyond how the machine works, I'm wondering how he designed the patterns.

I bet a healthy dose of trial and error, plus software to draw it out without dedicating hours.

I saw these in-person at Maker Faire a few years back. The sculptures were beautiful and captivating, and Bruce was warm and friendly.