Hero’s the sandwich. A real Dagwood sandwich.

And computer chips.

Sushi. I lived in Japan for 4 years, and I loved watching a sushi chef make sushi. It was very enjoyable.

Glass objects. I enjoy watching people blowing glass.

Cakes. I like to watch people cook generally, but making cakes and decorating them is a nice thing to watch especially if you’re going to get to eat them later.

babies

Haha, RL. It actually took longer than I expected for somebody to twist the Q.

Movies. I’ve watched a few being shot in downtown San Francisco, find it fascinating.

Maybe Hero’s the person. That would work too. Hoping for more than just Bruce Wayne and Peter Parker.

Glass. We have Blenko Glass near my home and it is really a treat to go there and watch them blow glass.
Also I love to watch someone make animals out of tree trunks with a chain saw.

They tore down a small steel plant in my neighborhood last year. It’s on my regular bike route and I would stop in the doorway to peer inside and see molten steel poured from a truck-sized ladle. If you were driving by, you might find two guys with flags holding up traffic as tall four-legged vehicles crossed the street cradling 30 foot glowing steel columns.

It was weird and I felt lucky to see it. The area is heavily gentrified with a few little pockets of the industrial past.

I have a distant Internet acquaintance who works in the big steel mills just south in Indiana. He said the ladles I was watching held (I think) 5 or 10 tons, and the big ladles down there are 300 tons.

I should ask him if I can get a tour.

Pierogy. Gnocchi. Porato dumplings.

I find potato dough fascinating.

Little balls of potato dough floating in boiling water. They should have the consistency of cement but rarely do.

Pottery on a potter’s wheel. I think it’s magical to see a symetrical pot emerging from the combination of the turning wheel and the potter’s hands.

Watching people hand paint pottery and other items. This more than a painting on canvas.

Does watching an orchestra count? Watching them make the music?

Watching cities grow. I’ve always been interested in urban planning. Watching the transportation systems go in, buildings rise up, communities form.

Watching furniture being made. Furniture made from wood.

I’m with @Earthbound_Misfit and @chyna glass is amazing. I’ve made glass beads and slumped glass too. We have about 12 larger pieces we have bought, and 100 beads we have made.

I love glass @Tropical_Willie. I’d love to have a go at glass blowing. I’ve made beads once. It’s such an amazing substance and watching skilled artisans is fabulous. I remember watching this man making a chess set one day. The pieces were truly beautiful. I wish I could find some images of the work this guy was producing.

@Earthbound_Misfit
My wife does marbles and beads. I’ve taken classes for making beads.

Pottery and glass. I make pottery and am fascinated in how a blob of clay is transformed into pots, bowls, sculptures and more. What is even more mind bending is to watch glass blowers do the same with molten glass. My brother is a glass blower and once let me puff out a goblet and most fun I ever had. Drawing and painting is right behind them as I am still learning these arts and not yet as exciting as sitting and watching others do it. I love art!

Blacksmithing.

History.

I was in Berlin the first night and a week thereafter when students, then the German people as one, began tearing down the Wall. First it was a bit scary, then it became ecstatic and heart rending. Every news agency in the world was there. I’ve been to a couple of historic rock concerts (Monterey and Altamont) and lived at ground zero during historic eras, but this was one memorable week in Berlin. It was like being in NYC on VE day. It is good to watch history being made, when it is good history, when you are aware of it being made and you are in the middle of it.

I have to agree with @Seek. I once saw an amazing demonstration on blacksmithing and it’s a shame it is becoming a lost art.

The production of a musical being put together.

@JLeslie It is not a lost art where I live as the art studio where I throw my pottery offers 4 workshops on basic blacksmithing that now that I see a workshop is in 2 weeks I may be pounding red hot steel!

I worked as a blacksmith in college. A neighbor had a coal-fired forge in his garage with a trip hammer and a 500 pound anvil (I remember the weight because it was a small adventure when he bought it and the two of us moved it). We made small items like fireplace tools, candle sconces, and coat racks.

@Cruiser – It is so therapeutic. I learned how to make nails at an SCA event once, and it was glorious.

My shoulder ached for days afterward, but at the time it was awesome.

That is some serious upper-body workout.

I love watching Nerdy Nummies, a Youtube channel about making cakes and cookies.

Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTlcOdndEYk

there was also a TV show called “How it’s made”, where they would show how are all kinds of random stuff created, from cars, clothes, furniture, meals etc. It’s interesting and informative, and also oddly satisfying to watch..

My own answer, and not meant to be a cop-out, is anything. One of the things I really enjoy is to watch someone who does something well, whether it’s walk a tightrope, knead bread, or sling a garbage can. I’ve had the fun of seeing someone create giant soap bubbles, I mean giant, bigger than a car tire or a sofa cushion. The smooth, confident, practiced movements of someone who knows his or her craft are a thing of beauty. Invariably they make it look easy, but of course it’s not.

Right now I’m taking art classes, and I love watching someone’s painting develop from a sketch into something with dimension, character, and mood. I’m not a skilled artist, but some in my class are.

It’s also fascinating, almost hypnotically so, to watch a machine that produces things. I’ve seen tiny metal parts being stamped, and I’ve watched enormous rolls of paper turn into newspapers. I used to love watching the pulling of salt-water taffy by a turning device in the window of a shop on Nantasket Beach. I’ve seen 19th-century machinery operated to demonstrate how rifle parts were made during the Civil War. I watch the hair stylists in the salon work on clients ahead of me. The process of transformation is exciting, and at the same time the rhythmic repetition can be mesmerizing, calming.

It occurs to me that there’s a therapeutic potential here, possibly unexplored. But that’s another topic.

Love. ;-o

@Jeruba If you have never seen it, you must try a few episodes of How It’s Made. It really gives me an appreciation for how much work goes into handmade products. Even the factory made, it’s fascinating how it all works.

Glass work done by expert glass blowers..that’s treat to watch!!

Baskets

I love “How It’s Made.” I’m especially interested in the food they prepare for commercial sale. It’s exactly the same ingredients we would use at home, except on a vast scale.

here is some guys making a sword:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q598DP27tGA

Just had my first ceramics class in 2 years and was a total joy not only to throw some pots, but to watch the teacher and other talented students make a lump of clay into amazing forms.

@ragingloli Forging steel is one of the most primal forms of creating functional items…I love watching “Smiths” hard at work.

@ragingloli, that was brillliant. I watched the whole thing. Only about a month ago I read a book on Japanese art and artifacts of the samurai period that described the forging of a katana blade and showed the wavy line between the two sides. It was fascinating to see one being created from scratch.