Automaton of feasting raccoons by Al Conquergood

The Lee Valley woodworking newsletter this month features the automaton art of Al Conquergood of Etobicoke, Ontario. Here is one of his automata titled, Urban Terrorists. The miniature book is an especially nice touch!

From the video description:

This piece features two raccoons, Boris and Ursula fine dining in a local galvanized garbage can, the norm before modern recycle bins. They each turn their heads, move their eyes, open their mouths, waggle their tongues and move their arms and wag their tails. Boris waves a rotting grape around excitedly and clutches a wiggling fish protectively in his hand and hiding it from Ursula who seems a little more casual about dining. Occasionally a mouse "lounging" on a piece of fresh cheese rises to the can's brim to survey the neighborhood. Dinner is served amongst a wide variety of garbage including banana peels, decaying grapes, bottles, rancid tomatoes, a pop can, bones, rotting apples, a broken gear, washers and a discarded instructional book on building automata.

Here is where you can see more automata by Al Conquergood.

[ Thanks Charles and John! ]

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