Take a look at this amazing automaton figure depicting legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix. The amount of lifelike motion obtained from just a handful of cams and the figure's articulated joints is truly impressive. The stylized carving and wash colors are lovely too.
It is with great sadness that I share the news that Sue Jackson has recently passed away. It was Sue who started Cabaret Mechanical Theatre back in 1979. I am not qualified to write a memorial about her life, so I will not try.
What is clear, however, is that she started something wonderful. Over the course of decades, Cabaret Mechanical Theatre has touched huge numbers of people around the globe. It has been a positive force in a world.
On a personal level, Cabaret Mechanical Theatre changed my life. I have Sue to thank for that. And what you, Dear Readers, find on the pages of this site are only here because she inspired me -- and thousands of others -- to explore the world of automata.
Here's a video clip showing what Cabaret Mechanical Theatre looked like after just one year. (The video comes to us via automaton maker and expert Sergio Pinese.)
Sue Jackson's vision and influence have brought humor, beauty,
creativity, whimsy, and wonderment to countless people. It will continue
to do so in the years to come. That is a legacy that not many can
claim. That is a legacy to which we should all aspire.
I am thrilled to tell you about an upcoming show at Heron Arts titled Perpetual Motion: Contemporary Interpretations of Fine Art Automata.
It is hard to believe, but this will be among the first gallery exhibition of contemporary fine art automata in the United States. The group show features eleven well known kinetic sculpture artists.
From the press release:
Curated by Heron Arts director Noah Antieau and Atlanta-based automata artist Tom Haney, exhibiting artists were chosen based on their craftsmanship and lifetime dedication to this artistic medium. Exhibiting artists include: David Archer (AUS), Chris Fitch (USA), Nemo Gould (USA), Tom Haney (USA), Thomas Kuntz (USA), Pat Keck (USA), Richard Landon (USA), Paul Spooner (UK), and husband and wife collaborators Dean Lucker and Ann Wood (USA).
Now THAT is an impressive list of names! You will not want to miss this one.
Norman Tuck wrote to share a video he made of a vintage motorized salesman figure. It belonged to his father who used it as a window display in an appliance store he owned. The figure was distributed by the White Sewing Machine company. He believes it is German made because the paper mache head is made from German newspapers. It probably dates to the 1910s.
Driven by a small electric sewing machine motor turning a worm and screw, the figure moves its eyebrows, mouth, head, and hands. It has a set of signs in the box below which it raises up. A total of five different signs are raised and lowered.
Here's another great mechanical paper design by Rob Ives called the "Twitterer Type 3". This one really sounds like a tweeting bird!
From the project page:
In the previous blog post I showed a design for a crank driven bellows to be used at the heart of a bird box project. I have taken that basic design and made it more sturdy. I liked the way the bellows in the previous model were completely visible so I've fitted the crank to the inside of a box but kept the bellows on a pair of slide rails outside the box. You can see the result in animated action on Instagram by clicking the picture to the left.
