Amazing gallery exhibition of contemporary fine art automata in San Francisco

Artwork by Tom Haney

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.

Here is a nice article about the show that was recently released by SF Station. Here is a recent blog post about the show by Tom Haney.

What:
Perpetual Motion: Contemporary Interpretations of Fine Art Automata

Where:
Heron Arts
7 Heron St, SF, CA 94103

When:
Opens on April 16th, 2016 with a reception from 6-9pm and runs through May 14th, 2016

Gallery Hours: Wednesday through Saturday 3-7pm and by appointment

Website Info:
heronarts.com

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Book: The Art of Tinkering from the Exploratorium's Tinkering Studio

The folks from the wonderful Tinkering Studio at the Exploratorium in San Fransisco have come out with this book. It looks great!

From the book description:

The Art of Tinkering is an unprecedented celebration of what it means to tinker: to take things apart, explore tools and materials, and build wondrous, wild art that’s part science and part technology. Join 150+ makers as they share the stories behind their beautiful and bold work—and use the special conductive ink on the cover to do some tinkering yourself!

In the book, they have profiles of important makers (any of my heroes, in fact) as well as inspirational information on how to start tinkering yourself.

Here here you can get The Art of Tinkering.

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Tinkerer's Clock by artist Tim Hunkin at the Exploratorium in San Francisco

Here is a video featuring British artist Tim Hunkin installing his latest creation for the Exploratorium in San Francisco. The piece is a huge kinetic sculpture clock featuring small tinkerers at work.

Learn more about the amazing Tim Hunkin on his web site.

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The Musée Mécanique - making people smile one coin at a time

Here is a wonderfully produced video profile of the Musée Mécanique -- one of the world's largest privately owned collections of mechanically operated musical instruments and antique arcade machines. Located in San Fransciso at Pier 45 at of Fisherman's Wharf, the Musée features every imaginable kind of mechanical amusement from turn-of-the-century hand-cranked music boxes to modern video arcade games.

Learn more about The Musee Mechanique on their web site.

[ Thanks Aaron! ]

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A trio of zipper-mouthed film canister creatures by Nemo Gould

Check out this recent piece by artist Nemo Gould titled Zip Synch. The heads for the strange and endearing creatures are small zippered film canisters.

From Nemo Gould's web site:

The inspiration came from the little film canisters that form their heads. I had done this once before with the piece "Head Case #2". Recently I came across several more cases at a flea market and couldn’t resist making a chorus line of them.

In addition to the film canisters, the piece is made from sprockets, chain, gears, motor, LEDs, mirrored plastic, and wooden box.

See more kinetic sculpture by Nemo Gould on his web site.

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Kinetic sculpture by Ben Trautman

Take a look at this amazing large-scale kinetic sculptures by Ben Trautman.

From the artist's web site:

My work combines the languages of industrial architecture and organic forms using intuitive engineering and experimentation. Inspired by cities, bones, mechanics and the movement of living organisms, I build sculptures suggesting creatures that inhabit the crevices of industrial decay. I work with dual languages, mass and delicacy or solidity and agility. Architecture inspires and hosts my work, provides context and scale, mass to inhabit or solidity to erode.

With a studio located in Oakland, California, he has made mechanical sculptures for The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia and The Bay Area Discovery Museum in Sausalito, California.

See more kinetic sculptures by Ben Trautman on his web site.

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Automata exhibition at San Francisco airport

The video shown below accompanies an new exhibition of antique automata that opened at the International Terminal of San Francisco International Airport (SFO) in November of 2011. Most of the nineteen automata on display were loaned from the Murtogh D. Guinness Collection at the Morris Museum located in Morristown, New Jersey.

From the SFO Museum web site:

This exhibition of automata and mechanical tableaux offers a broad range of automaton production from the second half of the nineteenth century, and includes a late twentieth-century creation using nineteenth-century parts and production methods. Most are set in motion by a mechanical spring motor and possess a music box. The best makers of the era are represented: Lambert, Phalibois, Tharin, Renou, Roullet & Decamps, and Vichy.

The exhibit is situated right where travelers get on and off the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system and is open to ALL visitors, ticketed or non-ticketed. If you are in the San Francisco area, you'll want to go check this out!

Here is a link to more information on the automata exhibit at SFO from the SFO Museum web site.

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Machine-inspired sculpture and painting show

Shown here is a a new piece by Nemo Gould titled Baby Squid. This and other machine-inspired art and kinetic sculpture will be part of a group show in Oakland, California starting on Friday November 4th, from 5-9PM. The featured artists include:

   • Nemo Gould
   • Eric Joyner
   • Mark Galt
   • Jeremy Mayer
   • Benjamin Cowden

That's a very good line up, trust me. Here's an image with the more details:

Time: Friday, November 4 from 5:00pm - 9:00pm
Location:
The Lost & Foundry
305 Center St.
Oakland, CA

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Rolling ball track depicting San Francisco

This may have hit your radar already, but it's such an amazing accomplishment I have got to post it here. Behold Scott Weaver's recreation of San Francisco. This huge 3 dimensional model is also a ping-pong ball run. It was made over the course of 35 years with...get this...over 100,000 toothpicks! The balls can start in several different spots, each of which will send it on a tour of a particular section of the Bay Area.

[ Thanks Tom! ]

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Minotaur & other kinetic sculptures by Nemo Gould

Shown here is one of three new pieces by Nemo Gould, this one titled Minotaur. I always love the little-guy-inside-of-the-big-guy thing.

You can see all three new sculptures by Nemo Gould on his website.

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It's the things you can't change that shape you

Check out this kinetic sculpture by Benjamin Cowden. The piece features a planetary gear around which a small wooden figure revolves and rotates.

See more work by kinetic sculptor Benjamin Cowden on his web site.

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Exhibit: Nemo Gould, Jeremy Mayer, Benjamin Cowden

MACHINATIONS is an exhibit currently featuring the works of Nemo Gould, Jeremy Mayer, and Benjamin Cowden.

From the exhibit description:

The exhibition showcases the distinctive elements of re-use transformational sculpture while exploring human interaction and objectification. Keeping in line with the gallery's focus on local and emerging talent, all three artists boast Bay Area roots, but display marked differences in their interpretation of the kinetic medium.

The exhibition's title "Machinations", is a reference to the shifting and subjective definition of what constitutes art. A variety of kinetic based art will be on display—ranging from whimsical creatures and life size sculptures crafted from twisted metal bits to interactive machines.

The exhibit runs from July 14 - August 21, 2010. The artists reception will Thursday, July from 6-9pm.

Here's where you can learn more about the Machinations exhibit.

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Nemomatic solo installation for Oakland Museum

News from Nemo Gould on his upcoming solo show:

I’m very excited to announce that I will be having a solo installation curated by the Oakland Museum of California at their off site venue: c on May 27 from 5-7 pm. This will be the first time my new sculpture "Doubtful" will be on display, as well as the first time my "Nowhere Fast" piece will have left the studio. I will also be showing "Giant Squid", "Above it All", "Re:Animated", my bicycle “"Re:Cycle" and scooter "Quicksilver". It is a rare opportunity that I can display so many of my larger works at one time. Please come if you can, and tell a friend.

Location details:
Gallery 555
555 12th Street, Oakland, CA
Lobby. Hours 7am - 6pm.
Open and free to the public
Reception May 27, 5–7 p.m.

Here is a link to a web page on the Nemomatic Solo Installation for Oakland Museum.

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