Heart Broken Repairman automaton by Carlos Zapata

Check out the latest automaton by Carlos Zapata titled Heart Broken Repairman. His job is to fix broken hearts. Sadly, that is an occupation with a lot of job security.

See more automata by Carlos Zapata on his web site.

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The Modern Automata Museum to feature works by top automaton artists at a new exhibit in Rome

There is going to be a fantastic exhibition from the collections of The Modern Automata Museum at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome(MACRO) starting next week.

The exhibit will feature works by Malcolm Brooks, Luca De Pascalis, Marina Gigli, Neil Hardy, Marc Horowitz, Rob Ives, Peter Markey, Keith Newstead, Rennie Orsi, Walter Ruffler, Keisuke Saka, Paul Spooner, Susie Stolpe, Carlos Zapata, Eric Williamson, and Guido Accascina.

That is a lineup of some of the top artists in the world of contemporary automata. This is an exhibit you will not want to miss!

What:
Automata Al Macro: Sculture Meccaniche in Movimento

When:
February 16th to March 24th

Where:
Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome (MACRO)

For more information:
Email: info@modernautomatamuseum.com
Visit: www.modernautomatamuseum.com

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Automata Exhibition: 'Child Soldiers' by Carlos Zapata

Automaton artist Carlos Zapata was born in conflict-torn Colombia in 1963. The themes in some of his work come from a personal awareness that children are all too often used in armed conflict. His new exhibition, 'Child Soldiers', addresses sad fact.

About the exhibit:

This solo exhibition contains Carlos Zapata's latest series of intimate and emotive sculptures and automata which have at their core the humanitarian often violent struggle of the innocent, often children, who are drawn in to the maelstrom of war.

Elaborating on experiences from his own personal life, Zapata delves into the human stories behind war from both ends of the spectrum - how people deal with, and deal out, violence. What people are capable of when confronted by extreme circumstances - bravery and cowardliness alike. Put simply Zapata says "death and survival comes on a daily basis for some people"

Shown below is an automaton from the exhibit titled 'Beating':

The show will open at Millennium in Cornwall, UK on May 25th and run until June 19th. You can learn more about the 'Child Soldiers' sculpture and automata exhibit by Carlos Zapata at the Millennium web site.

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Flying Love 2011 automaton by Carlos Zapata

Check out this delightful automaton -- one of several new pieces by Carlos Zapata -- entitled Flying Love 2011. The carved characters and the winged heart make for a charming automaton.

You can see more new automata by Carlos Zapata on his blog.

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Automaton depicting life-saving invention

Here is video of another history-based coin-operated donation box automton created by Carlos Zapata. This one depicts Henry Trengrouse and his life-saving apparatus for ships wrecked near the coast. The device used a rocket to fire a line from the shore to the ship. Incredible!

See more about this automaton on Carlos Zapata's web site.

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Tudor House automaton by Carlos Zapata

A brand new mechanical sculpture in wood and metal by Carlos Zapata. The piece will be a coin operated collecting box for donations from visitors to the Tudor House museum in Southampton, UK.

See more automata by Carlos Zapata on his web site.

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Wrexham Museum automaton by Carlos Zapata

Check out this awesome automaton by Carlos Zapata. This kinetic sculpture made as a collection box for the Wrexham County Museum in Wales. When visitors donate a coin, they are treated to a lot of interesting activity!

You can get a more compete description of the action by reading this post on Carlos Zapata's blog

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Nice article on the automata of Carlos Zapata

The Figurative Artbeat blog has a nice long post on the automata sculpture of Carlos Zapata.

From the profile on Carlos Zapata's blog:

Working from my present studio in Mabe, Cornwall I have been making kinetic or mechanical sculptures professionally for the past 11 years. Although my background is within Fine Arts, I am a self taught automaton artist, who often accepts commissions for my sculptures from both private and public collectors worldwide. My sculptures are made out of wood and metal, and I often use reclaimed wood and scrap (or recycled) metal in my artwork, as I believe this makes the sculptures even more unique, with a story behind the story. I take my influence mainly from South American, Asian,African and British art and my work is colourful and full of emotion, and often carries a political or social comment, in sharp contrast with humorous language.

Here is the post on The Incredible Automata Sculpture of Carlos Zapata.

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Kinetica Art Fair, London, Feb. 4th – 6th, 2011

Today is the start of the Kinetica Art Fair at the Kinetica Museum in London. This year the event will explore the evolution of the human body, brain, mind and consciousness via various means including kinetic, electronic, robotic, sound, light, time-based and multi-disciplinary new media art.

Our good friends at Cabaret Mechanical Theatre will be at Kinetica Art Fair with pieces by Paul Spooner, Arthur Ganson, Fi Henshall, Pascale Michalski and Carlos Zapata.

Here is a link to more information on the Kinetica Art Fair.

[ Also posted today on the Spiel und Kunst mit Mechanik ]

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New automata, book, and site for by Carlos Zapata

Automata maker Carlos Zapata has been busy! In addition to new work, he also is offering a book and has a new web site. Shown here is his piece Elephant.

More about the book, Automata: Mechanical Sculpture by Carlos Zapata

This book is about the art of carlos zapata. His mechanical sculptures move when the handle is turn. He is been influence by folk and tribal art around the world. His work is full of colour and emotion.

Shown above is just one of the several pages of his book you can preview.

Find the link his book and see more automata by Carlos Zapata on his web site.

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The Automata Repairman by Carlos Zapata

Here is the latest charming piece by Carlos Zapata titled "The Automata Repairman".

From the video description:

This man is cycling, coming to repair your automata. He is getting old and he looks at the floor and then the horizon...but he keeps pedaling. He is caring his tools in his box. You can see all the tools that he is going to need. Down inside the mechanism you see a man flying and a fat cat watching him, while two hands holding hammers move in a rhythmic way. At the bottom there is a collector looking at his automata. And, on the other side there is a dog who wonders what the fuss is about. He turns his head to watch you turning the handle!

Here is the page featuring The Automata Repairman on the Cabaret Mechanical Theatre web site where you will find more pictures and information.

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Automaton Maker Carlos Zapata - New Website

Automaton maker Carlos Zapata has a new website which has what looks to be a complete history of all his work. There are tons of photographs of his automata and many are animated.

Shown here is a hand-cranked automaton titled Laughing man, 2008 (6 inches high, wood and metal).

Check out all the automata by Carlos Zapata on his web site.

[ Thanks David! ]

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Great Review of CMT Exhibit with Photo Sets

Over at the Pixelsumo blog, the author has a great review of a visit to the newly opened Cabaret Mechanical Theatre exhibit at Kinetica Museum that I told you about here.

The post features links to a huge set of flickr photos of the show itself.

Check out this great review of the CMT show at Pixelsumo.

Cabaret Mechanical Theatre at Kinetica Museum

If you can be or will be in the UK between April 6, 2007 and May 5, 2007 you must visit Kinetica Museum located at Old Spitalfields Market, London.

Kinetica will be hosting a major retrospective show on Cabaret Mechanical Theatre which includes more than 80 automata and a number of previously unseen works.

The show will feature artists including: Ron Fuller, Arthur Ganson, Tim Hunkin, Will Jackson, Pierre Mayer, Keith Newstead, Paul Spooner, and Carlos Zapata. (Many of my favorite artists are in that list!)

The exhibition will also include a series of talks and hands-on workshops by the founders of CMT and prominent British automata artists. Speakers will include: Tim Hunkin, Sue Jackson, Sarah Alexander, Will Jackson and Paul Spooner.

Learn more at CMT's Mechanical Blog or visit Kinetica Museum's site

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Cabaret Mechanical Theatre (CMT) dates back to 1979, when a handful of automaton artists began to work together as an artists collective.

The group, founded in 1983 in Falmouth by Sue Jackson, moved to London’s Covent Garden shortly thereafter, where their collection of automata immediately received both critical and popular acclaim.

They produced a book (shown at left) that teaches about basic mechanics and the construction of automata.