The enchanting rustic automata and 'organic mechanic' of artist Blair Somerville

Please check out this charming video about Blair Somerville -- an artist and self-described tinkerer located on New Zealand’s South Island. The film by Joey Bania is titled Lost & Found.

From the video description:

For over ten years Blair has single-handedly owned, operated and ceaselessly expanded the Lost Gypsy Gallery, his wonderland of homegrown wizardry and a playground for kids and adults alike. Using only recycled materials, Blair takes DIY to artistic extremes. His creations are ingenious, interactive, and often hilariously impractical. They take many shapes and forms and share an uncanny ability to amaze, entertain and inspire.

I love the use of stop-motion animation in the film. The effect complements Somerville's playful, imaginative style of creativity.

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DaVinci's Last Supper - automaton by Phalibois

Shown here is a rare automaton by the famous maker Phalibois representing Davinci's painting The Last Supper. It is a large scene-style automaton measuring about four feet in length. It could be the only one of its kind in the world.

The Last Supper automaton will be going to auction along with one of Pierrot Serenading the Moon by Vichy, and another large scale scene of a ship rocking on the ocean in front of a rotating backdrop of a city shoreline in Europe.

These three automata were featured in a traveling exhibition that toured Europe, Australia and New Zealand in the early 1920s, under the name of The London Mechanical and Electrical exhibition.

The auction is to be held on 25th February 2010 in New Zealand by Art+Objects under the name "The Newman Collection".

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Video profile of New Zealand automaton maker

Blair Somerville is an automaton maker in New Zealand. Here is a nice video profile of him from a New Zealand news station. He really comes across like a warm, playful, and creative person.

Here is the link to the written profile of artist Blair Somerville.

[ Thanks Phil Sing! ]

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An Automaton Maker at the Very End of the World

Artist Blair Somerville (above) sits in a green bus in Papatowai, a small settlement in the Catlins district of the southeastern South Island of New Zealand. The bus is home to The Lost Gypsy Gallery, a collection of Somerville's quirky work (below).

When the artist is not in the bus/gallery, he spends his time combing beaches and collecting 'junk' as he calls it from which to craft all manner of clever toys, gadgets, gizmos, and automata.

Here is a link to a nice photo set featuring The Lost Gypsy Gallery.

[ Thanks philsing! Photos courtesy of Asha's Site. ]

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