Incredible lifelike circus elephant automaton made entirely of paper

The folks over at cool4cats have outdone themselves with their new paper automaton kit titled ELEPHANT TRAINING. This one is a large exhibition-size automaton which shows the secret process of training a circus elephant.

From the Cool4Cats web site:

The kit builds into a large (63 centimeters high, 51 centimeters wide) exhibition model. There are many amusing details and a wonderful sequence of movements as you turn the handle. This model is unsuitable for younger children as a fair degree of patience (and a sharp craft knife) are needed to build it. The instructions, however, are very comprehensive with over 160 'step-by-step' diagrams and assembly is a great project, resulting in a spectacular model!

This one has it all: a great theme, characters, lifelike motion, stunning graphics, and a healthy dose of humor.

Here is where you can order the Elephant Training paper automaton kit.

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Amazing lion tamer circus act automaton kit made from paper!

Check out the amazing new paper automaton kit from cool4cats! In the fine tradition of Alexander Calder and Ron Fuller, the automaton features a Lion Tamer circus act. It also incorporates a clever trick found in some of the venerable French automata.

From the kit description:

Here's the wonderful lion tamer!  The kit contains all the materials  you need to build this amazing automaton.  You'll need glue, a craft knife and a few simple household items to help with assembly, but a word of caution: the lion tamer is a complex kit, so a fair degree of care and patience is needed, it's not suitable for young children.

Here is where you can order The Lion Tamer paper automaton kit.

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Mekanikos vs. The Minotaur carnival sideshow automaton featured on Boing Boing!

Recently, Mark Frauenfelder asked me to describe the process of making my automaton titled Mekanikos vs. The Minotaur.  My write up was featured on the illustrious Boing Boing site yesterday along with a video of the piece in action and several detailed photographs. I couldn't be more fortunate.

I won't repeat all that I said there because you can read the blog post on BoingBoing.net. I will add that I am very pleased with the final piece and that I'm happy to be offering it for sale to my existing customers and the public as a whole at long last.

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Video of 'The Headless Clown' magic automaton by Pierre Mayer

I posted a few days ago about the amazing new automaton by Pierre Mayer. He is known for creating automata that perform a magic trick. This particular piece is a tip of the hat to the famous French maker Phalibois and his headless clown automaton.

As you will see in this new video, the scene starts with clown a holding a fan. The clown slowly raises the fan in front of his face. There is a pause and when the fan is pulled away, the clown's head has disappeared! The top of one of the boxes next to the figure starts to rise, and the clown's head mysteriously emerges from within! The entire sequence then reverses, ending with the clown's head restored to its proper place.

See more magical automata on Pierre Mayer's web site.

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The Electric Animal Circus: it's robots in a circus...what's not to like?

Any of my attempts to explain The Electric Animal Circus will fall short. As the title of the post implies, it involves a circus, robots, and a dose of humor.

Beyond watching the film above, their website says this:

Pozzo and Grotsky's Electric Animal Circus is a new type of live show: robot animals performing circus-inspired acts in a post-apocalyptic variety show. This website exists to showcase the project as it develops from concept to stage.

If you enjoyed the introductory film, here is one featuring The Great Maestro Pickleton and His Unusual Musical Octopus:

And while the film feels like something that might be a Kickstarter project, the web site says that the project is Financed by Deutsche Bank. I may be missing a joke here, but that's what it says.

[ Thanks Joe! ]

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Mekanikos vs. The Minotaur - automaton by Dug North at Maker Faire New York 2012

I promised more videos of my automata as well as some footage of the recent World Maker Faire New York 2012. Thanks to a visitor to my exhibit who took this video, I can show you both! This short clip shows me cranking one of my latest pieces which depicts a carnival sideshow scene titled Mekanikos vs. The Minotaur.

The automaton features Mekanikos (the world's strongest man according to the poster behind him) engaged in a struggle with a giant man-beast with horns. Turn the crank and the enraged Minotaur thrashes against the chains that bind him while Mekanikos uses his might to pull the monster back.

Below the stage another scene plays out. Clearly, there are two figures doing something, but what? And why? I'm going to leave those questions unanswered for now.

Each automaton I brought to Maker Faire had its admirers, but this one was undoubtedly the crowd favorite.

In the days to come, you can expect to see a far more detailed video of Mekanikos vs. The Minotaur.

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Vintage video profile of toy maker Ron Fuller in his workshop

Here's another wonderful video from the archives over at Cabaret Mechanical Theatre. This short video features artist and toy maker, Ron Fuller, in his workshop. In the video we get to see his Woodland Animal mechanical piece The Circus, The Sheepshearer, a sand toy and many other creations from his charming workshop in Suffolk, England.

A kid at heart, it's great to see this grown man making mechanical toys. This piece makes a nice companion to the video profile of Ron Fuller from earlier this year.

If you like Ron Fuller's work and want to make some of the same models and automata, you will want to get his book The Art and Craft of Wooden Toys. It is very clear and well-illustrated. It's one of the few books with complete plans for a wood automaton -- his famous Lion Tamer automaton.

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Edison's Eve: A Magical History of the Quest for Mechanical Life

I long while ago, I did a short post on the book Edison's Eve by Gaby wood. I didn't say much about it, other than it was a good book. Having reread it recently, I wanted to a say a bit more. You can expect a full review in the coming months.

The book is framed around a central question: what is it that makes us human and how do representations of humans in some animated form challenge us to return to that question again and again. Against the backdrop of this framework, Wood examines five historical subjects. Some of these deal quite specifically with automata. The chapters cover the following subjects:

1 - The Frenchman Jacques de Vaucanson and the several famous automata he created in the the 18th-century

2 - Wolfgang von Kempelen's chess-playing machine, the Turk, who beat fine chess players on several continents for decades. There is plenty of interesting stuff on Johann Nepomuk Maelzel in this chapter too.

3 - Thomas Edison's attempt to enter the toy market by incorporating his newly-developed phonograph into the body of a doll.

4 - The ground-breaking early special-effects films of Georges Méliès.

5 - The Doll family who toured with Ringling Brothers and appeared in The Wizard of Oz.

The book is very well written and the product of extensive research. I tended to prefer the chapters that dealt specifically with automata, but they are all connected in some way -- sometimes loosely and sometimes tightly. Overall, it's an educational and enjoyable read.

Here is where you can order Edison's Eve: A Magical History of the Quest for Mechanical Life in paperback. The hardcover version is out-of-print, but easily obtained used for a similar price.

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Sneak peek video of Dug North's latest automaton

I'm still in the design phase of my current automaton, so wasn't planning on sharing it until much later. Well, something happened last weekend to change that. The Lowell Folk Festival was held last weekend. The smallish city where I lived completely filled with people coming to hear all kinds of folk music. I was asked to help out for a little while at a tent providing information about the Arts League of Lowell of which I am a member. On a whim, I grabbed my piece-in-progress as I was heading out to do my two hour volunteer stint.

I turned the crank on this piece for two straight hours in the middle of downtown Lowell. It was beta and stress testing at the same time! I got to see the reaction of a broad range of people, which was both interesting and informative. The mechanism held up quite well.

I am flattered that so many people stopped to take a look while on their way from one performance to another. This video was taken by one of those people.

The video is short, I know. It is just a sneak peek. The piece doesn't even have a title and won't be done for a while yet. I do hope you enjoy trying to figure out what the heck is going on in the automaton's scene!

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UPDATE: I was thrilled and honored to have this video posted on BoingBoing.net on August 2nd, 2011 under the title Crazed giant beast hand-cranked automaton protoype. Thank you!

[ Thanks Ann! ]

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Taxidermy mice incorporated into automaton

While some of the Roullet et Decamps animal automata use real fur, I don't think they ever use entire animals. Inspired or creepy? The idea of using preserved mice in an automaton is fascinating to say the least!

From the ebay description:

The piece is one of a series of circus themes, and it is titled "The Lesson". The larger mouse who wears a ringleader style suit bounces high on his ball, while the smaller mouse only jumps a little way up. Juggling balls are scattered around where they have been practicing balancing and juggling. A very small mouse, too young to train yet, helps by picking up the balls and handing them back to the ringmaster.

Here is where you can learn more about the automaton with taxidermy mice.

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Alfred the circus trapeze acrobat automaton toy

Here's a vintage sand-powered automaton toy currently on ebay -- ALFRED THE ACROBATIC BAFFLEMENT THE FLYING MARVEL.

From the toy description:

When the box is rotated counter-clockwise 4 or 5 times and then rotated once clockwise the paper acrobat twirls and spins actively. The sand in the back of the sealed box turns a wheel (axle) and the trapeze artist does his acrobatic wonders and extremely dangerous feats of daring and thrills, and he doesn't use a net.

Here's where you can see additional pictures get a lot of details about Alfred the circus trapeze acrobat automaton toy.

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Ron Fuller's Lion Tamer - free schematic drawing!

As part of their extraordinarily fun 40-day long seasonal event called the 'Mechanical Magic of Cabaret', Cabaret Mechanical Theatre are offering a free download of a detailed diagram of Ron Fuller's famous Lion Tamer automaton. The diagram has an exploded view, plan views, detail views, and a comprehensive parts list. This is useful material if you are a fan of Fuller's work or if you plan to make your own automata.

Here is where you can download The Lion Tamer drawiong by Ron Fuller from Cabaret Mechanical Theatre.

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