Marvin Yagoda, founder of Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum in Farmington Hills, Michigan has passed away at the age of 78. He was known to say that he would try to make the world better one smile at a time. He did just that and the museum of coin-operated amusements he created will continue to do it for years to come.
The video above features Marvin serving as subjectmatter expert on the show American Pickers.
The BBC website reports that Roger Daltrey of The Who will be selling his collection of rare automata. Daltrey and his wife have acquired seven sophisticated 19th Century French automata over several years.
The collection will be sold at Lyon and Turnbull's fine furniture and works of art auction on 28 September and may bring as much as £50,000, about $65,000 USD.
Check out this amazing photo tour of the studio of automaton-maker Thomas Kuntz. In the photos, we see his fantastic sculptures, extensive collection of horological machine tools, and various macabre collections.
From the article summary:
Each
Automata is made in editions of 3 or 4 at most. They breathe,drink,
smoke and move- all through clockwork that Thomas creates himself. Every
piece from start to finish comes from his wonderfully dark and twisty
mind.
Here is a segment on the Morris Museum that was broadcast by WMBC-TV in the New York City & northern New Jersey area last weekend. The first two-thirds of the video is on the mechanical music instruments, and the rest is about the automata. Not only do we get to see and hear some of these wonderful machines, but we also get some valuable commentary from the both the Conservator and Curators of the collection. Ever wonder why so many of the old automata feature monkeys dressed up in fancy cloths? Watch the video to find out why!
Here is an invite from the Morris Museum to see some of their automata for Obscura Day on May 30th, 2015:
In celebration of Obscura Day 2015, the Guinness Collection Curator and Conservator invite you to the Morris Museum for an interesting and unique demonstration program of clown automata! Come and delight in the fantastical doings of the incredible clowns, jesters and harlequins from the Guinness Collection. Then join us for a private tour behind the locked doors of the Guinness Viewable storage area, where over 500 more mechanical musical instruments and automata live!
The ticket price includes admission to the museum and the opportunity to join the public daily demonstration of the Guinness Collection at 2pm.
Event Details:
Date: Saturday, May 30; 12:30-2:00pm
Price: $25
Location: Morris Museum, 6 Normandy Heights Road, Morristown, NJ 07960
Web site: www.morrismuseum.org
Tickets: available from Eventbrite
Theriault's will be having a weekend of auctions in New Jersey at the Historic Westin Governor Morris Hotel in Morristown, New Jersey
on Saturday and Sunday, May 2 and 3, 2015. For sale will be many fine antique dolls and automata. Among the automata is a superb piece by Henri Phalibois. Shown here is an antique Conjuror by Leopold Lambert of Paris.
Yesterday's post reminded me to remind you about this book I posted about back in 2011. The Morris Museum in Morristown, NJ is home to the Guinness Collection of 750 antique, mechanical musical instruments and automata. It is one of the biggest, best, and most well-managed collections I know of.
Evenly divided between automata and mechanical musical instruments, the book is a wealth of information on the history of both. It is a beautiful and well-written book, which offers a rich view of an extremely important collection. I recommend it. It makes a great gift for those with a serious interest in the subject.
The Morris Museum in Morristown, New Jersey has announced a special "Behind Locked Doors" event. The event will feature a special staff-guided tour and demonstration of instruments and automata from the famous Guinness Collection. Visitors will see mechanical marvels that are not normally heard or exhibited in the galleries. This behind the scenes tour includes a visit to the museum's incredible Viewable Storage facility where a large portion of the collection is stored.
What:
Guinness Spotlight: Behind Locked Doors
Where:
Morris Museum
6 Normandy Heights Road
Morristown, NJ 07960
publicrelations@morrismuseum.org http://www.morrismuseum.org When:
Thursday, November 20, 3:00-4:30pm
Thursday, November 20, 6:30-8:00pm
How:
Tickets: Members - $7 / Non-Members - $9
Attendance will be limited. Call 973.971.3706 to reserve a seat.
One of the all-time best books on the art and science of making contemporary automata, Cabaret Mechanical Movemen, is now available in a Kindle edition. This is great news, because the original paperback edition can be somewhat hard to get and used copies of the softcover book are quite expensive. Published by Cabaret Mechanical Theatre, a museum that pops-up all over the world to delight its visitors with some of the finest examples of the automata makers art, is largely responsible for the existence of the genre. As such, they are a name to be trusted.
From the book description:
Making automata is hard. Making other sorts of three dimensional objects can also be hard, but the extra dimension of movement seems to add a disproportionate amount of difficulty.
For most people, especially those untrained in engineering skills, getting to the point where making mechanical devices is easy, can be a long and frustrating task. Then again, there are many people who have a sound understanding of engineering but can’t even draw a horse.
These things can be learnt. This book does not teach you how to draw a horse, but it does remove the mystery that surrounds the world of mechanisms and the business of making things move.
Cabaret Mechanical Movement contains a lot of theory but it’s also packed with practical tips and ideas for making your own automata, moving toys or mechanical sculpture.
Chapter titles include:
Who, What, Why?
Some Principles
Levers
Shafts
Cranks
Cams
Springs
Linkages
Ratchets
Drives & Gearing
Control
The Checklist
Bibliography
Index
You won't find step-by-step plans to make an automaton, but you will learn a lot about the basic mechanisms that make most contemporary automata tick. You will also get valuable constructions tips for making moving toys and automata. The book includes over 200 black-and-white illustrations. I would say that alone, it may not be enough to get you started making autoamta, unless you have some previous woodworking experience. That said, it is an indispensable book on the subject and should be among the first those new to the field acquire.
The folks over at the amazing Atlas Obscura blog did a great round-up of animal themed automata the other day. Among them was this life size peacock automaton created in 1777 by James Cox. The automaton is The State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia.
From the video description:
Peacock clock at the State Hermitage Museum in Russia. Made in the 18th century by James Cox, an English clock maker, and sold to Potemkin (a favorite of the Catherine the Great) as spare parts. It took 9 years for a Russian mechanic named Ivan Kulibin to put it together again. Well worth it. It is run only once a year during June to preserve the mechanism, so you have very few chance to see it work. Made of gilded bronze silver and glass, it measures 3 meters in height. The dial of the clock is embedded into the head of a mushroom with a dragonfly moving on top to indicate the time.
Here's a wonderful film about The Museum of Automata in York, England.
Sadly, the Museum closed in 1996, and the collection is now in Japan. At least we have this 30 minute documentary to get a glimpse at what it once contained.
In the film, you will see a wonderful variety of automata including everything from fine antique examples to contemporary makers such as Frank Nelson and Jan Zalud.
This video comes to us by way of automaton enthusiast Sergio Pinese who obtained the film from the late artist Frank Nelson.
Did you know that legendary video game creator Richard Garriott collects automata? Here's a clip in which he teaches Martha Stewart about various forms of automata using examples from his own collection. Garriott's automata collection, features antiques as well works by almost all of the modern makers. The automata collection, vast as it is, can only be covered in part. We do get to see the works of three artists who surely deserve the limelight.
This wonderful photograph is of Roman Piekarski, who runs the Cuckooland Museum in Cheshire, England. He and his brother have assembled a collection of Black Forest cuckoo clocks -- many of which are rare and notable examples. They recently had the daunting task of changing the time on more than 600 cuckoo clocks with the spring time change.
The Cuckooland Museum features one of the largest collections of its kind in the world. You can learn more at ww.cuckoolanduk.net
If you find that you like this sort of thing (as I do), you'll want to put this book on your reading list. It's titled Rare and Unusual Black Forest Clocks, written by Justin J. Miller. It's a beautiful book featuring clocks from Germany's Black Forest region. It includes 700 images of fine examples of clocks made in this region. It is a very comprehensive treatment of the subject.
When I posted the other day about the Toc de Fusta's kinetic street art installation, I mentioned that it took place at the closing event held at the Museu de Joguets | Autòmats (Toys and Automata Museum) in the Catalan city of Verdú. Sadly the museum closed its doors this past January. Hopefully, their collection will find a suitable new home. More news on that later. In the meantime, enjoy this short film showing the many fine Golden Age automata once on display at the museum.
I've received word that they have issued a call for artists for an upcoming exhibition. Why post about it here? Contributing artists are asked to respond to the concept of timekeeping. Special consideration will be given to works that are functional timekeepers. As a central resource for various forms of kinetic art, this show is decidedly on-topic.
From the Call for Artists:
A Matter of Time — This exhibit invites artists to respond to the concept of timekeeping and how it is represented today. Artists are encouraged to visit the museum and www.museumoftime.org for more information. Special consideration will be given to those works that are functional timekeepers as well.
So how do you as an artist respond to the concept of timekeeping?
All of the details for submitting a work of art may be found on within the official call for artist announcement. The key thing to note is that the deadline for submission is Friday August 30, 2013. You will need to get them JPEG images on CD no later than that date. There is no entry fee.
Even if you don't submit a piece or attend the show, I would encourage you to make the two hour excursion from Philadelphia, Baltimore, or Washington DC to visit the National Watch and Clock Museum. If you find yourself in Scranton or Lancaster, PA you are within minutes of the museum.
It's not often I get to say that I have something that is available for sale!
I've done a few posts about this The Unwelcome Dinner Guest automaton that I made for the article I wrote for Gizmos & Gadgets magazine. Those posts are scattered about, so I decided to add a new page to the automata section of my web site. The new page features the movie you see here, some additional information about the piece, as well as some photos and early sketches I drew while designing the automaton.
As I mentioned, this piece is for sale. Details may be found on the new page.
I posted yesterday about the book Ingenious Gadgets. No sooner had I posted than I heard from the expert on all things mechanical and kinetic, Falk Keuten, who writes the excellent Spiel und Kunst mit Mechanik blog. Herr Keuten was kind enough to inform me that the author of the book was featured in the video you see above. It's great to see pictures, but even better to see these antique contraptions on film! I was also made aware of the author Maurice Collins's associated web site called VictorianGadgets.com. The site describes itself as "A collection of bizarre, weird and unusual manufactured devices and gadgets, used in everyday life between the years of the Great exhibition of 1851 to the Festival of Britain 1951."
I should also point out that Maurice Collins is also the author of a similar book called Eccentric Contraptions: And Amazing Gadgets, Gizmos and Thingamabobs. Like the book mentioned above, this one shows you 100 bizarre and ingenious gadgets from the collection of Maurice Collins.
Here is an article on Maurice Collins by Esra Magazine. The article explains how Collins became a collector of weird, eccentric, and everyday gadgets from the past.
This short film features the many collections of Richard Garriott de Cayeux -- video game developer, entrepreneur, and space traveler. Garriott built Britannia Manor to serve as his observatory, home, and occasionally, a giant interactive haunted house. An avid collector of amazing and unusual objects, Garriott's home could fairly be classified as a museum. In this film, magician Brad Henderson from Austin, Texas takes you through this extraordinary collection, room by room.
Among the countless wonders and secret passages, you will find a collection of historic space-related artifacts in Garriott's office, complete with one of the original Sputnik satellites. In the dungeon, you can stare in awe at the shrunken heads and vampire hunting kits. In the laboratory, you will find esoteric scientific instruments and orreries, mechanical models of the planets moving around the sun.
I know you guys will be most interested in Garriott's automata collection, featuring antiques as well works by almost all of the modern makers. The automata collection, vast as it is, can only be covered in part, but you do get to see the works of three artists who surely deserve the limelight.
First, you see Paul Spooner's inimitable wit and ingenuity play out in his Sex Change Machine and Poisoned Milk automaton. The mechanism that makes the cat's tongue seem to lap up the spilled milk is a fine example of Spooner's cleverness.
Next, you get a close-up view of the Argentinian artist Pablo Lavezzari's piece Facing a Fake Foe -- a detailed automaton-within-an-automaton depicting a knight fighting a dragon. The dragon, as it turns out, is a fake controlled by a small demon figure. The piece is also notable for its mechanically produced dragon roar sound effect.
Finally, you are shown a few of the macabre and magical automata created by Thomas Kuntz. Kuntz hand sculpts each of the figures and scratch builds the all of the mechanical elements for his pieces, often on vintage watchmaker's lathes. His autoamta seem to be the direct descendants of the most exquisite automata of centuries past. His piece titled L'Oracle du Mort is a modern masterpiece, featuring an oracle who -- with the help of two imps, the Grim Reaper, and a burst of real flame -- will answer your questions.
Amidst so many incredible automata, and artists whom I hold in the highest esteem, I'm dazed and delighted that one of my own pieces made it into the footage. A Dug North original, titled The Birthing Engine is shown and mentioned early on. I couldn't be more pleased.
This film is rare look at one of the finest collections of contemporary automata in existence. I am glad it was made and I am glad to have had the chance to share it with you.
The antique automaton shown here is titled Le Buffet Magique which translates as "The Magic Cupboard". According to the video, the piece was probably made by Auguste Triboulet for the Vichy firm in Paris around 1910.
The scene features a young boy perched on a hutch -- probably somewhere he's not supposed to be. He opens the door to the cupboard and a fly disappears within. As the boy reaches for the jar of currant jelly (I think), the face of his omnipresent grandmother appears to warn him away. The boy defiantly sticks his tongue out at the old lady. There seems to be an unusual fascination with tongues in many of the old French automata. I haven't figured out why that is yet. Having been thwarted from his attempt at the jelly, the boy is consoled by the sight of a mouse climbing a nearby apple. To my eye the scene is a bit more bizarre than magical. Certainly, it is humorous. Regardless of your particular interpretation, it is an amazing piece with a lot of interesting figures and motions.
Cabaret Mechanical Theatre has recently announced that they will be having a Winter Automata Fair at Space Station Sixty-Five on November 28th from 5PM to 8PM. An evening for collectors, enthusiasts and the curious, this will be a unique chance to buy archive prints, posters, automata and kits as well as a several push-button exhibits. The complete sales list will be available on the day of the fair.
The Winter Automata fair will also feature automaton expert Michael Start from The House of Automata. Michael served as Automaton & Horological Advisor for Martin Scorsese's award winning film Hugo which features a clockwork automaton based on the famous Maillardet drawing automaton. Michael will talk about his experience working on the film and share some of his work.
What
Cabaret Mechanical Theatre Winter Automata Fair
