Media Slave - an automaton by Pablo Lavezzari

Check out the new automaton by artist Pablo Lavezzari. There is a lot going on, both mechanically and conceptually.

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Music box discovered to be the source for two tunes from the opera Madame Butterfly

Legend had it that Puccini, composer of the the famous Japanese-themed opera Madame Butterfly, was inspired by melodies he heard from a Japanese music box. For over one hundred years, historians have searched in vain for the Japanese music box that Puccini heard. Musicologist Tony Shepard, on a recent chance visit to the Morris Museum in New Jersey, heard something quite surprising. Among the dozens of automata and mechanical music machines housed at this extraordinary museum, Shepard happened to listen to a Chinese music box. Something familiar caught his ear. A discovery was made in that moment. As research continues, it seems more and more likely that a music box now at the Morris Museum is the very one Puccini heard. Not only do two of the tunes match those in Madame Butterfly, the ownership of the box can be traced to the composer. Cryptic symbols inside the mechanism of the music box look like those often penned by Puccini himself.

The Morris Museum features an exhibition of over 150 pieces from the world-renowned Murtogh D. Guinness collection of mechanical musical instruments and automata.

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Keeping the tradition of Japanese Karakuri alive

Here is a wonderful short film about Hideki Higashino -- one of a few artisans still working on Japanese Karakuri. He learned the tradition from his father. The film was shot by Matthew Allard.

From the video description:

Japan has always been on the forefront of cutting edge robotics. Its roots can be traced back 200-300 years during the Edo period when skilled craftsmen created automata (self-operating machines). Using nothing more than pulleys and weights they were able to make the Karakuri (Japanese automata) perform amazing tasks. Japan's modern day robots can be traced back to the Karakuri. Today, Hideki Higashino is one of the few remaining craftsmen who is determined to keep the history and tradition of Japanese Karakuri alive.

Here is a link to more Karakuri posts here on The Automata / Automaton Blog.

[ Thanks Eric! ]

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