‘The Flooded Arena’, an incredible clockwork automaton somewhere in London

If you are in London, and brave as well as determined, you should find your way to this exhibition and show. It's an installation based on Mark Ferelli's automaton, The Flooded Arena. He has worked on this for a decade and it has many impressive movements as the gladiator circles the flailing serpent. The exhibit is in Deptford in London. I am informed that many would consider it to be on the "wrong" side of the river, but that it is simply incredible.

From an article on the exhibit:

Surrounded by numerous working drawings, illustrating the ways and mysteries of its creation, Ferelli presents 'The Flooded Arena', a clockwork automaton, owing as much in character to those past mechanical creations of antiquity from Hero of Alexandria, Salomon de Caus, the genius of Arabia’s own 'Golden Age', Al-Jazari, as it does the fantastic cinema of Korda’s 'Thief of Baghdad' and the 'Sinbad' movies of Ray Harryhausen.

Mythology, music, darkness, clockwork powered and lit by magic lantern. Sounds pretty good to me! If you have more details on how exactly how to find this exhibit, leave a comment or send me a note. It appears to be at the offices of DIVUS, which according the article below are located at Enclave 5, 50 Resolution Way London.

Here is an article about the exhibit.

[ Thanks Michael! ]

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Machines that Almost Fall Over - kinetic sculpture

Check out this wonderful trio of machines by Michael Kontopoulos. Attached to each piece is a hammer tripped by a motorized snail cam. As the title of the piece suggests, when the swinging hammer hits the base of the machine, it is rocked and almost falls over. The anticipation of the hammer strike, loud bang, the teetering of the entire piece, and its safe landing make for a tense and playful cycle that is very captivating.

[ Thanks Casey!

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