News FeedRon Fuller Retrospective
An exhibition of work from Ron Fuller and Guy Richardson opens at Craftco in Southwold, Suffolk this Saturday. Ron says, “Mine is a special retrospective show one example of every toy I’ve ever made over the years (43 to be exact). It should be worth a visit to see some unusual creations and be of special interest for hobbyists, model-makers and craftpersons who make things with their hands in their spare time.”
Saturday 28th August – Thursday 9th September
Craftco Site
The Clockwork Automataumbrella
June 15, 2010 by admin · 3 Comments
Keith Newstead and Gonzo artist Ralph Steadman have created this incredible new machine, ‘The Clockwork Automataumbrella’. It forms the centrepiece at the Clockwork and Automata Exhibition (18th June to 22nd August 2010).
Having collaborated on the critically acclaimed Terry Gilliam commissioned piece ‘Mad God Universe’ Ralph and Keith have teamed up again.
In this new exhibition Ralph Steadman takes on the soft and wonky world of Clockwork. Inspired by the comedy of Jacques Tati, the random and awkward movement of old clockwork toys and a genuine affection for things that just seem a little bit wrong.
‘Clockwork is hard and precise – let’s do soft and wonky’.
Pushing the boundaries of the traditional materials generally found in the world of clockwork and automata making – Ralph is pushing latex, paper and water to the limits with the help of genius maker Keith Newstead.
Water drips from the large umbrella into funnels, and partly powers the unlikely clockwork mechanism, via a series of tubes and waterwheels. Keith’s vibrant mechanics feature giant flowers and Ralph’s crazy drawings. Finally, an unfortunate rabbit dispenses drinks in an unlikely way. A real conversation piece for parties!
Here are some extracts from Keith’s blog on the process of making the machine with Ralph Steadman.
‘In Ralph’s photo he had some drawings of circles behind the umbrella. He told me he would like one of these to be the sun. We decided that they should form part of some crazy clockwork. A few days later I found some gardening mats that were shaped like sunflowers. The edge of the petals formed perfect gear teeth. I tried to get them to mesh but unfortunately they were not perfectly circular and would not work as gear wheels ( Although they did come tantalisingly close). Undaunted, I used the profile of the petals as the teeth of my own ply gear wheels. I am hoping that Mr Steadman will provide some lovely sun flower art work for the large wheel.’
‘I have always been fasinated with the idea of making a machine that could produce a completely random sound or movement. This is a doomed mission, the reason being that as time and space are infinite, at some point, in some place, all the necessary components will come together to produce me typing this again.So at some point, my random machine won’t be very random any more.’
‘The Automataumbrella is up and running. The water is dripping into the funnels, the sad soft toy is gushing wine from it’s willy, the clockwork is grumbling and grinding. So now it’s just painting and sticking on Ralphs glorious graphics to finish.’
The exhibit is for sale, and can be shipped at the end of August when the exhibition closes.
£17,550 (Excl. VAT)
Sharmanka Kinetic Theatre
February 19, 2010 by admin · Leave a Comment
Sharmanka Kinetic Theatre opened their new permanent exhibition in Glasgow at the new Trongate 103 Centre last September.
They have a daily programme of performances of their incredible machines, (prices from £4 per adult, and children are free).
Sharmanka also do a lot of work with school groups, and other educational activities.
http://www.trongate103.com/129,162/partners/sharmanka_kinetic_theatre/
There is also a fantastic Russian restaurant in the building, making a good community of Russian culture. If you visit on a Sunday make sure to book a table, and listen to the live music.
http://www.cossachok.com/
Living Mechanicals
January 29, 2010 by admin · Leave a Comment
A small collection of CMT automata from AutomatomaniA will be shown during the Manipulate Visual Theatre Festival from 2nd Feb to 6th Feb 2010
Living Mechanicals
Travis Theatre
Edinburgh
Automata: Contemporary Mechanical Sculpture
January 22, 2010 by admin · Leave a Comment
A new exhibition has just opened at the Chazen Museum of Art in Madison, WI.
The exhibition features the collection and work of Michael Croft, who will also be giving a lecture “Automata: The Art of Animated Figures” on January 28th at 17.30hrs.
Exhibition continues until 14th March 2010
Image – Man Drinking in the Moon, Dean Lucker, 2009
Click here to download a PDF of the exhibition guide.
Autómatas – Teatro Mecánico
Photo credit: EFE / Miguel Ángel Molin
“Autómatas. Teatro mecánico” This year’s exhibition includes a new presentation of 8 works by Carlos Zapata – entitled, ‘Theatre of Colombian Dreams’. This is the first time that Carlos has exhibited in Spain, and he was greeted with fantastic enthusiasm by the Spanish audience. Artist Ron Fuller also attended the opening and enjoyed showing his Armchair Aviator, which dates back to the Ride of Life over 20 years ago. Visitors were thrilled with Patrick Bond’s new Flying Saucer as it elevated and crash landed throughout the evening. Sharmanka Kinetic Theatre brought their Noah’s Ark, with beautiful lights and music, it really set the scene. Stephen Guy and his team from Rose Bruford College gave a performance of their street theatre work, The London Jungle Book. They are now working with Spanish professionals on workshops for children and adults throughout the exhibition, which continues to 31st January 2010.
CMT in Dortmund
There was great excitement in Dortmund, Germany with the opening of our touring exhibition at DASA yesterday.
Hundreds of people arrived around 11 a.m., and were treated to the sounds of steel drums before entering through the Drifting Apart sliding doors into the exhibition hall. Walter Ruffler and Falk Keuten were guests of honour and curator Hans-Gerd Kaspers welcomed us all with a talk about the history of automata.
You can see some more pictures of the exhibition here. As well as a great article about the show here (English translation).
DASA is well worth a visit, and has very informative permanent exhibits on the theme of the workplace. You can take a ride which extols the dangers of operating a fork-lift truck, learn how an electricity power station works, and children can construct their own buildings and try out a pneumatic drill.
Rock My Boat
July 31, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Moooving Sculptures by Johnny White and Amanda Wray.
Artists Johnny White (Ride of Life veteran) and Amanda Wray have created a fantastic new exhibition currently at Scarborough Art Gallery
The exhibits are created from junk -surplus nutcrackers and redundant fire extinguishers, amongst other things.
August 6th 11 – 4 pm Kinetic Creations Workshop.
August 14th – 12.30 Lunchtime talk with Johnny White and Amanda Wray and arrival of new exhibit “Storm in a Teacup”.
August 15th – (all day) Wiggly Wires Workshop with Johnny White – booking essential.
Click images to enlarge.
Mechanics Alive!! in Glasgow
Mechanics Alive!! is now open at the Scotland Street School Museum in Glasgow. The exhibition is an essential on your itinerary if you are in Scotland over the summer.
The Museum setting is a Victorian school (a beautiful Mackintosh designed building) which closed exactly 30 years ago on the launch of the CMT exhibition. Children (and adults) are welcome to take part in the free workshops to Design Automata, and there are 35 pieces on display.
Click here to see the Facebook album of the exhibition.
CMT in Tokyo
May 26, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Our permanent exhibition in Japan, operated by Entertainment Bowl, that was in Otaru, Hokkaido for over 15 years, is now on the move.
It opened in the Ginza area of Tokyo earlier this month, and the tiny shop has been inundated with visitors (over 5000 in the first 10 days).
This is a great exhibition with some large scale versions of some of our favourite pieces such as ‘The Mill Girl and the Toff’. Entrance is free and the machines are coin-operated.
The exhibition will continue until mid-September. For more information see our touring exhibits page.
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