More details on heart-shaped gear assembly

I posted the other day about this amazing heart composed of moving gears.

At the time, I was quite uncertain about the material used. One commenter said that it was papercraft, and would appear to be correct.

I am told that the artist was a winner in a world karakuri contest back in 2005.


I see also that the artist has made a piece similar to the heart in the form of a cube. Video of the cube can be seen here if you have the right plug-in.

The artist, Haruki Nakamura, also does other forms of paper-craft including illustration, models, and impressive 3 dimensional tessellations.


See more from the artist on Haruki Nakamura's web site.

[ Thanks philsing and PINO! ]

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A Collection of Thoughts by Artist Tom Haney

Here is one new piece by Tom Haney now documented on his web site. Titled A Collection of Thoughts, this motorized automaton features extraordinary detail and Haney's uncanny ability to create a vintage feel.

His web site has a set of nineteen photographs showing the automaton in various stages of construction and 3 short movies.

Here's a link to Tom Haney's page for A Collection of Thoughts.

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An Automata Maker at the Very End of the World

Artist Blair Somerville (above) sits in a green bus in Papatowai, a small settlement in the Catlins district of the southeastern South Island of New Zealand. The bus is home to The Lost Gypsy Gallery, a collection of Somerville's quirky work (below).

When the artist is not in the bus/gallery, he spends his time combing beaches and collecting 'junk' as he calls it from which to craft all manner of clever toys, gadgets, gizmos, and automata.

Here is a link to a nice photo set featuring The Lost Gypsy Gallery.

[ Thanks philsing! Photos courtesy of Asha's Site. ]

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Flickr Set of Some Great Contemporary Automata

Here is a nice Flickr set of photographs of a nice private collection of contemporary automata. There are large photos of the pieces. Particularly well-represented are the artists Jan Zalud, Keith Newstead, and Paul Spooner/Matt Smith.

Shown here is The Council Counsellor, by Paul Spooner and Matt Smith of Fourteen Balls Toy.

Here is the link to the Flickr set of automata.

[ Thanks Steve! ]

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The Automata / Automaton Facebook Group

I am please to announce the creation of a new Facebook group to compliment this and other automata-related sites and blogs. If you are a Facebook user, I hope you will search among the Groups section for The Automata / Automaton Group.

This will be a place to share links, post photos and videos, participate in discussions, and meet others interested in automata and other mechanical things.

If you are not a member of Facebook, it's an easy to use, free social networking site. This may be the reason you've been looking for to join.

Join The Automata / Automaton Facebook Group.

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Photos of Automata in Paul Spooner's Tribute

Our colleagues and friends over at the blog Spiel und Kunst mit Mechanik have assembled a massive picture pool of automata by dozens of artists that participated in the exhibit celebrating Paul Spooner.

Visit the Paul Spooner Tribute Exhibit photograph page.

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Photo Tour of the Vintage Toy Museum in Prague

In case you missed it the other day, BoingBoing.net posted about a wonderful flickr photograph set of The Toy Museum in Prague, Czech Republic know as Muzeum hraček.

Here's a link to the 37 image set of the Toy Museum.

Now for some attributions:
* Here is the post on the toy museum from BoingBoing.net
* Here is some info about Muzeum hraček
* Here is the original post on the Curious Expeditions blog

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