Puppets in Prague: Automata Part 2
- Christianne Myers
- Feb 2
- 2 min read
A couple of new things to show and tell as we continue our Automata workshops. I finished a “deep space” themed wave machine. Having learned quite a bit about axle alignment from the first test, I started from scratch to create a three step machine- the motion was not fluid or continuous, but it gave the effect that I wanted of a rocky terrain.
I am also feeling bolder about integrating materials I’m more comfortable with and for this project I used artists' papers & collage to create the landscape. I cut out a clip art drifting astronaut and rocket, and glued gems to piano wire to create dimensional stars. I had pre-drilled tiny holes in the waves
since I wasn’t sure where I would anchor the piano wire before I reassembled everything. I had hoped to add a belt drive to animate the rocket, but I couldn’t figure out where to place that axle without blocking other elements, so I tabled that idea in order to finish the project on time.
The following session, we learned about ways to integrate sound or make instruments that are controlled through simple machinery. For this project, I made a chime using a simple turning mechanism from the second module. I got super frustrated with the wood splitting anytime I tried screwing something together (grateful to get the refresher or how deep to predrill holes for next time!) so I ended up assembling everything with dowels, basically making a small piece of IKEA furniture!
The great thing about that was it was super easy to take it apart & reassemble it throughout the whole process, but I did need to rubber band the whole box
to keep tension for it to stay together when turning the crank. I bought a set of small chimes from Fire Mountain where I also found some small bells. The chimes are rigged with one continuous thread from a disk and then I counterweighted the pipes with beaded chain & the bells; that disk is suspended from a short
baton with a mug hook. The crank turns a cam centered on the axle which turns a ball that has a short dowel that hits the pipes. I suspended wooden beads over the pipes with cartooned faces to anthropomorphise the whole rig a bit. Coming up: playing with lights & optical illusion! Stay tuned!
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