LEE WHITEHEAD

I was born in the UK on 14th Feb 1968. My career started with an electrical apprenticeship with a local contracting company and my full time career is still that of a maintenance electrician. As a personal venture / past time I always enjoyed creative projects.

When I was in my twenties I visited an automata museum in YORK, then one at covent gardens, called the cabaret mechanical theatre. It was an amazing experience to see and be inspired by many talented artists creating automata. At this time in my life with work and family commitments I did not get the time I would have liked to give this a go even though I had purchased many books plus VHS instructional videos at that time!.

If I were to pick a favourite it would be Keith newstead. His course explained everything in a simplified way and his automatons were outstanding.

During the covid period when I had turned 50 I was laid off work for three weeks and it was during this time that my interest was reignited once again after finding an online automata magazine publication. I had a 3D printer plus had learned an easy 3D modelling software application. My first automata involved a made up character that I called Hector who developed after a creative period 3D modelling on the computer. Thought it looked quirky so went with it to develop this character into an automata display. The magazine editor kindly offered to publish my article and since then I have completed three projects.

Matt Smith is a renowned automata artist based in the United Kingdom, and is the founder along with Paul Spooner of The Fourteen Balls Toy Co. He is well-known for his intricate and whimsical automata creations that feature complex mechanical movements and intricate designs.

Matt’s passion for automata began at a young age, after pursuing his interest in mechanical engineering and sculpture, he established The Fourteen Balls Toy Co in 1986, with the aim of creating unique and innovative automata that showcase the magic of movement and mechanics.

Since then, Matt has gained international recognition for his work and has exhibited his pieces at various art galleries and museums around the world. His creations range from playful animals to intricate machines that depict scenes from everyday life, and are made using a variety of materials, including wood, metal, and plastic.

In addition to his artistic work, Matt is also involved in teaching and promoting the art of automata-making. He has conducted workshops and talks at various educational institutions and museums, sharing his knowledge and expertise with aspiring artists and enthusiasts.

Overall, Matt Smith’s work has made a significant contribution to the world of automata and continues to inspire and captivate audiences with his imaginative and intricate creations.

Fourteen Balls Automata

Mad Museum Picture Gallery

About Ian………

Model railways are amazing, but they tend to follow typical passenger safety rules to employ a certain amount realism.  Whilst in the middle of making my first railway, I got frustrated with the regular design constraints and began to fantasise about runaway trucks escaping the quarry lines and loop-da-looping their way back to the shunting yards.  This quite quickly led me to discover the amazing online community of Rolling Ball Sculptures.  My RBS journey began in 2017 with many failed attempts in materials and scale.  When I finally settled on copper wire, I managed to get successful with ½ inch stainless steel balls.

These days I’m building desk top sculptures for sale mostly using 2mm copper wire, 5/8 inch stainless steel balls and low voltage electric motors to lift the balls to the top.  I mostly use a resistance solder iron to make my sculptures.  Each sculpture I make is designed to be different from the last and I’m definitely still developing my own skills and design style.  I video myself designing and building my RBS and regularly post vlog style videos on my Copper-Gravity YouTube channel.  Please subscribe to my channel if you want to follow along.

Alexander Berchert is a German sculptor, furniture designer and maker. He moved to the UK in 2005 and received his Bachelor of Fine arts from the University of East London in may 2012 with first class honours. Berchert is fascinated by physics and the human ingenuity behind mechanics and mass-produced objects. His work is vibrant, interactive and playful. Utilising the basic principles of physics he transforms ordinary household items into something new and unexpected. Through this process he is asking the viewer to consider the potentially endless possibilities of the mass-produced objects that we encounter every day.

Berchert also has 2 years experience in adventure playground engineering, creating large structural builds, including a new outdoor gorilla enclosure for the London Zoo. Always looking for a new challenge, Berchert decided to work in the art department for film and tv and worked for several London Art Directors, including Arthur De Borman, Mikey Hollywood, Kajsa Soderlund, Noam Piper and many more.

Berchert is also a trained picture frame maker and has a strong passion for craft and fine woodwork, which becomes apparent in his most recent works, mixing traditional materials and techniques with playful intent and interactivity.

Established in 1990 The Victorian Model Workshop designs and builds animatronic figures, automatons, stage props, puppets and mechanical displays for commercial customers and private collectors.

We are one of only a handful of workshops in the country which opens its’ doors to the public – so if you’d like to see our work, feel free to drop in and say hi.

We are based in the lovely Ferrers centre for arts and crafts, in Staunton Harold.

This splendid courtyard building of brick and slate was built as stabling for the fifth Earl Ferrers between 1760 and 1780. Today, it’s transformed and become home to over 15 different organisations, including us!

We are just next door to the Staunton Stables Tearooms, and we are open Tuesday to Sunday, 11am – 5pm (but we close earlier at 4pm on Sundays).

Victorian Model Workshop
The Ferrers Centre/Melbourne Rd
Ashby-de-la-Zouch
LE65 1RU
England

The Dutch artist Lukas van de Vrande brought a piece of art he made to the MAD Museum in Stratford upon Avon. His machine ‘Two Million Years’ is a combination of art & science. Stripes move up and down, back and forth, and when the machine stops after 20 seconds, the composition of the stripes will always be different. Always? Yes. Well, at least for the next two million years.

The machine plus the protecting box was a bit heavy, so Lukas decided not to go by plane. Because he is Dutch and is not used to drive on the left side of the street, he chose to come all the way by train. Luckily his father accompanied him to fulfill the job, as getting in and out the train and subways in London isn’t that easy with a big box.

The machine will be in Stratford for the next couple of months. To find out more about the machine and see it working, visit the MAD museum or see www.LukasArt.nl.

I was born in Morden, Surrey and grew up in London.

I have dyslexia, but when I was young people just thought you were ‘stupid’ because you had problems learning to read. I eventually got a degree and 3 MSc’s including one from Oxford.

As a child I always took all my toys apart. As I got older I started to be able to put them back together again. I just had to know what was in them and how they worked.

I had three main careers: making scientific instruments, robotics marketing, software testing. This let me visit lots of factories making all kinds of things including: medicines, electronics, cars, bread, washing machines, steel, double glazing, helicopters, ships, etc. I even walked around the inside of a nuclear reactor in Switzerland while it was being built ! Engineers are just normal people who are interested in those things and they nearly all seem to enjoy their work.

I run with Evesham Vale running club and am training for my second marathon. I also help organise the Evesham Light Festival: https://m.facebook.com/EveshamLightFestival

I retired 3 years ago, so I joined a Evesham repair cafe and helped restoring Evesham cinema. I volunteered to help at the MAD museum because I love it. They are all really nice people and it’s such an exciting place. The great thing is every time you visit there are new things.

The machines Nik Ramage creates forego utilitarian functionality in favour of futility, uncertainty and fragility. These contraptions are assembled from components that were designed for another purpose, often utilizing elements that are slightly damaged or completely run down.

Some of the machines work relentlessly at their task like an almost useful tool, while others have more hesitant actions and seem to struggle under their own load. This is technology from the shadows, absurd, paradoxical and at times completely comical.

Kinetic objects, such as clocks, animals, and fantastic creatures, appear in the mind and dreams of Piotr Jedrzejewski. Initially they occur as just an outline of a form, a notion, an idea without details. Often they are experienced as only a mood, emotion, or feeling.

Jedrzejewski waits to take a pencil in his hand, letting ideas crystallise and mature in his head before committing himself to a drawing. Since Jedrzejewski was a little boy he had always loved creating machines that were fulfilling absurd functions.

His workshop is full of tools and he uses screws, nails, pins, and cogs. A few years ago he would make every element by hand. This was great fun for Jedrzejewski but limited the size and complexity of his creations. He then started to use more modern technologies, but still stays close to the soul of his works.

Website

With a BA (hons) Degree, in Technical Arts and special Effects from Wimbledon College of Arts UAL, 2008 Stuart has continued his dedication to Kinetic Art and Automata. The central themes running through his work are free will and randomness and then creating various machines and objects to whimsically test out these futile quests.

The act of viewing the work is also a central element to understanding it. Asking the viewer to play with the piece to unlock its stationary position in order to unveil a reactive presence is of central importance to the artwork.

The objects themselves are often created with traditional craft based practices combined with contemporary technologies and software. The result is handmade objects with the intelligence to communicate