The Illusion: Fall/Winter 2016

Humans harnessing the power of creatures.
In the human- animal relationship there is a long history of the animals being harnessed to provide energy or power to make a machine work.  Of course we needed to represent this. The challenge was to have a machine working that looked like it was being moved by a fibre-art creature but was cunningly powered by a hidden motor.

Wendy: I’ve always been fascinated by the physical science of automata, by marble ramps, little motors, and mechanized toys. Sadly I discovered that my mind has to work very hard to figure these things out. After many models, meltdowns and much mentorship it started to come together.  

An early video – it’s working (happy dance). 

Early machine from karin millson on Vimeo.

Once we had decided that the creatures were to be automata, we got ourselves into the niceties of machine.  A dictum was that the creatures be seen as the power givers.  Any electronics had to be disguised.

We looked closely into Victorian and Pre-Victorian machines.

We also found ourselves quite captivated by Steam Punk as a style.
And the Cabinet of Curiosities idea of a carnival type arrangement with strange creatures exposed for the pleasures of public viewing.
This website gives a great impression of what we were aiming for. Surf around to site to get the idea.

Things were starting to hold together nicely.
Submitted by Wendy