Music Automatas
Tales We Tell is a series of small-scale mechanical sculptures based on popular folk tales. Collectively, they examine the underlying moral messages of fairy tales and their effect on child’s psyche. Each sculpture is a wind-up toy comprised of a painted wooden box with moving figures, as well as music clockwork that plays a custom-composed melody particular to each scene.
Music Figures
2021
Music figures comment on our bodies and actions being mechanized, programmable and repetitive. Combining elements of painting, collage and music the automata represents innocence, brokenness and nostalgia.
Each sculpture is a wind-up comprised of a painted 3D printed figure with moving parts, as well as music clockwork that plays a custom-composed melody particular to each piece.
The music is played by a revolving brass cylinder that plucks the tuned teeth of a steel comb. The miniature size encourages up-close viewing, and visitors are allowed to pick up the sculpture in order to operate the wind-up mechanism.
Original music by Yevgeniy Sharlat
Technical development Theodore Johnson
View music automatas in action: