Commissioned by The Bowes Centre, 'Articulate' was made in response to one of the World's most complex working historical machine, The Bowes Museum Silver Swan. With the help of Matthew Read I was given privileged access to its hidden gears and cams and discovered that the Swan’s sequence of movements is created using a complex zig zag pattern cut into a large brass cam. This pattern is the ‘Programme’ and every twist and turn of the neck is stored in this cam. The progress of modern electronics means that we can now create, repeat, and easily change mechanical devices by programming motors. My test neck is operated by a stepper motor programmed by an Arduino. My approach was to build an articulated mechanism using my own techniques and processes. The challenge has given me a deeper understanding and respect for the makers who designed and built the Bowes Swan.
Jim Bond filmed in my studio by John Coombes Additional music by Ed V3ctor and Freddie Ricketts

Articulate 2019

In 2019 I was commissioned to make a piece of work in response to the Bowes Museum collection. As a kinetic sculptor working with the most complex working automata in the World, the Silver Swan, was a natural choice. I decided to focus on the organic movement of the neck. I researched the original mechanism and have recreated it’s sinuous turns and movements using modern materials and techniques. It has been fascinating to access the mechanical movement which drives the Swan and to research and work with Matthew Read who has spent many years unlocking it’s secrets. After weeks of planning, drawing, measuring and perhaps most importantly thinking, I constructed my own version of the mechanism using modern materials and coding, combined with more traditional metal working techniques which would have been familiar to the craftsmen who made it.

Film - John Coombes