Often identified with the Renaissance, automata<\/strong> are self-operating machines with tiny, sculpted figures cycling through a series of pre-programmed tasks. Four-hundred years ago, European watchmakers used spring-loaded clockworks to create intricate and oftentimes delicate tableaux. Today, animators use other forms of locomotion but the principle remains essentially the same.<\/p>\n

Contemporary Canadian artist, David Dumbrell<\/strong>, is a not a watchmaker but a former woodworker (custom cabinets and fine furniture) intrigued with the detail and the precision of these earlier manipulations. He depends on electricity and, on occasion, good old fashioned muscle power to bring his creations to life.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Artist David Dumbrell at his workshop <\/strong>(Photo Credit: John Thomson)<\/p>\n

\u201cI really like things that move. I\u2019ve always been attracted to that and I\u2019ve always enjoyed working with my hands,\u201d says the Vancouver sculptor. \u201cThe scale is something I enjoy. But as much as I enjoy it, I also curse it because sometimes it won\u2019t work for me but when it does, it\u2019s definitely the poetry of mechanics.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/a>The tools of David Dumbrell’s trade<\/strong> (Photo Credit:\u00a0Maryke Messchaert)<\/p>\n

His heroes are historical pioneers, Henri Maillardet<\/a>, Pierre Jaquet-Droz<\/a> and in a nod to the modern world, American artist Thomas Kuntz<\/a> and Francois Junod<\/a>\u00a0from Switzerland. \u201cHis work is absolutely phenomenal. If anybody is carrying on in the tradition of automata, it would be him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dumbrell has constructed 11 pieces since he started experimenting with the medium in 2012. His first piece was made of wood; he is a woodworker after all, but he quickly taught himself metalwork, combining store-bought cogs and cams with multi-toothed gears he machined himself in his well-equipped studio. The heads and limbs are still made of wood but the innards are all metal, tiny Terminators, draped in fabric. His wife, Maryke, paints the faces.<\/p>\n

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Inside David Dumbrell’s studio<\/strong> (Photo Credit:\u00a0Maryke Messchaert)<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll make sketches. I\u2019ll make little doodles and from there I\u2019ll draft a very rudimentary full-scale drawing.\u201d Dumbrell works out the mechanics beforehand but admits \u201cGod only knows what will happen after that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dumbrell is quick to point out automata is not kinetic sculpture.\u00a0 \u201cIn kinetic sculpture it\u2019s more the movement. In automata there\u2019s a figure that\u2019s moving and telling a story.\u201d \u00a0Dumbrell\u2019s stories are little vignettes on daily life. A duffer tees up a shot in \u201cThe Golfer.\u201d\u00a0 A bored worker repeats the same task over and over again in \u201cThe Job.\u201d A young woman limbers up in \u201cNamaste.\u201d As for his most popular work, \u201cSteam Bike,\u201d well, that one\u2019s just for fun.\u00a0Check out the video below:<\/p>\n