L’objet fantastique has an amazing Cthulhu doll made from leather. There are some more photos here. The internal skeleton is made from dense rubber, and I think this is the wing mechanism.
make
Impermanence
Today I am continuing making a costume: decorating a suit so that it suggests a mainframe computer. Don’t ask. I’m using some of the stencils that I made for my computer bug traffic control box painting last year. I eventually found out that the reason the painting had disappeared was because a car crashed into it and totally demolished it! I asked about the remains, but they had already been disposed of. I could paint the box again, but I decided, at least while it’s winter, to meditate on the beauty of process and impermanence in art ;-).
Robotic, puppet and tape giraffes!
Andrew at PuppetVision (now here) kindly told me about Make’s report on this huge robotic Electric Giraffe, aka Rave Raffe, a walking vehicle built by Lindsay Lawlor. It’s design follows the mechanism of a toy Tamiya giraffe:
The front and back legs opposite each other step ahead at the same time, propelled by an electric motor. When those legs land, hydraulic brakes lock the wheeled feet, and the other two legs take a step. Canting from side to side, Raffe lumbers ahead at about a mile an hour. A propane engine runs only to recharge the batteries, so the beast is quiet and efficient. When Lawlor let Raffe shuffle off alone in the desert, it walked for eight hours.
— Popular Science
You can follow the building process through to it’s completion in time for Burning Man 2005, when it fulfilled Lawlor’s original purpose, to see Burning Man from a height. The giraffe has done various gigs since then, most recently appearing at Maker Faire. (Still going 2014) Plans are now to add ‘computer-controlled flashing giraffe spots, an electroluminescent circulatory system and a gas grill’. :-)
Some other giraffes of note:
- In 2000, Royal de Luxe (who recently put on The Sultan’s Elephant street theatre spectacle in London) had a similar spectacle, The Hunters of the Giraffes, with a huge puppet giant boy, a mother giraffe and her baby. Scroll down this page for details.
- Handspring Puppet Company‘s Tall Horse has a 5 metre giraffe manipulated by 2 puppeteer on stilts. It tells the story of Zarafa, the giraffe who was taken to France in 1827.
- France’s Compagnie Off‘s Les Girafes, Urban Operetta. PuppetVision has accounts and pictures here, here and in London.
- Mark Jenkins tape sculpture giraffe.
Pink shoes
Some large pink snake-skin shoes I made recently for Jigsaw Theatre Company’s production Little Brother Big Sister, design by Imogen Keen. I had fun with the curly thing at the back.
Emmanuel Bourgeau: sculpting the Sultan’s Elephant
The find of my week was the discovery that Emmanuel Bourgeau, a sculptor in Plogonnec, has a small gallery of photos (> la gasette de l’atelier>Septembre 2004 – mai 2005: un elepahant et une petite geante) of the construction and carving of the huge elephant and girl in Royal de Luxe’s spectacle, The Sultan’s Elephant, which paraded the streets of London last week. Isn’t the net wonderful? I’ve added this link to my collected Royal de Luxe links.
(Via Royal de Luxe).
Updated links 2015
The Dollmaker
Here is a slightly spooky thing to listen to when you are making a doll or puppet, as happened to me yesterday: The Dollmaker, a radio play by John Aiken. The doll becomes an alter-ego of its maker. I’m not sure how long the audio remains available, but give it a listen, its well done.
Another radio program I heard that caught my attention recently was about a puppet production, Operation, showing in Melbourne for the Next Wave Festival which was running at the same time as the Commonwealth Games. It was an interview with Sam Routledge, the co-director and puppeteer, and one of the graduates from the VCA post-graduate puppetry course, from which a new company, Blood Policy, has emerged. But I can’t find a trace of the interview on ABC Online.
I also heard an interview with puppetmaker Andrew McDougall a while ago, and was interested to hear that he is currently doing his Masters in Puppetry at the VCA, too.
I was wondering today — do we say puppetmaker in Australia, whereas in the US and other places they say puppet builder?
Update: I just happened across a website for Blood Policy’s Operation. It has a gallery with photos from the production.
Updated links 2015
Deep sea lobster soft toy
I’m impressed with mediatinker‘s kiwa hirsuta lobster soft toy, made very soon after the discovery of the deep sea species. The detailed pattern and instructions are released on a creative commons license.
(via whip up)
Leafcutter ant
I’m getting quite fond of this little leafcutter ant I made recently. (It’s only about 15 cm long). I might get to make some big ones later this year.
Plasticine model
Sally was interested in the plasticine model I made of the fruitbat, so I have added this photo to the set. You can click to see it enlarged in different sizes. The yellow pins mark the performer’s eyes, and the black spot on the leg, their feet.
Meanwhile, Amy has given me Best Flying Rodent in an Insupportable Role – lol! Thanks, Amy.
