“Crescendo” (2024)

In 2024 I built this automaton, without yet knowing much about the art of automata. Step by step, I discovered the mechanics while creating them. The piece portrays an opera singer who repeatedly cries out in humor and agony as an enormous hammer strikes his foot — again and again.

The title Crescendo refers to the musical term for a gradual rise to the loudest, most powerful note — quite fitting when a hammer slams down on one’s foot.

To bring the cries to life, I collaborated with audio-guru Evert Aalten and opera singer Niek Idelenburg, who recorded several vocal variations especially for this work. A small audio device is hidden inside the sculpture, triggered each time the hammer lands — accompanied by a little puff of smoke at his feet for extra drama.

What makes the work especially captivating is not only its comic performance but also the elaborate and almost absurd machinery behind it. A complex interplay of gears, wheels, and levers moves in an unnecessarily complicated way, yet in the end, it performs exactly as intended. It is this excess — the roundabout mechanical construction — that transforms the object into a fascinating spectacle. 

Details

• Original Object 2024
• 67 x 40 x 100 cm
• Hand-built automaton with kinetic sculpture elements
• Wood, metal, mechanical components, electrical motor, Sound, Smoke