There is a point in everyone's childhood when we are certain our toys come to life when our backs are turned. If we could have just abstained from that one blink or opened the toy box a moment faster, we would have caught a glimpse of a concealed, enchanted world in which our typically inanimate playthings have sprung to life. Watching the lifelike movement and charisma of the automata kinetic sculptures, now on display in the Mayer Gallery of the Chazen Museum of Art, may very well be the closest one could ever come to witnessing such a charmed world.
""Automata: Contemporary Mechanical Sculpture"" features the work of 14 international artists and is comprised of around 20 kinetic sculptures. Automata, plural for automaton, are mechanized devices designed to perform various actions at the turn of a crank. The sculptures, which are awe-inspiring even when motionless, are made of materials ranging from wood to tin to wire.
The modestly sized devises, no taller than 24 inches, wait motionless in glass cases around the small gallery. Wandering through the display, one finds a robot hovering over the marionette of a man, a princess at a standstill with a frog, a tiger poised at a typewriter, each sitting atop a bead of gears and ratchets. While the encased pieces can definitely be appreciated for their intricate design and detailed embellishments, their true charm is realized when the pieces are put in motion.
Two small screens located at either end of the gallery allow museum-goers to witness what becomes of the sculptures when the gears begin to spin. At the turn of a crank, the whimsical humor of the pieces are revealed: A once-motionless robot becomes an animated puppeteer who in turn gives life to a marionette. A princess succumbs to a frog's beckon, revealing that he is actually a prince. A tiger even breaks his writer's block when his head unhinges, revealing a fish swimming circles in his mind. When put into action, the automata become remarkable and seemingly living works of art. Their heads bob, their hips swivel, their eyes even shift in their sockets.
What separates the movement of these sculptures from the hidden and mystic lives of our toys is, of course, their need for a human hand to turn the crank that brings them to life. After all, you know as well as any child that a toy would never go about its daily business in a human's presence. But perhaps if you take one last look as you leave the Mayer Gallery, a crank will lose its hinge and a wooden man will breathe for just that second.
""Automata: Contemporary Mechanical Sculture"" is on display in the Mayer Gallery of the Chazen Museum of Art, located at 800 Univeristy Ave., until March 14. Admission is free.
