This beautiful paper cut-out animated video for Grant Olney’s Not From Body was directed by Hlín Davíðsdóttir. It follows an owl being ostracized by other animals in the forest and how the owl moves beyond that experience. From NPR:
“My main focus was to tell the story of a character that, through a series of both sad and comical moments, finds his own path in life,” Davíðsdóttir writes. “I felt the song was about trying not to worry about things that are out of our control and I wanted that feeling to come across in the video.”
On a side note: Grant is a mathematician with a PhD in high-dimensional geometry.
It’s believed the machine was built 120 years ago in Paris by Blaise Bontems, a well-known maker of bird automata and was recently refurbished by Michael Start over at The House of Automata.
Singing bird boxes were extremely popular in Europe starting from the 18th century, first as a toy for a privileged few and then later as a more affordable item. Watch this video from The British Clockmaker Ray Bates to see how the bird fit in with the box’s innerworkings:
And below, HD video of a singing bird box made by Jaquet-Droz & Leschot, Switzerland circa 1785:
Brass, aluminum, stainless steel, and copper turn into more than just materials under the care and engineering of kinetic artist Mark Galt, who made a walking mechanical woman, above, and man, below:
Around the Corner is a great 1930s video that clearly describes how the differential gear works and why we need them in our cars. Bonus: motorcycles ride in formation to victorious band music.
