Automata...AUTOMATA Falmouth Art Gallery Collection ISBN 978-0-9572097-6-3 Updated edition of...

Automata

AUTOMATAFalmouth Art Gallery Collection

ISBN 978-0-9572097-6-3

Updated edition of Automata and Papier Mâché catalogue 2006

This edition 2018: Falmouth Art Gallery, Municipal Buildings, The Moor, Falmouth TR11 2RT Text by Henrietta Boex, Paul Spooner, Brian Stewart, Donna Williams

Photography by Steve Tanner

Design by Steve Collinson, xgraphica

Front cover: Peter Markey (1930 – 2016) Wave Machine (detail)

Back cover: Paul SpoonerCharles Napier Hemy,

Our Premier Pilchard Painter (detail,closed).

Automata: Moving figures, tableaux or sculptures powered by electricity, clockwork, water, wind, gravity or hand turned.

The snailshape

The triangular cam

This cam

A circular cam

Cams

The cam makes the movement for the automaton. Different shapes make different movements so automata makers need to select the right cam to create the effect they want. Here are the cam shapes and some examples of what they could be used for :

produces a smooth uplift followed by a sudden drop down - great for a jack in the box or a swooping seagull.

makes short jerky movements - ideal for snapping jaws on a crocodile, a shark or a dinosaur.

has curves, one bigger than the rest. The smaller curves make small jumps, whilst the largest curve make the biggest jump - good for a grasshopper, a flea, a frog or a gorilla on a pogo-stick.

with the hole set off centre will give a smooth lift. Great for a rabbit coming out of a magician’s hat, or a boat bobbing on a wave. You can get a slightly different movement with an egg shape or oval cam.

A Brief History of Automata and Mechanical Toys

2-300BC The first recorded automata were made in Egypt

4-500AD Byzantine water clocks incorporate automata

7th c. Islamic artisans develop ever more elaborate water clocks

14th c. European ‘clockwork’ includes animated characters striking the chimes

15-16th c. Renaissance gardens come to life with hydraulic automata

17th c. Life-like mechanical creatures and toys become a craze with wealthy Europeans

18th c. Napoleonic prisoners of war in British captivity produce fine bone automata

1850 Golden age of Victorian mechanical toy makers particularly in France and Germany

1915-1945 Clockwork and mechanical automata and toys in decline

1945-70 Alexander Calder and Jean Tinguely explore kinetic and mechanical objects and Sam Smith begins to make painted wooden toys

1968 Rodney Peppé has his first children’s book published, meets Sam Smith and is inspired

1979 Sue Jackson opens Cabaret in Falmouth and recruits local makers Peter Markey, Paul Spooner and toy maker Ron Fuller.

1984 Cabaret Mechanical Theatre moves to Covent Garden, London

1996 Peter Markey gives one of his ‘wave machines’ to Falmouth Art Gallery

1998 All Hands on Deck! Automata on a maritime theme exhibition at Falmouth Art Gallery

2018 Falmouth Art Gallery collection now numbers almost 60 automata and includes work by Patrick Bond, Anthony Crosby, Susan Evans, Robert Hackney, Fi Henshall, Robert Jones, Peter Markey, Justin Mitchell, Keith Newstead, Matt Smith, Paul Spooner, Angela and Laurence St Ledger and Carlos Zapata. Many of these artists live and work in or near Falmouth.

In 1983 Sue founded Cabaret Mechanical Theatre, the first collection of contemporary automata in Britain, made by artists originally recruited in and around Falmouth. Sue moved Cabaret Mechanical Theatre to London’s Covent Garden in 1984 where it delighted visitors until 2000 but the Falmouth shop is still fondly remembered locally.

Cabaret Mechanical Theatre still exists online and provides a showcase for some of the country’s finest toy and automata makers including Paul Spooner, Keith Newstead, Ron Fuller, Will Jackson, Tim Hunkin, Michael Howard, Richard Windley, Lucy Casson, Andy Hazell and Jan Zalud.

Falmouth has been described as the ‘home’ of automata making due to the legacy of a special shop called Cabaret and its association with three figures who were central to the renaissance of automata making in the UK: Peter Markey (1930-2016), Ron Fuller (1936-2017) and Sue Jackson (1938-2016). The town continues to be an important nucleus of contemporary automata makers, many of whom have international reputations.

The ‘father’ of the Falmouth automata makers was Peter Markey, who taught art for many years

at Falmouth School and encouraged his pupils in automata making. Markey is famous for his naïve style which can be seen in the large public mural he designed in 1984 and can be found on Webber Street, Falmouth. The mural has recently been restored as part of Falmouth Art Gallery’s ‘A Cabaret of Mechanical Movement Project’ funded by National Lottery players through the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Peter Markey was the first recruit when in 1979 Sue Jackson, a former Falmouth art student, opened a craft shop called Cabaret in the High

Street, Falmouth. Peter’s work was soon joined by the creations of Paul Spooner and Ron Fuller, both of whom had been encouraged by Sue to turn their hand to automata making and went on to become internationally renowned makers. Many people still remember seeing in the shop window Paul Spooner’s large coin operated skeleton, The Last Judgement.

Falmouth and Automata

Peter MarkeyWave Machine with Airplane, 2005Wood,16 x 20 x 8 cmFalmouth Art Gallery Collection FAMAG:2014.8Paul Spooner and Sue Jackson outside Cabaret, Falmouth 1982

Strictly speaking, Cabaret is a business. Now run by Sue’s daughter Sarah Alexander, it sells goods and services to a rather specialised clientele. It is also a collection of people who enjoy each other’s company, those who make, sell and buy automata as well as those who just look..

Cabaret helped to make Falmouth into a town of automata enthusiasts and collectors, the perfect environment for new makers to thrive. Over the last 30 years Falmouth Art Gallery has developed a significant contemporary automata collection which includes all of the established local automata makers. The gallery has strong links with these makers and regularly commissions new works when funding is available. The gallery is fortunate enough to have received funding to commission twenty-one new automata depicting scenes from Falmouth’s artistic heritage, such as Henry Scott Tuke’s shivering models and John Singer Sargent painting marine artist Charles Napier Hemy, as part of Heritage Lottery Funded projects.

Falmouth’s automata collection is in constant demand from visitors and school groups and has been loaned for national exhibitions. The gallery regularly delivers automata workshops to local schools, students and community groups. In addition to the gallery’s collection there are also a number of automata related landmarks in

the town. This includes three large scale public automata in Kimberley Park and the ‘Peter Markey Mural’.

In 1998 Cath Wallace, supported by Sir Nicholas Goodison, curated at Falmouth Art Gallery a pioneering exhibition of automata featuring work by Markey, Spooner, Robert Jones, Will Jackson, Alice King, Vicki Wood, Anthony Crosby, Patrick Bond, Neil Hardy, Tony Mann, Matt Smith, Simon Ellwood and Fuller. These artists share a delight in the absurd and the ridiculous. Since then the gallery has shown automata in a wide variety of exhibitions, most recently ‘A Cabaret of Mechanical Movement’ which was a celebration of Peter, Ron and Sue and their contribution to automata making as well as the important role Falmouth plays in the history and development of automata making in the UK.

Cabaret began as a shop in Falmouth, Cornwall, presided over by the restless spirit of Sue Jackson who, wishing to move on from a successful restaurant business, thought she’d give retail a whirl for a few years. This was in the late seventies when people from the sixties had tired of the endless partying and settled down to become goatherds and self-employed artisans. The shop was full of their products; pottery, knitted goods, woodwork, quilts, toys. It was cheerful, quirky, and because Sue knew Ron Fuller and Peter Markey, some of it moved when you turned a handle. Pretty soon the mechanical things predominated over the stuff that just sat there doing nothing and other mechanically-minded artisans saw a chance to sell their products. Paul Spooner was in this second wave and the place began to get a reputation for somewhere to go if you if you wanted to buy ‘automata’ – that’s what these things had rather presumptuously started to call themselves. Many people didn’t want to buy; they just wanted to look, so Sue roped off a section of the place as if it were a tiny museum and made people pay to look. Money was also extracted from them by home-made slot machines, of which Tim Hunkin is a past and current master.

Sue didn’t like the way Falmouth, a seaside town, tended to shut down in the winter and in 1984 moved her enterprise to the then-fashionable Covent Garden in London. Lots of people visited, then other makers: Keith Newstead, Carlos Zapata, Andy Hazell, Lucy Casson etc. added their pieces to the show. Outreach projects: the automata competitions for schools, publications, kits and collaborative efforts such as the Ride of Life (an ambitious spoof theme park for a shopping mall near Sheffield) were instituted. Among the many visitors to the renamed Cabaret Mechanical Theatre, Design and Technology teachers were particularly keen, and incorporated automaton design onto their courses. Many people who have passed through the British educational system will have constructed some jolly mechanism of their own; a surprising number of them electing to make cows jump over moons.

The Covent Garden premises closed in 2000 but its spores have spread. Several versions of the collection are to be seen in exhibitions around the world. There is a website and online shop selling educational materials and examples of automata to suit every pocket (except the almost empty).

Cabaret Mechanical (is our middle name) Theatreby Paul Spooner

Peter MarkeyWave Machine

Wood, 44.5 high x 21 x 88.4 cmPresented by Peter Markey in 1996

Falmouth Art Gallery Collection FAMAG:1000.88

Peter MarkeyGreen ShoppingWood, 26 x 18 x 9 cm highFalmouth Art Gallery Collection FAMAG:2007.11.3

Peter MarkeyGreen RideWood, 29 x 13 x 9 cmFalmouth Art Gallery Collection FAMAG:2007.11.5

Peter MarkeyPop DuoWood, 18.3 cm highFalmouth Art Gallery Collection FAMAG:2007.11.2

Peter MarkeyThe RowerWood, 14.5 cm highFalmouth Art Gallery Collection FAMAG:2007.11.4

Keith Newstead (born 1956)Man Ray with Ady Fidelin

automaton, 74.3 cm highCommissioned in 2004 with grant aid from the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation

Falmouth Art Gallery collection. FAMAG:2004.4

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Anthony Crosby (born1958)Not as weird as fishautomaton, 42 cm high

Commissioned in 2004 with grant aid from the Esmee Fairbairn FoundationFalmouth Art Gallery collection. FAMAG:2004.7


Keith NewsteadMan Ray with Ady Fidelin

Mixed Media, 74.3 cm highCommissioned in 2004 with grant aid from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation


Anthony CrosbyNot as Weird as Fish

Mixed Media, 42 cm highCommissioned in 2004 with grant aid from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation


Carlos ZapataSunday’s Bath

Mixed Media 42 cm highFalmouth Art Gallery Collection FAMAG:2007.22

Paul Spooner (born 1948)The moment of ovulation

collection box, automaton, 33 cm highCommissioned in 2004 with grant aid from the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation



Paul SpoonerThe Moment of OvulationMixed Media, 33 cm highCommissioned in 2004 with grant aid from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.Falmouth Art Gallery Collection FAMAG:2004.3

Paul SpoonerThe Box Tunnel on the Great Western Railway - ThanatoscopeMixed Media 34 cm highCommissioned with funding from Brunel 200, an initiative of Bristol Cultural Development Partnership - Arts Council England South West, Heritage Lottery Fund, Bristol City Council and Business West.Falmouth Art Gallery Collection FAMAG:2006.12

Keith Newstead (born1956)God’s Wonderful Railway (after Emett)

Automaton, 59 cm high Commissioned with funding from Brunel 200, an initiative of Bristol

Cultural Development Partnership - Arts Council England South West,Heritage Lottery Fund, Bristol City Council and Business West.



Keith NewsteadGod’s Wonderful Railway (after Emett)

Mixed Media 59 cm highCommissioned with funding from Brunel 200, an initiative of Bristol

Cultural Development Partnership - Arts Council England South West, Heritage Lottery Fund, Bristol City Council and Business West.


Carlos Zapata (born1963)I.K.Brunel (1806-1859)automaton, 65 cm highCommissioned with funding from Brunel 200, aninitiative of Bristol Cultural Development Partnership -Arts Council England South West, Heritage Lottery Fund,Bristol City Council and Business WestFalmouth Art Gallery collection. FAMAG:2006.11


Justin Mitchell (born1966)I.K. Brunel’s Leviathan of the Seas - The Great Eastern

Automaton, 44 x 64 cmCommissioned with funding from Brunel 200, an initiative of

Bristol Cultural Development Partnership - Arts Council England South West,Heritage Lottery Fund, Bristol City Council and Business West.



Carlos ZapataI.K. Brunel (1806-1859)Mixed Media, 65 cm highCommissioned with funding from Brunel 200, an initiative of Bristol Cultural Development Partnership - Arts Council England South West, Heritage Lottery Fund, Bristol City Council and Business West.Falmouth Art Gallery Collection FAMAG:2006.11

Justin MitchellI.K. Brunel’s Leviathan of the Seas - The Great Eastern

Mixed Media, 44 x 64 cmCommissioned with funding from Brunel 200, an initiative of

Bristol Cultural Development Partnership - Arts Council England South West, Heritage Lottery Fund, Bristol City Council and Business West.


Peter MarkeyHenry Scott Tuke PaintingWood, 28 cm highHeritage Lottery FundedFalmouth Art Gallery Collection FAMAG:2008.2

Peter MarkeyView from Tuke’s Cottage

Wood, 39 x 29 x 25 cmHeritage Lottery Funded


Carlos ZapataWater Ahoy - Henry Scott Tuke in a BoatMixed Media, 55 cm highHeritage Lottery FundedFalmouth Art Gallery Collection FAMAG:2007.14

Paul Spooner“Please Mr Tuke, When Can We Put Our Togs Back On?”

Mixed Media, 46 cm highHeritage Lottery Funded


Keith NewsteadTuke’s Cottage at PennanceMixed Media, 39.5 cm highHeritage Lottery FundedFalmouth Art Gallery Collection FAMAG:2008.3

Keith NewsteadThe Shock of the NewMixed Media, 53.5 cm highFalmouth Art Gallery Collection FAMAG:2009.31

Carlos ZapataEvolution?

Mixed Media, 35 cm highCommissioned with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund

as part of the Darwin 200 celebrations.Falmouth Art Gallery Collection FAMAG:2008.21

Paul SpoonerWho’s Who on the Tree of Life or a three-dimensional diagram showing the mental adjustment required to accommodate Darwin’s ideas concerning nature and man’s station in lifeMixed Media, 61 cm highCommissioned with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund as part of the Darwin 200 celebrations.Falmouth Art Gallery Collection FAMAG:2009.6

Keith NewsteadEvolutionMixed Media, 47 cm highCommissioned with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund as part of the Darwin 200 celebrations.Falmouth Art Gallery Collection. FAMAG:2008.39

Richard HackneyHarry

Mixed Media, 26 cms highPurchased with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund

as part of the Darwin 200 celebrationsFalmouth Art Gallery Collection. FAMAG:2009.14

Carlos ZapataConstellations – with Joan Miró

Mixed Media, 42 cm highFalmouth Art Gallery Collection. FAMAG:2007.23

Anthony CrosbyHow Meteorites Are Really Made

Mixed Media, 27 cm highFalmouth Art Gallery Collection FAMAG:2007.24

Paul SpoonerCharles Napier Hemy, Our Premier Pilchard Painter

Mixed Media, 40 x 41 x 20.5 cmCommissioned with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund

as part of the Sargent ProjectFalmouth Art Gallery Collection FAMAG:2011.12

Keith Newstead)After Three Long Days – The Final Touch

Mixed Media, 50 cm highCommissioned with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund

as part of the Sargent ProjectFalmouth Art Gallery Collection. FAMAG:2010.5

Carlos Zapata Anne Killigrew as Observed by John Dryden

Mixed Media, 53 cm highHeritage Lottery Funded


Carlos ZapataView From the VandermeerMixed Media, 38 cm highCommissioned with funding from the Heritage Lottery FundFalmouth Art Gallery Collection FAMAG:2010.15

Fi HenshallWinifredMixed Media 41 x 38 x 25 cmFalmouth Art Gallery Collection FAMAG:2015.12

Keith Newstead The Cornish Cultural Triangle

Mixed Media, 50 x 110 x 34 cmsCommissioned with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund

as part of the Cultural Triangle Project.Falmouth Art Gallery Collection. FAMAG:2014.7

Keith NewsteadBrian’s Brilliant Bike

Mixed Media, 49 cm highFalmouth Art Gallery Collection. FAMAG:2011.9

Keith Newstead (born 1956)Gay Old Tar

automaton, 51 cm highPurchased in 2006

Falmouth Art Gallery collection. FAMAG:2006.21.2


Keith NewsteadGay Old Tar

Mixed Media, 51 cm highFalmouth Art Gallery Collection. FAMAG:2006.21.2

Matt SmithThe Secret

Mixed Media 25 cmsFalmouth Art Gallery Collection. FAMAG:2015.1

Keith NewsteadA Wolf in Sheep’s ClothingMixed Media, 49 cm highFalmouth Art Gallery Collection. FAMAG:2006.21.1

Keith Newstead (born1956)A wolf in sheep’s clothing

Automaton, 49 cm high Purchased in 2006

Falmouth Art Gallery collection. FAMAG:2006.21.1


Fi HenshallA Busy Day at No.12 West Street

Mixed Media, 141 x 38 x 25Falmouth Art Gallery Collection. FAMAG:2012.18

Susan Evans (born1950)Cats and birds

Automaton, 38 cm highFalmouth Art Gallery collection. FAMAG:2006.9


Susan EvansCat and Birds

Mixed Media 38cm highFalmouth Art Gallery Collection. FAMAG:2006.9

Paul Spooner (born 1948)Nymph Collection BoxMixed Media, 79.5 cm high

Falmouth Art Gallery Collection. FAMAG:1000.11

Keith NewsteadThe Dora, Falmouth Collection BoxMixed Media, 52.57 cm highFalmouth Art Gallery Collection. FAMAG:2006.23

Patrick Bond (born1955)Ships Passing

automaton, 35.5 cm highPurchased in 2005



Patrick Bond)Ships Passing

Metal, 35.5 cm highFalmouth Art Gallery Collection. FAMAG:2005.9

Automata...AUTOMATA Falmouth Art Gallery Collection ISBN 978-0-9572097-6-3 Updated edition of...

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