The Small Bang!

Here the Creator is kneeling down since the high-torque spine servo is not powered up.

It has been quite an ordeal to get to this point. In fact a couple of years to be exact. But finally the creature moves, and not only moves but seems to have a life of its own. I will not post video until after the performance but I am very excited by what I see. Philip and I crack up laughing every time it moves because it is so life-like.



But come to think of it, what is happening (philosophy purists will probably disagree) is that life in fact has been transferred and conserved as energy in a different form. This is not something new to me. I consider any work of our hands to partake of this mysterious force that we call life, otherwise how would it inspire us or elevate our spirit?

When I see a painting (in reality, not a reproduction) by say, Vermeer, the emotion I feel is a product not only of the formal beauty, but of being in the presence of time standing still, a few years of someone's life (which just happens to be a master) condensed and trapped like a genius in a bottle. I, the recipient of this gift, am the vehicle necessary for this alchemical process to occur. I release the energy contained in the matter of the painting.

The order of the particles, held by resinous mediums, crystallized by the passage of time which conform the external appearances of the scene resonate and I believe connect me in the most direct form with the creator of the work of art, in the same way that we are in intimate connection with the writer that is sharing her thoughts and life experiences with us.

This is, has to be, an energy transfer that could probably be calculated by an Einstein, but I prefer to simply shed a tear of joy when I find myself in front of the work of art. That is what art means to me.


In case you have not seen a previous post this is what the Creator's creature looks like. Here Lorena is getting some exercise and getting fit to withstand the wild and strenuous performance ahead, after all it is all her fault since she created the Creator. Playing god or goddess does not come cheap. You can see a little animation here

The Beauty of the Fall

The beauty of the Püterschein system is, as you can see in this picture, that the puppet assumes very natural positions with no human intervention. I just cut the string that held it up and it fell on its knees just like that! A true predecessor of inverse kinematics!.


It seems like it is praying for arms, looking intently at the cut rods that will give it the expressiveness it needs.


I cut an old broom stick to use for the arms, thinking that it was pine and it would save me some time if it already had a round shape. Ha! I don't know what kind of wood it is, but it was hard as oak and I have gone through a whole set of carbon steel blades just cutting it down to shape. It has taken me three full days to get them ready for testing! So much for saving time...





You can see the Creator now just standing naturally, again with only spine support. I did not pose it, other than bringing it down to contact a surface. Can't wait to have the entire body functional. In case you are wondering the "feet" will be (at least that is the plan) two slim inverted cones. We'll see how it behaves. As for hands it will have none in this iteration, since it will be all dressed up and have very long sleeves like the human performer in an earlier post:
you can see it here and in the original design so you get the idea.


This is a detail of the hip and waist rigging that holds and constrains those parts as the marionette flexes and moves.



After three days, a few cuts and sore muscles overall, the arms are close to ready. I've tested them and they move gracefully and have the needed range. Under the torso you can see the channel I gouged out to make room for a couple of screw eyes to pass the string that connects it to the waist and hip.

Next task: the HEAD! this will be interesting since it will have a wooden core or "skull" and it will wear a "self animated" mask, a fancy way of saying it will have some springs to react to any movement of the head. If I have time, which I doubt, I would like to put a micro-servo on the latex mask so that it can have a range of expressions in addition to the eyes. Lorena, who designed the original creature does not like the idea. Perhaps she is right. The simplicity of the spring solution, which we have demonstrated on performance gives such a varied range of expression to the Creator's face that adding more might be less. So there!