Chazen exhibit cranks up the whimsy

From simple wind-up toys (chattering plastic teeth, anyone?) and cuckoo clocks to the creepy animatronic Pirates of the Caribbean attraction at Disneyland, moving make-believe is fun to watch. The Chazen Museum of Art satisfies that fascination for moving parts and the fantastic in a new exhibit, “Automata: Contemporary Mechanical Sculpture.” The show features more than 25 hand-cranked, artist-designed automata from 14 international artists.

When cranked, the art comes to life. Because the pieces are artworks, they are hands-off. Instead, videos will show the animated workings of the pieces. There will be one sample that attendees can take for a spin.

Most of the pieces in the show have been loaned from the private collection of University of Arizona art professor emeritus Michael Croft. In addition to being a collector of automata, he also makes it. He will come to Madison and give a talk on Thursday, Jan. 28.

Automated constructions are not new. Religious effigies of ancient Egypt, a mechanical orchestra from China’s Han Dynasty and animated water clocks of the medieval Islamic world are examples of constructions with movable parts.

Eighteenth century French engineer Jacques de Vaucanson built some of the best-known automata. His famous life-sized mechanical duck was made of brass and used rubber tubing for intestines. It had more than 400 moving parts in just one wing. The construction looked, moved and quacked like a duck. But wait. Feed it corn and it defecated like a real duck.

Vaucanson’s work launched a golden age of animated clockwork clowns, acrobats and entertainments, which were popular as parlor amusements and department store window displays until World War I. Today’s artist-designed automata often focus on imaginative storytelling and unreal playfulness using wood, metal and wire.

The Chazen has organized two events that explore automata in greater detail. Croft will lecture, with animation and sound, about the historical background of the contemporary automata movement and modern practitioners. The event will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan., 28.

Jill Casid, associate professor of visual culture studies in the Department of Art History, will look at extraordinary 18th and 19th century automata to raise ethical and political questions pertinent to biotechnology and the bounds of the human today. The event will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 18.

For more information on “Automata: Contemporary Mechanical Sculpture,” visit http://www.chazen.wisc.edu. Admission is free and the Chazen Museum of Art is open from 9 a.m.–5 p.m. Tuesday–Friday; and from 11 a.m.–5 p.m. Saturday–Sunday.