
Here are some images of my final ‘Prague Boxes.’ Instead of
designing one box that did several impossible things I designed several boxes
with simple realistic actions. All of the boxes are mechanically driven, no
electricity required. The mechanical action creates both the music and motion
of the boxes. The boxes are composted of hand-painted tin cutouts. The
mechanical parts are all assembled by local Czech watchmakers. The boxes are
quite small measuring at most 3.5 centimeters. The boxes are available in
plastic spheres which are dispensed from gumball-type machines for a fee of 5
crowns a piece.
You can watch the
animation here:
http://www4.ncsu.edu/~jwshroye/
The first box contains the syncopator factory powered by Prague’s
local music man on Charles Bridge.
Music from his CD “super dance music” accompanies all of the boxes in action. The
music man tips his hat to passer bys and his little monkey friend flips for
joy. Birds fly out from behind the bridge, and his little drum beats to the
song.
The second box depicts a typical Czech meal of beef goulash,
potato dumplings, and beer. The action of this box is manually driven, a small
lever switches the meal between the before and after stages.
The third box displays a phenomenon one can experience on
the way down to the metro. While on the escalator if one tilts their head to
the side the other travelers appear to be leaning backward, as if in a strong
wind. This illusion is aided by the advertisements orientation aligning with
the escalator handrails. The advertisements have been replaced with posters
from our first project. The action in this box is manually driven as well. A
small lever tilts the escalator back and forth. Too much tilting will cause the
passengers to fall. It is a game of sorts.
The final box is a depiction of the crowds in front of the Prague’s
famous astronomical clock. Large crowds usually gather here to be
simultaneously disappointed by the clocks limited hourly action. So the crowd
gyrates in anticipation of the event and once it happens they stand still and
sigh a sigh of disappointment. And that’s the end.
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