James Coffee Studios
(November 21,2025, Escondido, California) James Coffee Studios is focused on performance automata. At this time the performance automata is in the form of a 20-pipe street organ that is festooned with a mini-carnival and musicians. No automata are offered for sale, although commissions are considered.
There is a strong focus on automata at James Coffee Studios. Jim designs and creates automata in his studio. At this time he is focused on creating ‘performance automata’.
jim’s Automata credo
Automatons are art.
They are born of the heart.
An automaton is an entertainer —
a performer, a performance in miniature.
Its purpose is simple:
to awaken joy, wonder, and positive feeling.
Each automaton tells a story.
It captures a moment — or a sequence of moments
in which motion becomes emotion.
At its core resides a figure with sentience,
a spark of life imagined into being.
An automaton is a physical machine,
crafted from any material,
powered by any means,
and animated by intent.
Its creation is guided by three enduring principles:
Joy — for both maker and witness.
Serviceability — that it may be maintained and understood.
Centenarian longevity — that it may endure and continue to delight
for a hundred years and beyond.
An automaton is not merely a machine.
It is a conversation between artist and audience,
between movement and meaning,
between the living and the imagined.
It exists to remind us that life —
even when expressed through gears and levers —
is most beautiful when it moves with purpose and heart.
It delights me to be able to perform with my Carnival decorated 20 Pipe Street Organ at both Kobey’s Swap Meet and at the Saturday Vista Farmers Market.
