Life offers many paths. I believe that at this time I am on my “last” artistic path…the creation of kinetic art in the form of street organs and automata. I hope to still be creating automata twenty years from now. Kinetic art has been a passion for me over the years…and now I have the opportunity to focus and create.
The automata that I’m creating at the moment are in a series I call “Jim’s Gym”. These are rolling marble machines that are designed in the form of gym equipment. There is a gym club member operating each machine. These machines will each be a numbered machine in an unlimited series. These machines begin life in my mind (I design all my automata) and come to life through my hands in my studio. I am assisted by my wife Cheryl and our golden retriever Cami.
As I write this post I am in the final moments of the creation of Scissor Lift #2. You see it over my left shoulder. The biggest problem that I am trying to solve right now is ‘how to market my automata’. Ideally I would find a gallery that believes in my creations…a gallery that would like to represent me exclusively. Least desirable but most probable is that I will be marketing my automata myself. Not a bad thing…not a good thing. Rather than marketing I would rather be creating.