Eloi (2016) and Morlock (2016), accompanied by a series of drawings, are animatronic sculptures inspired by H. G. Wells’s the Time Machine (1895). With an attempt to reinterpret the novel, the artist takes the spectators on a journey through an imaginative world: a post-industrial England where the past, the present and the future co-exist. Eloi (2016) and Morlock (2016) are part of a collaborative project with British historian Simon Schaffer, explores the impact that 18th century automata had on the history of technology. Those automata were combined with the artistry of clockwork and scientific concepts, with intricate mechanisms created to simulate complex lifelike movements. The development has not only paved the way for the development of artificial intelligence and has also influenced how technology has been philosophically pondered since the Age of Enlightenment.

Through an interview conducted with Schaffer and referencing the documentary, Mechanical Marvels: Clockwork Dreams(2013), the artists created a series of mechanical installations using 3D printing, physics computing, and open source software, with the century-old artistry recreated through the use of contemporary digital technology.

photo by Mark Blower