Sir Robert Ogden Macmillan Centre, Harrogate. Site visit.

I went to site last week in Harrogate to see how progress is going on with the installation of the my various pieces. 
Most of the animated glass has now been installed. As people walk passed these windows the image of the gardener carrying a broom comes to life and he walks across the window. This silhouette is repeated with the gardener in the interactive films.

This is where the projection of the interactive film of the Harrogate Gardener will be located and here is one of the 25 film clips which will be selected randomly when triggered by people moving. The background stays the same. 

The other wall in this courtyard will have a set of interactive films of a hedgehog.

The long perforated fence will be installed in 3 weeks time. The LED wayfinding elements will be installed in the first week in December.

Massive thanks to Seb Boyesen as always, to Jonathan Hale for his acting skills to David Proto for his skill and patience and to Janet Peto at the Hedgehog Welfare for allowing me access to those beautiful hedgehogs.

Seaham public seating update

The cast iron captain's chairs for Seaham Public Realm have been cast and welded. They now just need patinering ready for installation.

The two chairs will be sited near a registry office and it is anticipated that they will be central to people's wedding photographs.

Massive thanks again to Seb Boyesen for making these.

Tea driven automata

Here is my next tea driven automata. 

Thanks again to Kevin Badni for a most excellent tea time conversation followed by working out the mechanical principles.

Tea driven automata

I have wanted to make automata driven by my cup of tea for some time. I spoke with my friend Kevin Badni about this and we brainstormed ways to make this possible. Thanks to Kevin we worked out how to make this happen and I have been making some tea driven automata since our chats.

The first one is a Tour de France cyclist. He carries on cycling for about 50 minutes per cup of tea.

The idea of harnessing all energy around us is central to these automata.

Etsy Shop open

I have decided to put the cartoons I draw for sale as prints in an Etsy Shop. These have been drawn simply for fun. I will put other items on there in time.

http://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/JoFairfax?ref=si_shop

I hope that you enjoy them.

Beard Tax

What a strange and wonderful world this is.

Here is a Russian beard token from 1705. A tax imposed by Peter the Great. This token showed that the owner had paid the beard tax.

Interactive film

A short film showing the new installation at the new York City Council building, sited on the old York Railway Station.

Many thanks to:

Seb Boyesen

Laurence Pearce

Ian Giles

York City Council

Beam.

The piece is launched with other artworks on May 24th.