Chico MacMurtrie / Amorphic Robot Works

 

CAD diagram Ribs Shoulderblades skeleton Figure's torso Foot skeleton Sculpting the feet
Fœtus to Man at approximately 7:30.
A much simpler fountain in the vein of Growing, Raining Tree

MacMurtrie assembles the bronze links to form the skeleton of the clock's figure.
Photo: feistyworks

A much simpler fountain in the vein of Growing, Raining Tree

MacMurtrie reshapes the figure's skin segments to eliminate binding during its cyclical expansion and contraction.
Photo: feistyworks

A much simpler fountain in the vein of Growing, Raining Tree

MacMurtrie makes some final mechanical adjustments to Fœtus to Man before its initial run in Lille, France.
Photo: feistyworks

Fœtus to Man: Fabrication

The final Fœtus to Man figure began as a series of mechanical links, designed to ride within a 9-foot-diameter gear. As the gear rotated, the links act as the skeletal support for the human figure sculpted around them. The interaction of the links was carefully configured so the superimposed sculptural figure would fall in an anatomically appropriate fashion at all positions around its cycle.

The gearing was designed using CAD software, and the linkage system was prototyped in plastic and cardboard and entered into CAD to fine-tune the shape and mechanical interaction of the final products. From the link templates, the skeleton of the figure was cut from 1/4” high-tensile silicon bronze, assembled, and tested in the 9-foot gear to check for binding and mechanical errors. All components of the linkage were cut, hand-milled and assembled in MacMurtrie’s Brooklyn studio.

The sculptural component of the figure began with complete body casts taken from a male subject of a size similar to that of the final figure. Once created, these plaster casts acted as forms, which MacMurtrie used to fit bronze pieces into by cutting, welding and pounding. Once the basic, outer form was completed, it was welded onto the skeleton, run through its mechanical cycle, and modified to avoid binding and wear. This “skin” was then worked to provide the sculptural detail of the piece.

Aside from the basic human form, great care was taken in rendering the complexity of the human figure in motion. The stomach region, in particular, was carefully worked to make the moving metal emulate the compression and expansion of the fat and muscle of its living counterpart.

The installed commission is run as a public clock. The 9-foot gear upon which the figure rides rotates, moving the hands of the figure ahead one minute of its 60-minute cycle. The sculpture has accurate timeclock control, 3-phase variable-speed AC clock-advance, and full-speed motor drive and industrial shaft, bearing, gear and chain drive components giving the completed work a design life of 20 years without major maintenance. The clock controller is satellite-synchronized keeping Fœtus to Man on time after power outages or facilities maintenance by automatically advancing the clock to display the appropriate time once power has been restored.

Fœtus to Man is on permanent, outdoor display in Lille, France.