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MB&F’s M.A.D. Gallery Welcomes Laikingland

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October 2013


It gives the MB&F M.A.D. Gallery a huge amount of fun to showcase the smile-inducing kinetic art of the British creative partnership Laikingland.

Laikingland was co-founded in 2008 by two lifelong friends from the north of England, artist Martin Smith and engineer Nick Regan. Together, Smith and Regan work closely with invited international artists and designers to help transform their ideas into beautifully-crafted, limited-edition kinetic art pieces.

‘Laik’, from the Old English ‘lác’, means ‘play’ in parts of northern England, and part of Laikingland’s philosophy is about injecting a touch of playfulness into the lives of those who come into contact with a Laikingland creation.

FINGERS MKIII
FINGERS MKIII

Smith says: “We set out to make beautiful kinetic art, but what’s its purpose? To make people smile. Our creative practice is concerned with making kinetic devices that investigate themes of humour, nonsense and futility.”

Such themes are evident in the array of Laikingland’s masterpieces being showcased until early 2014 at the MB&F M.A.D. Gallery in Geneva. Including the specially-commissioned A.W.E. (Automated Winding Engine), the Applause Machines and the Fingers Mk III you will find a selection of unique pieces such as Just About Now, Light A Moment, The Party Popper Machine and Story Time.

A.W.E. – Automated Winding Engine – is a unique piece created especially for the M.A.D. Gallery. The kinetic robot will be truly analogue in its control and operation as A.W.E. is a marriage of old and new technologies, craftsmanship and thinking.

A.W.E. (Automatic Winding Machine)
A.W.E. (Automatic Winding Machine)

Motion sensors trigger the robotic arm into life. Rising slowly, the lower arm extends and rotates towards the observer. It allows an increasingly intimate encounter with the timepiece on its ’wrist’, before moving the watch through different planes to rotate its automatic winding rotor. The robotic arm then slowly retracts, folding back neatly to its starting position. An AWE-inspiring way of winding up a watch!

“A.W.E. exhibits many of the skills that we can mould into a Laikingland piece,” says Regan. “A strong concept and design direction from Martin Smith; the engineering of the industrial robot body; the technical solutions of cam driven motors, gearboxes and safety sensors; the 3D printing of the elbow joint; and the exquisitely sculptured forearm.

“It’s really exciting to show this piece and present it as the first Laikingland project that was initiated by a client, MB&F, rather than one of our own pieces.”

Visit the exhibition at the M.A.D. Gallery:

M.A.D.Gallery
Rue Verdaine 11
1204 Geneva
Switzerland
+41 22 508 10 38

Source: MB&F