Exploring The Shift
The shift is not a thing. It is the action of discovering Self.

I have a couple of focuses who intensely work with metal, many of them creating blades of all kind, like a japanese swordsmith or a person creating knifes in France, working at the original Forge Laguiole. The fascination for fine craftsmanship, especially in metal, spills over big time into this life, although in this focus my own skills in that regard are close to zero. But show me a fine piece done in stainless steel and I'm the happiest person on the planet.

So, when I saw the work of Mark Ho yesterday on haha.nu I was struck in awe and smiling all over the face.

Mark once worked for an animation studio and created a human like puppet model for them. Eventually he got the idea of creating the ultimate puppet, one which could duplicate the full range of human movement and it's grace.

As he continued to work in film he found it wasn’t really what he wanted to do. Mark notes, “I finished my study and doubted my future as a director or scriptwriter. I learned that I like to work alone and to have total control. In the film industry you are dependent on crew, budget, producers etc. I decided to learn everything about metalwork. When I work with metal creating something from a to z, making even the tools myself, it is the ultimate work for me. It is a beautiful mix of precision, patience, skill and designing, and also that feeling to give shape to a material like metal.”

The puppet is built from 920 parts (101 for each hand alone), has about the same mass- and weight distribution as a human (the whole figure is 43 cm/6 kilos) and it took six years to build and now with all plans etc. he says in place it would take about five seven months to create another one. He plans to make a small series of 25 hand made versions and he also wants to do other objects.

This is definitely one of the top ten most beautiful physical objects which I have seen in all of my life. I wonder what it will cost.

Full story with more pictures and Mark Ho's Homepage (click the pictures for larger versions, all pictures © Mark Ho).

UPDATE: I just received an email from Mark in regard sharing my appreciation with him, and he mentioned that the first five Artfrorm No.1 are contracted or sold. The sixth is available and due to be finished in November 2007. The price is 40,000 EUR (about $50,000 at this time and exchange rate). Given the time to create and the craftmanship involved I'm sure these thing things are worth every penny of that, it's just a bit more than what I would want to spend on an item like this. But fortunately I'm not so much into the posession of things anymore and the knowing alone that someone on this planet creates such fine work and knowing that such an item exists makes me happy.