It’s like a 3D dogugaeshi as the red curtains slide back, revealing more and more in the depth of the space. But in place of painted Japanese screens, we get a ’performed sculpture’; an assemblage of animated objects and automata whizzing and whirring on little tables.
It starts with a sheep – a funny little mis-shapen lamb with button eyes that stares out at us with its head cocked. A handle is cranked and the sheep walks, although never getting anywhere. As the space opens out, more sheep appear. Or maybe they are dogs. Or – well, pick your animal. I see sheep. Big sheep, little sheep. Sheep with ridiculously long legs, or great long sausage bodies and little legs. Enormous sheep that emerge from deflated plastic bags. Teeny weeny sheep that are no more than a couple of metal rods and a battery.
As they are created, the creatures are set up, then pulled apart and reconstructed, or swapped from table to table around the space, fitting in to the landscapes of clunking and fizzing lo-tech machinery. It’s a visual feast, and totally fascinating. And the sound! There’s a stylophone stuck on a one-line tune, a Clangers-esque swannee whistle, a drill, a fan. What exactly this is, is left to the imagination of the viewer. God creating life by trial and error? Mad scientists making horrible hybrids? Factory farming, even? It’s a show pitched to appeal to both adults and children, and will be appreciated and interpreted differently by audiences.
The animation is fantastic – varying from minimal manipulation (one lovely moment sees a whole little herd of pieces of paper curl up when they get warm) through to Heath Robinson type complex contraptions, messes of cogs and wires and pumps and cranks.
The Assembly of Animals (presented at the Small Animal Hospital in Summerhall – yes, really! )is created and co-performed by Tim Spooner – a multi-talented artist who works in the space between visual and performing arts. At just 30 minutes, it is a wonderful experience – I left dreaming of electric sheep, and buzzing with joy.
The Assembly of Animals is presented at Summerhall as part of the British Council Edinburgh Showcase.