The Device


Above: Video of Infernal Device Collaborator Todd Cahill and some of his work

The Infernal Device is a large mechanical animated sculpture conceived by steampunk/retrofuturist artist Myke Amend,who wanted to create a large mechanical sculpture consisting also of a moving painted work, as a collaborative entry for Artprize (the country’s largest open entry art competition, held in Grand Rapids MI).

Todd Cahill offered use of his wind capturing device, which incorporated also a spinning drum and zoetropic animation – the perfect, and more simple solution for how to provide motion to the painting, meshing perfectly with Myke’s desire to power this thing by alternative energy.

Infernal Device 2
Concept art by Myke Amend

The obvious next step, was to include posts in the design, to make these elements into a full structure… though that element of the design may be subject to change as we progress and move forward.

Our goal, in addition to making a huge run for Artprize this year, is to educate and inform, and to demonstrate various alternative energy devices that can be built easily for fun or for practicality.

That goal evolved over the course of our kickstarter campaign, to include being able to take our work on the road, to whatever expositions we can get on for. Events we would like to be a part of include Maker Faires, Burning Man, South By Southwest, Steampunk Expositions, and other such events.

A large part of steampunk culture, is a return to days when people were closer and more familiar, more hands-on with the technology they used. Sustainability, recycling, re-use, and re-purposing are also at the very heart of this art movement. We seek to primarily bring these elements of this movement to the public through our art.

Our Artprize Profile can be found here: http://www.artprize.org/artists/public-profile/92157.

We currently have a space to build in, and the scale model done – and many very important milestones along the way, including having been successful at our Kickstarter campaign, and having gotten a great response to our fun and eye-catching fund-raising items. We have also picked out most of the main parts for the final build. Over the next months, we will need to purchase those parts and ship them to the build site.

Wood, steel, and brass scale model by Myke Amend, demonstrating the basics of the design - the wind power and the large rotating drum, which will showcase the 8 foot tall and 25-foot long painting.

Our intent is to build a dynamic sculpture using 90% re-purposed materials – This device will be powered entirely by alternative energy sources (wind, solar, and maybe even steam).

The final work will be an stunning combination of moving 3-D sculpture and 2-dimensional painting, with many articulating features working together as one cohesive work of art.

Our mission is to mark mankind’s progress through the industrial age into now in a single merging of sculpture and traditional painting. We will combine old and new world technology to present a visually stunning, monumental engineering tribute of Art and Science.

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