Kinetic sculpture "Peepshow" series

Here are some samples of my kinetic sculptures called Peepshows. These were originally developed from my photography pieces as far as their concept was concerned. I was thinking about the experiences of taking pictures with a camera, turning your photographic subjects into objects, and owning them as mementos. I was intrigued by our basic desires behind all those actions. The realization that it all comes from the fact that we are all desperately trying to preserve something that's constantly disappearing in front of our eyes made me view photography as a medium born out of our impossible dreams. I decided to reposition this whole idea and drama into a sculptural context, involving the elements that make the medium of photography possible: time (movement), light, monocular vision through a lens, machinery, etc..
The box (approx. 23" cube) reminds us of an over-sized pinhole camera. When you peek into the spy lens on the front panel, you will see a motorized sculpture (body part) moving endlessly repeating the same motions over and over. The perspective is distorted due to the use of the lens, making the interior space much deeper than actually is. There is a sense of witnessing some kind of naughty secret about the act of looking into a small opening with your back hunched over, and that's the reason why I decided to call them Peepshows. The mechanism used for these pieces are pretty low-tech: basically gears, cams and electric motors. These pieces show my fascination with the mid-19th to early 20th century automata. I love those mechanical toys from that era which seem to exist in the gray zone in between art, toy, science and magic.
I am currently working on capturing these pieces in action on video.