Like many people I have come to find regular work tedious and
unfulfilling. Given enough time most things become boring or
repetitious. With a child's enthusiasm I enjoy the designing and
making of mechanical objects. The focus of a modern man to produce an
object that reduces work or benefits society requires diligence and
vision, qualities that severely interfere with my playtime. I am
easily distracted, but love to focus on minutiae. Since childhood it
has been easy for me to obsess over the workings of machines and their
mesmerizing motions. Nothing suits me better than to troubleshoot the
tricky mechanics of a gadget made to benefit the few or create new
pathways toward inefficiency.
I would rather play than work, though my play to most observers would
appear to be structured and productive labor. I find great reward in
creating a more elaborate method to accomplish less, with the crucial
elements of style and humor.
Machines have contributed to the rise of civilization, but most of us
remain unaware of the mechanics of even the simplest mechanisms.
I, however, revel in these details. The intricate leads to a path of
distraction and distraction is where I live and play. Through
daydreams I am able to conceive of objects and with a lifetime's
accumulation of technical machine skills I am able to manufacture
them. Through distraction I find focus, by application I make toys.
With circular motion I define futility and thus explore the
relationship of work and play. My skills and vision generate
mechanisms and these machines are the tangible manifestation of an
open dialogue from me, the maker, to you, the viewer and participant.
I play. You turn the crank. And back around to do it again.
—Bill Durovchic, Born 1954 in Santa Monica, CA,
BA in Art, Central Washington University 1978,
sculpture and jewelry
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