An Animatronic Human Sculpture in Bronze and Stainless Steel
Mark Ho stands with his finished animatronic metal sculpture.
Introduction
Although this is artist Mark Ho’s first big project, we felt that the level of craftsmanship merited inclusion here. The Joe Martin Foundation typically honors established craftsmen, who have paid a lifetime of dues in learning their craft. However, Mark has taken an interesting path, and learned a great deal in short time to create this single piece. With his sculpture completed, it seems promising that Mark will move into new and even more creative areas with his work.
Mark’s first sculpture is called, ZOHO ARTFORM 1, and took over six years to create. His use of hard, shiny, and decidedly “non-human” materials to replicate the delicate and subtle movement of the human body presents an interesting contrast. The actual execution is stunningly done.
Mark’s completed sculpture, ZOHO ARTFORM 1. This seated pose shows the natural and relaxed attitudes that can be achieved through the movement of metal. There are a large number of moveable joints built into the sculpture, which parallel the human form.
ZOHO ARTFORM 1 can take on any number of natural human poses. The brass and steel figure has a total of 920 parts, of which 85 are moveable.
About Mark Ho
Mark Ho is from Amsterdam, Netherlands. He got his early training in film making as a director and script writer. During his second year at the academy, he worked on an animation project that required building a puppet that was capable of many movements. So, Mark designed and built the puppet in metal, and learned a lot about working with the materials along the way. The puppet project inspired Mark to start thinking about making the “ultimate puppet,” which could duplicate the grace and range of human movement. However, as he continued to work in film, Mark found that it wasn’t really what he wanted to do.
When recalling the experience, Mark said, “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 metalworking. 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 of giving shape to a material like metal.”
Action and movement are evoked in this graceful dance pose. The full height of the figure is 16.93″ (43 cm), and it weighs 13.2 lbs (6 kg).
Mark’s remarkable sculpture balances much like a real human. Every part was handmade from brass or stainless steel.
Making His Prototype
Eventually, Mark found a metalworking artisan who was willing to work with him, and teach him techniques for machining metal. Mark never received any formal education in sculpture or metalworking. He noted, “I am self-taught, but I did learn a lot from a craftsman, which was very much like a medieval master/workman relation. At first, I was visiting him almost every day at his magnificent workshop. I was learning by watching him work. Then, he told me I could use his metalworking machines. I stayed there for more than two years.”
Mark began his project by making the hands. His goal was to make them as small and detailed as possible. The rest of the puppet is made up of other individual projects, each taken on one at a time. Regarding the quality of work, Mark said, “If the first project (the hands) turns out to be very good, you have to continue at that level.”
Once he was halfway finished, there was no turning back. The rest of the parts had to be made to the same high standard of quality as those first pieces. Eventually, Mark became so curious to see how the sculpture would turn out that he never considered giving up. Although, he noted that he did have a few difficult moments.
Ultimately, the entire project took six years before Mark had a prototype that he was satisfied with. At that point, he said, “No more adjustments.” Now that his development of the first sculpture is complete, and every part documented, Mark expects the second one to take about five months to build.
Mark Ho at work in his well-equipped shop. His drill press, lathe, and Cincinnati milling machine can be seen.
Future Projects
Every part of Mark’s sculpture was shaped out of solid pieces of bronze and stainless steel. Many parts were made with tools that Mark had to make himself. He mainly uses a lathe and a milling machine for this work. Mark says his future designs (ZOHO ARTFORM No.2, 3, etc.) might be other puppets, but not on this scale. They will contain mechanical parts, but will be hand-made in limited editions.
Waist and chest joints can be seen from the front. The magnetic base can be deactivated in order to remove and reposition the sculpture.
Details of the shoulder and back joints are exposed here.
About the Sculpture
Mark’s finished ZOHO ARTFORM 1 sculpture has the following specifications. The full height is 16.93”(43 cm), and it weighs 13.2 lbs (6 kg). There are a total of 920 parts, with 101 found in each hand. There are 85 mobile parts. The entire sculpture is made of bronze and stainless steel. All parts were handmade.
The sculpture comes with a magnetic base, which can be deactivated. All joints are adjustable and easy to remodel, allowing the object to take on any position. This offers a challenge for those who continually seek to create a new, authentic, and unique sculpture. Mark planned to limit his production of ZOHO ARTFORM 1 sculpture’s to a maximum of 25 original pieces.
Visit the Zoho Artform website to learn more.
Two of Mark’s ZOHO ARTFORM 1 figures appear to inspect the machine upon which they were created.