Paul Spooner

Paul Spooner was born in Lancashire, England, in 1948. He exhibited mechanical aptitude early on and by the age of 16 had constructed a clock and a steam engine from wood. He studied mechanical sculpture from 1966 to 1969 and in 1974 moved to Cornwall, where he made weaving looms for his wife and worked as a van driver. He made his first automaton—a whimsical wooden sculpture with moving parts—in 1981, a piece featuring the Egyptian jackal-headed god Anubis. He made small machines at first, which became increasingly larger during his years with Cabaret Mechanical Theater.