Vending machine artist with a stroke of luck.
Swimmer Doug Taylor is located in the upper reaches of Kitsilano Lake.
The sculpture depicts a woman in a bathing suit, a wind-powered propeller on the beach that fixes her limbs and sends her through the air, and inspires a local carpenter to start a second career as a mechanical artist.
“I would say the most frequently asked question for me is: Are you an engineer?” David Dumbrell says on the phone. "I always understand. But not me."
Dumbrell may not be an engineer, but he's building a rolling ball sculpture for the lobby of the UBC Engineering building. Not to mention creating and updating exhibits for Science World. And you can locate his work with YVR airport vending machine; A man on a bike did a hot air balloon.
“I saw myself approaching retirement and thought I'd have a studio where I could do little things for myself. I thought I'd stop at woodwork,” he recalled. But after watching The Swimmer, "I really thought, I don't want to do woodworking, I want to do that kind of work."
Automata is a little different from The Swimmer's breezy premise, but it was the spark that ignited Dumbrell's mission. He explains that "automata" means to set a moving figure or object by mechanical means, "gears, cams, wires, and the like to move that thing or figure."
After retiring in 2012, he set up a studio in his garage and began working as a self-taught artist.
“Woodworking has taught me hand-eye coordination and patience over the years. It just seemed like a natural fit in this kind of work,” she says. However, in his 37 years as a carpenter, Dumbrell had not engraved anything. "I like to learn new things," she says. "I think that's why I wanted to leave carpentry or the furniture industry."
How did Najjar successfully build cars for Science World and UBC?
As he practiced, his automatic machines began to develop and he moved on to more complex parts using metalworking and welding. "I would have been more accurate if I had made it out of metal," he explains.
Dumbrell went to BCIT to learn basic welding skills and in 2017 he "reluctantly" started showing off his parts. The first was the studio's open days, but "then I did Dunbar's show at the Visual Space gallery, and it was a big step for me," she says.
In the show, Dumbrell was approached by Jar who was working at Science World. A chance encounter leads Science World to order an item from Dumbrell, who is now in the Crafting department.
Sponsored by WorkSafe BC, Dumbrell had to find a way to incorporate bugs and glitches waiting to happen, like no ladders and someone stepping on a rake, into a moving piece of art.
“You have to sit down and try to figure out how to get this object to move that way. And that's a big problem for me with every piece,” Dumbrell says. - That's a big step. Simple enough. But if it's going to work, that's the problem.
Reconstruction of a 12-foot spherical tower
As the car was being prepared, Dumbrell casually said that if they needed help with the front end of the gun turret, he would be happy to help. Fast forward two years and he's now leading a renovation project.
"I didn't know what to say. I'm like, 'Wow, it's so cool you're doing this,' and the other side is like, 'What?' That's huge. I do not know what to say. She said.
The project is still ongoing and audiences won't see the Torre della Ballena in front of it until 2023.
Meanwhile, Dumbrell's rotating ball statue will be installed for the lobby of the UBC Engineering building daily. The piece includes examples of projects that engineering students have completed in their laboratories. “Students build planks and then break them down to see how strong they are. So I built it on that part,” she says.
Dumbrell is technically retired, but he has no plans to slow down anytime soon. In fact, he hopes to one day build an outdoor facility the size of a ball tower for people to enjoy.
