Power On Self Test: The Mechanical Wooden Elephant of Nantes

Posted by Rob Beschizza, July 24, 2008 12:25 AM | permalink

Photo: Nautilus Nantes

The Machines de L’île (Nantes) [Brass Goggles]

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#1 posted by monstrinho_do_biscoito , July 24, 2008 6:26 AM

i saw the elephant in london a couple of years ago and while it is staggeringly awesome, it doesn't atually walk like it appears in all the press shots. behind the elephant is a trailer which takes all the weight while the legs waggle about.

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#2 posted by AndyW , July 24, 2008 3:10 PM

That's apparent in all the videos. The reason it's so good is that they design the creatures so well that the surrounding supports don't matter. You tune them out. I think the better one was the girl who the Sultan and his elephant were following. Check out this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5lDkYBh-fQ&feature=related
particularly the part where she's swinging small children on her arms and they're looking up at her. Although she's obviously a giant puppet, they're seeing beyond that to her as just a wondrous, benign giant being. Which she is, essentially.

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#3 posted by cha0tic

, July 24, 2008 7:39 PM

@monstrinho_do_biscoito #1

Don't worry, when I win the lottery I'll do the thing properly.

Until then... Just enjoy the wonder as it is.

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#4 posted by things , July 24, 2008 8:00 PM

as sweet as it is with the truck behind, I can't help but imagine how awesome it would be without the truck.

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#5 posted by tenacious d , July 24, 2008 8:12 PM

this seems like the wrong era to call it steampunk. maybe "dVpunk" whatever you call it, its beautiful. who cares about the truck!

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#6 posted by Andy Wilton , July 25, 2008 4:15 AM

monstrinho_do_biscoito @1:

To clarify, this is not the same elephant as the one in London: it was built by the same people (I believe) but it's larger and carries paying passengers around a disused industrial site, on an island in the middle of the River Loire, right in the heart of Nantes.

As for whether it's steampunk or not, the connection between elephants (and the site's other bizarre offerings) on the one hand, and Nantes on the other, is Jules Verne.