Working Buds

Working Buds highlights traditional methods such as cutting, hammering, assembling, and welding, emphasizing the physical labor and precision of pre-industrial craftsmanship. Inspired by a budding plant, this brass sculpture features hinges and copper wires that allow its components to open and close cyclically. Its rhythmic motion evokes the organic blooming process and invokes the mechanisms of a music box or clockwork. This video demonstrates how Working Buds functions. The sculpture's delicate, lace-like folds mimic petals, while its slow, halting movements highlight the shared repetitive patterns and language of motion that connect humans and machines. In an age of seamless automation, it reminds us that the essence of creation remains deeply human and embraces imperfection over the uniformity of modern manufacturing.