“Third of a series of endless belt-based machines. I like the way the animal assembles and dismantles itself as it rounds each end of the track. The driver is a square sectioned sort of sprocket which transmits enough power to drive the belt on its own but when the alligator is attached the arrangement is unbalanced. The small slabs of lead that follow the animal around equalise the load. Lead is bad for you if chewed or otherwise ingested. This artwork is not a toy- safe enough if it’s kept away from anyone who might want to eat it.

The cross-sectional paintwork is water melonic. Hence the title. It’s roughly copied from an old American toy I found in a book of American Vernacular Art. The original was articulated like the more usual wiggling snakes: split down the middle, cut into sections and reassembled with a flexible spine so that it moves snakily when tilted left and right. It’s a lovely thing and I’m glad I made a copy but rereading the book I noticed for the first time that the original is over a yard long which would present a tremendous pinch hazard if anyone got their finger between two sections while waggling its enormous body.” P. Spooner

2024

Height: 22cm
Width: 34cm
Depth: 9cm (14cm incl. handle)

One Only