Tim Hunkin Explained

Tim Hunkin
Birth Name:Timothy Hunkin
Birth Date:27 December 1950
Birth Place:Hammersmith, London, England
Fields:Engineering
Cartoons
Alma Mater:University of Cambridge
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Known For:The Secret Life of Machines
Under the Pier Show

Timothy Mark Trelawney Hunkin (born 27 December 1950 in London) is an English engineer, cartoonist, writer, and artist living in Suffolk, England. He is best known for creating the Channel Four television series The Secret Life of Machines,[1] in which he explains the workings and history of various household devices. He has also created museum exhibits for institutions across the UK, and designed numerous public engineering works, chiefly for entertainment. Hunkin's works are distinctive, often recognisable by his unique style of papier-mâché sculpture (made from unpainted newsprint), his pen and ink cartoons, and his offbeat sense of humour.[2] [3]

Education

Hunkin enrolled in 1969, and graduated in engineering science from Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge in 1972.[4]

Work and career

Hunkin's Under the Pier Show[5] at Southwold Pier, England, is a penny arcade featuring a number of humorous, coin-operated machines of his creation. Attractions include the "Autofrisk" (a device that simulates the experience of being frisked by multiple, inflated rubber gloves), the "Bathyscape" (a device that simulates a brief submarine adventure) and a somewhat rude sculptural clock. Hunkin has also opened Novelty Automation, an amusement arcade in Holborn, London, which has a more satirical tone, of which Hunkin has said "I don’t think political art has an enormous effect, but in the short term it is satisfying to reinforce people’s disrespect of the villains."[6]

Many of his other projects are large-scale and theatrical, including gigantic clocks of unconventional designs, bonfires and pyrotechnic displays. In 1976, he designed the flying pigs and sheep for rock band Pink Floyd's In The Flesh tour, promoting their Animals album.

His displays are also featured in episodes of The Secret Life of Machines and relate to the machine covered by the programmes. These included a mountain of flaming televisions; flying vacuum cleaners fitted with rocket motors; a carhenge; a ballet of self-propelled portable radios; and a bizarre "pilgrimage" of an internal combustion engine carried, shoulder high, on a bier into the centre of Carhenge. The Pink Floyd inflatable pig was also featured in the vacuum cleaner episode. Other displays featured in the series were more informative, such as a free-standing central heating system and a "human sewing machine." The programs also include his cartoons in voiced and animated form.

In 2013 he created a large, unfolding clock for the San Francisco Exploratorium.[7]

During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic Hunkin was inspired by other creators online to make a new series called The Secret Life of Components that was distributed on YouTube beginning in March 2021. A second installment was distributed beginning 30 March 2022. [8]

Books

Hunkin has published several books in his distinctive cartoon style. His first was a children's book, Mrs Gronkwonk and the Post Office Tower in 1973, which he recently made available again at Lulu.com. In 1988 he published Almost Everything There Is To Know,[9] a compilation of his comic strip The Rudiments of Wisdom,[10] first published in The Observer. He is also the author of the book Hunkin's Experiments [11] [12] which describes a variety of science-based pranks, games, and curiosities. Content from both books is freely available online.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The Secret Life Of Machines Home Page. Secretlifeofmachines.com. 22 January 2019.
  2. Web site: Tim Hunkin home page. Timhunkin.com. 22 January 2019.
  3. Web site: B3TA : INTERVIEWS : TIM HUNKIN. B3ta.com. 22 January 2019.
  4. Web site: Tim Hunkin: The Seaside Inventor. https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/jTQiWWyzpGU . 2021-12-22 . live. University of Cambridge. YouTube.com.
  5. Web site: Under the pier show arcade, southwold/alternative coin operated machines. Underthepier.com. 22 January 2019.
  6. Web site: Housing Ladder arcade game has players dodging buy-to-let investors. Matthew. Weaver. 17 November 2016. Theguardian.com.
  7. Web site: Exploratorium - Tinkerer's Clock, created by tinkerer Tim Hunkin.... Exploratorium.tumblr.com. 22 January 2019.
  8. Web site: Secret life of components.
  9. Book: Almost Everything There Is To Know. 1-871307-43-0. Hunkin. Tim. 1988.
  10. Web site: The Rudiments of Wisdom Cartoon Encyclopedia. Rudimentsofwisdom.com. 22 January 2019.
  11. Book: Hunkin's experiments. 978-0954226602. Hunkin. Tim. April 2004.
  12. Web site: Hunkin's Experiments (over 200 home experiments). Hunkinsexperiments.com. 22 January 2019.