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MACHINE DREAMS

Alexei Taylor, Author

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Final essay - Proposal

A boy, looking at the very most five years old, sits at a desk and skillfully writes letter by letter. It dips its goose feather into the ink well, and shakes its hand once or twice to prevent the ink from smudging on the paper. The boy’s eyes follow where he is writing, as if concentrating not to make a mistake. Indeed he doesn't. This boy is a creation of Pierre Jaquet-Droz, an eighteenth century Swiss watchmaker. Jaquet-Droz made  a set of three automata, “The Writer”, “The Draughtsman” and “The Musician” as a collaborative effort together with his son Henri-Louise and Jean-Frederic Leschot. Among the three, “The Writer” is the most complicated. It is composed of 6000 pieces intricately working together to enact the lifelikeness of the automaton. 
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Jiwon Shin

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