daniel bennan's hand-carved automated figurines of the beatles strum & drum in harmony

wooden sculptures of the beatles perform in perfect sync

Channeling his love for the English rock band The Beatles and the art of automata, Daniel Bennan casts the quartet in wood creating a series of strumming and drumming figurines. Fully automated and mechanically driven by hidden gears, each of the intricately hand-carved kinetic sculptures captures the distinctive likeness of its musical counterpart. From John Lennon’s famous rounded glasses to Ringo Starr’s iconic ‘mop top’ hairdo, Bennan’s life-like yet illustrative sculptures are infused with a playful sense of whimsicality. 

A delicate and complex mechanical system of cogs and gears concealed underneath a wooden box whir and wind to set the figures into motion. Atop the platform, recreating their iconic walk across Liverpool’s Abbey Road and their live performance at The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, The (wooden) Beatles rhythmically tap their feet, pluck their instruments, and sing along in perfect synchronization.

all images courtesy Daniel Bennan

daniel bennan’s mechanical figurines strut across abbey road

Inspired by popular culture, Daniel Bennan explores the traditional craft of automata to create figurative kinetic sculptures from wood and bronze. Paying homage to not only The Beatles but also musical legend Jimi Hendrix, the designer recreates these notable figures as fully automated moving sculptures. 

The creations, delicate and playful, capture the characteristics of their human counterparts with a simultaneously realistic and illustrative quality. Their rhythmic movements powered by a mechanical motor system capture the attention of their audience with their hypnotic displays and details.

a tiny drum kit sculpted from brass

David Bennan hand-carves the British rock quartet

the hand-carved details capture the likeness of the pop-culture icons

recreating The Beatles’ iconic walk across Abbey Road

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project info:

name: Automata
designer: Daniel Bennan

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edited by: ravail khan | designboom