r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/ThodaDaruVichPyar • 1d ago

Video Kempelen’s Owls are public art statues in Austin whose heads move when the hidden wheel mechanism under the bench is turned

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56

u/ThodaDaruVichPyar 1d ago

Name: Kempelen's Owls

Location: Outside the Austin Proper Hotel at 600 West 2nd Street in downtown Austin right at the corner of West 2nd Street and Nueces Street.

Created by New American Public Art, the statues are inspired by the Texas Great Horned Owl and 18th-century robotics. Their eyes also light up at night.

Source

Video Credit to Colby Waller

36

u/Higgsparticleofgod 1d ago

A friend of mine was actually part of the installation crew for the owls in Austin. He told me the hardest part  for them was getting the hidden mechanical system working smoothly enough that the heads would move naturally when someone turned the wheel, and that the owls are symbolic. They actually symbolize all the people who worked at the 1992 Moon replacement that changed everything.

3

u/FighterOfEntropy 21h ago

What is the 1992 moon replacement?

1

u/ARROW_GAMER 17h ago

Goddamit

0

u/iforgotiwasonreddit 1d ago

I think you may have the wrong year

4

u/mossy7260 21h ago

Kempelen is a nod to Wolfgang von Kempelen, the 18th century inventor behind famous automata like the Mechanical Turk and an early speaking machine. Love seeing that automata tradition turned into a hands-on public art piece you can make move by hand.

3

u/geb_bce 1d ago

Lived in Austin for 15yrs and just learning about this!

37

u/Brettnem 1d ago

Years ago, I would frequently pass them and swear they were facing different directions than before. I couldn’t explain it. Thank you. I feel slightly less crazy now.

5

u/MrBobbyFreakout 19h ago

That was my first thought. People who didn’t know but walked past after someone else had turned them! 😆

26

u/406highlander 1d ago

Be kinda cool (if not just a little bit creepy) to have them detect the direction of sounds, and then turn to face the sound. At night, cos owls are nocturnal.

17

u/LevelQx 1d ago

I was like, "Wtf is she doing?"

Then I was like "Owly shit!"

3

u/OperatorJo_ 1d ago

What a hoot right?

6

u/Beertronic 1d ago

Imagine if you were walking with headphones on an someone at the other side was turning it to continuously face you. It would freak people out. Nice idea having interactive art. Excellent pranking opportunities.

3

u/o_adeus_de_fellini 1d ago

the weirdest part isn't the owl but the weird motion that person is doing

3

u/GenXer-1024 21h ago

It looks like there's a slight delay between her motions and the head movement, I wonder what the mechanism is in there and if it's a belt, gears, etc... I think it's pretty cool!

3

u/Lemon_Trees-22 1d ago

Very cool !!

2

u/firenest 8h ago

I should get one of those for my garden. I'm sure it will fit...

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u/J7SIX 1d ago

Can you not just stand up and turn it lol I find this vid annoying asf

1

u/CoffeeVikings 20h ago

That’s by my local library!

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u/xinnori 1h ago

I'm going to Austin at the end of September. I need to check this out.

0

u/Ok_Brain8684 1d ago

Ok, that's creepy as fuck

-1

u/Loud_Surround5112 1d ago

As an Austinite outside of the city, neat. I’ll keep my happy ass away from the city unless I absolutely need to go to the city.