François Junod

Automaton builder

Tomas Bertelsen ©Michelangelo Foundation

The genius of mechanical art

François is inspired by expressionist and surrealist paintings
His first creation was a mechanical barbecue
Swiss sculptor Jean Tinguely inspired his love for mechanical art

François Junod has the contagious and overwhelming enthusiasm of a child. When you step into his amusement park of mechanical creatures, perched among the Jura mountains, he invites you to discover his latest creations. They are constructed in neverending pursuit of perfection as François pushes himself beyond the boundaries that he himself set in place when making his last object. His latest feats are a chirping flock of birds and an exotic dancer who can replicate the exact movements of the dancers that go on stage every night in Bangkok. With François it’s always “look at this one, and look at this other one”. And even if you are not familiar with precision mechanics, Junod will draw you into this magical kingdom, a place that would make any child happy. That’s because he has remained a child himself, continuing to live a dream he has chased since he was a boy.

Interview

Tomas Bertelsen ©Michelangelo Foundation

Tomas Bertelsen ©Michelangelo Foundation

When did you realise you would become an automaton maker?: I was five years old when I first saw Eureka, a sculpture by Jean Tinguely. I remember feeling that that poetry of gears and mechanics was talking right to me. Soon after I started to make my own toys, because I didn’t like the ones you could buy. Fifty years on, I am still creating my own toys.
How do you become an automaton maker?: There’s no school to teach you this craft, you have to learn from a master. I studied mechanics first and later sculpture at the Academy of Fine Art in Lausanne. Then I learned everything from Michel Bertrand, an automaton maker known throughout the world, who by a stroke of luck was my best friend’s father.
How do you start building an automaton?: You start from the story that you want to tell with it. In terms of mechanics there is little you can invent, because you have to assemble bolts, screws and gears. The point is how you put all these elements together, how you use them, and that’s where infinite possibilities open up.
What is the most exciting moment of your work?: Obviously it’s when the automaton makes its first movement: an inanimate object comes to life. And then it’s the contact with the purchasers; whether they come from Switzerland, the UAE or Singapore, the expression on the face of a person who sees a moving automaton is always the same. It’s a mixture of awe and wonder, which takes you back to when you were a child.

François Junod is a master artisan: he began his career in 1980 and he started teaching in 1990