The
Story: The theme of the clock is based around an Australian vineyard where a
group of anonymous monks tender the vines and organise the making and
bottling of their wines. The clock facade represents a monastery where the
grapes are trodden, the wine is bottled and tasted by the public. On the
hour three very solemn monks come out from the left hand side and in
prayerful fashion head towards the belfry. From the right hand side a little
fat monk, who is a bit of a rogue, scampers to the belfry just in time to
toll
the bells. We
stminster chimes are rung and the correct hour is struck.
As the monks return a door lowers revealing the making of the wine where
three ladies tread the grapes and one man is bottling whilst another hammers
in the corks.
On the other side six people are sampling the wine when a waiter appears to
refill their glasses. While they are not looking he turns around, looks both
ways and has a surreptitious drink from the bottle.
Above this, from the ballroom, emerge four
couples in evening dress who individually toast the audience
in eight different languages, including a local
aboriginal dialect, and then all together in English.
During the whole performance we see the little fat monk appear in the wine-making scene filling his glass and moving around the monastery appearing at various windows . At the finale the three monks come out again and the little fat monk farewells the audience.
The background music was specially composed for the clock and consists of a Gregorian style chant and polka music.
The Mechanics: The clock is about twelve feet (4 metres) high and about nine feet (meters) wide The animation throughout is all done with cams and levers driven by 24volt AC motors as are the individual timers. The music, toasts and sound effects were all specially recorded and reproduced on a Roland 2000. The starting of each scene is controlled by a PC and the clock is a mains driven stepping motor controlled by computer. The dial is just over three feet (1 meter) in diameter
Click on the thumbnails for some more detail
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| Ipoh Dial, made from laminated glass | "cheers" in different Languages from the left balcony | And the right | winemaking going on | Tramping and filling | Filling and corking |
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| Waiter cones with the finished product | Sampling | Whilst these ladies continue to tread | The whole clock | It's big isn't it | Chris Cook on the right next to Ken Prentice |