‘Originally from Örebro, Sweden, artist Tobias Bradford now splits his time between Stockholm and London. His work examines the gray areas that exist amid reality and illusion. Not only does he craft animated sculptural installations, but these creations also give the illusion of acting on their own. His pieces generate a tension between rational thinking and emotional response, unsettling our belief in self-agency.
‘Bradford finds intrigue in the nuances of mechanical sounds. For him, the unpredictable hum of a refrigerator fan can almost sound like a coded message. This fascination also extends to the body’s involuntary actions, which he sees as parallel to mechanical repetition. By incorporating these ideas, Bradford adds layers of complexity to his work.
‘Drawing inspiration from his own childhood, Bradford also explores the concept of ‘childhood animism.’ This is a phase where the lines between people and objects are blurred. This theme allows him to blend elements of both horror and comedy into his installations. His creations often evoke a sense of nostalgia while highlighting the absurdity and limitations inherent in human life.
‘With these added layers of meaning, Bradford’s work serves as a deep dive into the complexities of human experience, framed through the lens of technology and mechanics.’ — 0 -> 1
heka | monkey (Official Music Video in collaboration with Tobias Bradford)
works by tobias bradford
______ Interview
Caroline Elgh Klingborg: You work with sculptural moving installations where you examine the relationship between the body and the machine. What is it in the meeting that’s so exciting?
Tobias Bradford: For me, the excitement of making machines as art is to be able to figuratively create something that’s alive. I think that modern machines have an ability to be difficult to interpret. The sound of a refrigerator fan buzzing in an unpredictable way has a mystery to it that could just as easily be an attempt at communication. This is exactly what brings to mind life, even if it’s subtle, and it’s something I try to portray in my sculptures. The mechanical nature of eternal repetition is also interesting in relation to the body. I myself have several neurotic features that I don’t really have control over, such as “restless leg syndrome” and that I frantically pick on my own hair until it falls off. The idea of not having control over one’s own body – the organic machine – becomes both existential and absurd.
CEK: What does your work in the studio look like and how does a new work begin?
TB: It’s very various. In my studio, I often have the works switched on while I work, and during the process new relationships arise between the works that in turn give rise to ideas. I spend a lot of time looking at my own sculptures, analysing their behaviours in relation to the room and in relation to each other. Sometimes I get a spontaneous idea for a work that’s completely beyond my ability, and a large part of the process is spent carving out the core of that idea and taking it on to a point where the whole thing becomes realizable. I often try to assume the role of a fictitious professor or inventor à la Frankenstein when I work – and it usually works!
CEK: Your sculptures are self-propelled mechanical images where emotions such as fear, joy and longing are mixed. How do you go about creating sculptures that unite these extremes?
TB: Since I started making art, I’ve constantly returned to memories of emotional experiences from childhood, and they can be both unpleasant and amazing. I think a lot about so- called “childhood animism”, that is, the stage in development where you don’t separate people from objects yet. In general, we outgrow that image, but in the face of something unexpected – like an amputated leg kicking around on the floor – childhood animism can suddenly remind itself again. I don’t make sculptures with the purpose of them depicting, for example, horror, but I think it’s exciting that they more or less inevitably carry that theme. The idea of being put in an absurd situation often gives the comic impression. The longing and sadness may come from the fact that the sculptures often become caricatures of the limitations of one’s own body, something that we’re constantly trying to bridge with the help of technology.
___ Show
Too Much, 2022
Spillage (releasing forever), 2022
Nosedive, 2022
The Softness, 2022
Big Hole, 2022
As My Eyes Adjust 1, 2022
As My Eyes Adjust 2, 2022
It Never Stops, 2019-2022
Immeasurable Thirst, 2021
Stage Fright, 2021
Detachment, 2020
Me Eating, 2020
Nervous energy/As my eyes adjust, 2019
Restless, 2019
Nonono (ajabaja), 2019
Compulsive, 2018
Ethereal vessel, 2018
Me as a repeating disturbance, 2018
Emergence, 2018
Arrival, 2017
Watch me go (away), 2017
Extensive recordings of all my previous lives until now, 2016 A drawing machine built from a deconstructed duck toy. Each drawing represents one full battery life of the machine.
The Beauty, 2016 Mechanical sculpture wherein a wig is continually brushed.
Trespasser, 2015
Device for tired hands, 2015
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p.s. Hey. ** Dominik, Hi!!! Ditto on the thoughts, but I’m also determined to forge ahead and fight with whatever talents I’ve got. Rolling over for it is the worst option, you know what I mean? Any light in your life today? I’m gonna find some in my world by the veritable hook or crook. Love making Tobias Bradford collaborate with my friends and me on our hopeful haunted house, G. ** jay, My pleasure, natch. I’m particularly into that Canadian guy using tiny excavation equipment to reconstruct his basement for some reason. Me too. Harry sounds like a plus, yes. Reeling, for sure, but hopefully steadying on both of our ends. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, Ben. I think I’m finally ready to be whisked away from everything by your musical machinations. That’s interesting: for some reason I was really disappointed by ‘Rubber Anne’, but I’m not thoroughly sure why. Rethinking it maybe. ** Misanthrope, Aw, thanks. Where was that hotel? I stayed a similar kind of joint on the Lower East Side. Pricey but convenient. Oh, jesus, about David. Dude seems like he might need one of those ‘dump a bad boy in the middle of nowhere with just a box of matches’ kind of forced survival kind of wake up call-type experience. Or not, but something drastic. ** Steve, I hear you, but do everything you can to nix the numbness. That’s what Trump and co. are counting on. ** Lucas, Hey, L. I’m okay. I’m entering the ‘you won’t get away with that’ kind of mindset. Awesome, yes, that Beckett trilogy is great, for sure. And, yes, impactful on one’s thinking about writing. I think it smacked my writing around in a helpful way back when I read it. Never worry about being overly influenced. You have a strong voice. The most it’ll do is give you ideas about how to improve it. I’m feeling more positive, albeit maybe undeservedly, but hey, and I’m making my positivity such as it is airborne and pointing it at you. ** Uday, Hi. Yeah, me too. I’m seeing and reading all the despair and thinking, ‘No, stay awake!’ I’ve never been to Charleston, but the name and rep radiates charm to the unknowing, or to me at least. Enjoy and blow minds, which I’m sure you’ll do without even trying. ** Right. I recently discovered the young artist up there, and I’m kind of really into his sort of punk Charles Ray meets home haunt animatronic prop aesthetic, and maybe you will be too? See you tomorrow.
_____________ A Canadian guy named Joe has been digging out the basement of his house using nothing but radio-controlled scale model construction equipment… since 1997. At an average rate of eight or nine cubic feet of earth moved each year, the process has been absolutely glacial. But what do you expect when every morning he drives his little excavator on its transport truck down to the basement, unloads it, and then uses it to dig out the basement walls. Then Joe uses the excavators to load R/C trucks and they work their way up a spiral ramp to the basement window where the soil gets dumped outside. Then, once it’s outside, he uses bulldozers to consolidate the pile of excavated dirt.
______________ Tom McKenzie tweeted an image after finding a model of the Taj Mahal made from toast at the end of his street near Queens Road Peckham station.
_____________ The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety Research Center, a $40 million hangar of destruction in South Carolina, is where experts can destroy full scale scale model houses with rainstorms, hail, tornadoes and wildfire. The 21,000 square foot test chamber is as tall as a six-story building, and big enough to accommodate nine 2,300 square foot model homes at the same time.
_____________ There are two things that are incredibly difficult to represent in scale — water and flight — but difficult doesn’t mean impossible. A Tamiya 1/350 King George by Chris Flodberg, is my pick as best build of the year. I have never seen the action of water captured as realistically as Chris has done on this model. You can practically hear the sound of the water rushing over the deck of the ship. You can see the ship being tossed from side to side over the waves. Just an amazing example of scale modeling.
_____________ This model Titanic sinks like the way it happened irl
_____________ Emilio Ruiz del Río was responsible for many of the special effect foreground miniatures for David Lynch’s film Dune. These pictures are from his personal collection, and were kindly supplied by his son-in-law.
_____________ Phil Collins saved Mark Lemon’s scale model of the Alamo from being lost to history. Visitors to San Antonio can see the model at the History Shop on E. Houston Street. Narration by the rock star helps walk you through the story of the historic battle.
____________ Bringing a semi to a Scalextric party
_____________ A 75-meter-long ice pool at Aker Arctic Technology Inc’s ice laboratory, in Helsinki, Finland. The company specializes in the design, testing, evaluation, simulation and development of icebreakers.
______________ I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO FIND ANY OTHER ON THE NET. CHECK OUT THE ORIGINAL ON GOOGLE IMAGES TO SEE JUST HOW GOOD THIS IS……….. A PERFECT ALMOST LIFE SIZED REPRODUCTION OF THE SAD DEFORMED FORM OF ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS MEN IN ENGLISH HISTORY. THIS IS A ‘ONE OFF’ HAND MADE REPRODUCTION MODELLED IN GREAT DETAIL. A message to those of you who are already familiar with my work…… I know this figure is more expensive than I usually list – but an enormous mount of time and materials has been invested in getting it right. Otherwise it would be an insult to someone as important as John Merrick. IT IS AN ORIGINAL. THIS IS A UNIQUE PIECE OF ORIGINAL WORK. A UNIQUE HAND MADE PIECE OF GENUINE FLESHKRAFTER ART. THE PHOTOS SPEAKS A THOUSAND WORDS ABOUT THIS DISTURBING FULL SIZED ITEM. THESE DETAILED AND UNIQUE REPLICAS HAVE A REAL LEATHERY FINISH AND LOOK JUST LIKE THE REAL THING. THEY MAKE A UNIQUE AND UNUSUAL FLOOR ORNAMENT OR WOULD NOT LOOK OUT OF PLACE SURROUNDED BY ANTIQUITIES. I AM A PROFESSIONAL ARTIST WITH SERIOUS WORK IN MUSEUMS ALL OVER THE WORLD.
______________ Walt Disney proudly recapping where Disneyland was in 1966. Check out the working “It’s a Small World” scale model clock.
_____________ This is my 16th K’nex roller coaster, featuring a cable launch, volcano theming, and an industrial control panel. Krakatoa took 2 months to build from start to finish. The ride concept was inspired by Volcano: The Blast Coaster and Intamin’s hydraulic launch system. The ride is automated with an Arduino Uno, 6 micro servo motors, and 1 contact switch. The control panel uses Allen-Bradley buttons and switches, and it allows you to run the ride with 2 trains in either manual or automatic mode.
____________ An investment forum in Sochi presented the scale model for the new ski resort “Logo-Naki.” All went well until the guests noticed the tiny figures having sex, crashed skiers, dead animals run over by cars, and several suicides.
_____________ The Iowa State University’s Tornado/Microburst Simulator can generate a translating microburst-like jet (6.0 ft diameter) and a tornado-like vortex (4.0 ft diameter) for model testing, in order to understand the effects of tornados on buildings and other structures.
______________ If there ever was such a thing as a dream job, it would be a lifelong Marvel comic book fan getting to work on The Avengers live action film. Well, that’s me. I helped build the model set for the Thor/Loki confrontation on a rocky cliff dubbed The Promontory. The following are progress photos from start to finish. It also is an example of many big budget movie sets these days that are a small section of real surface that get extended digitally.I was one of a crew of sculptors sent to Albuquerque, NM to be part of set construction.
______________ After leaving this page and stepping back into the build environment, it shocks how much the building across from you, with its cheap-looking touches of faux masonry or abundant technical supplies, starts to evoke similarities with this so called “horrific, dystopian, retro past aesthetic” concert hall by Isaïe Bloch. What or who influenced this project? IB: Ship dismantling, collapse, Ferropolis, postmodernism, Juliaan Lampens, Filip Dujardin, Robert Gilson, Étienne-Louis Boullée, Gehard Demetz. Whose work is currently on your radar? IB: Abhominal, kokkugia, Preston Scott Cohen, former Studio Prix students.
_____________ 12″ diameter cake, almost entirely edible with working train and tracks made of candies and sugar. This was made by myself. It features a station, “wooden” trestle bridge, five buildings all with working (inedible) lights and a working, edible water wheel. It took ages to build and was done as a fun to do cake project but I got a bit carried away.
_____________ Martin Müller is a aeroplane modelling genius. He made this perfectly functional Airbus A310-200 at a 1:22 scale and flew it during an indoor airshow in Leipzing, Germany, three years ago.
_____________ In the film Cleopatra (1963), when Cleopatra arrives in Rome, you can see the shadows of the movie set scaffolding on the black sphynx.
_____________ Archaeological dig begins to unearth scale model of one of World War One’s bloodiest battlefields created by German prisoners of war.
_______________ Designer Richard Clarkson created the Levitating Storm Cloud Project, which is placed on a Bluetooth speaker, floating a few centimeters above its base.
______________ A company specializing in creating custom props, mnfx, created these scale model works for Trex Decking & Railing as part of a marketing campaign. This scale model decks were constructed using actual Trex decking material that was milled down into 1:12 scale pieces and assembled into the models you see below.
______________ This is the world’s largest shake table earthquake simulator in Miki City, near Kobe, Japan. Measuring approximately 65 feet by 49 feet, the table can support 1:1 scale building experiments weighing up to 2.5 million pounds, like the million-pound seven-story condominium below, subjected to a simulated 6.7 magnitude earthquake.
_________ Movie sets
Inception
Star Trek
Godzilla
Torbruk
The Da Vinci Code
Goldeneye
Batman
Rear Window
The Medusa Touch
Blade Runner 2049
The Impossible
Battleship Earth
Escape from New York
Poltergeist
______________ Adam Savage Builds a Huge Scale Model of the Hedge Maze From Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining.
_____________ Since the mid-1970s, American artist Jim Casebere has been making photographs of tabletop models which he builds in his studio. The subject of his work ranges from suburban interiors to institutional structures, inspired by political events or social issues. In his photographs, these models often give the impression of reality. Each image transports viewers into an ambiguous environment, evoking a sense of emotional place.
______________ The artist Peter Root, from Guernsey, spent 40 hours standing 100,000 staples on end to build his latest work of art: a scale model replica of New York City made from staples.
_____________ Alec Garrard, 78, has dedicated a massive 33,000 hours to constructing the ancient Herod’s Temple, which measures a whopping 20ft by 12ft. The pensioner has hand-baked and painted every clay brick and tile and even sculpted 4,000 tiny human figures to populate the courtyards. “I’ve always loved making models and as I was getting older I started to think about making one big project which would see me through to the end of my life,” he said. “I have an interest in buildings and religion so I thought maybe I could combine the two and I came up with the idea of doing the Temple. I’d seen one or two examples of it in Biblical exhibitions, but I thought they were rubbish and I knew I could do better.” He says his wife Kathleen thinks he is mad. “She wishes she’d married a normal person”.
______________
7mm
4.75mm
3.2mm
2.4mm
1.6mm
_____________ The Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division’s newly renovated “Indoor Ocean”, called the Maneuvering and Seakeeping Basin (MASK) facility, helps the Navy to understand extreme maritime circumstances. MASK was built in 1962, and it’s still the Navy’s biggest wave pool: 360 feet long, 240 feet wide, and holds approximately 12 million gallons of water.
____________ There is a life-size chocolate statue of Vladimir Putin — and he’s the only one who’s allowed to eat it. The sculptor, Nikita Gusev, said Putin has the perfect personality to be personified in a chocolate statue. “On one hand the chocolate is soft and malleable, on the other side and it can be very hard,” he told Reuters. “It is very flexible, it can take any form. I think this material really suits [Putin] because he is like that, in different situations he can be different, sometimes soft, sometimes hard.” More than 150 pounds of chocolate were used in the creation of the statue.
____________ Addams Family Dark Ride model kit
_____________ The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
____________ Free Shipping 1/6 Scale Movie Action Figure Model Toys Head Sculpt Accessories For 12″ Action Figure Model
_____________ Scott Weaver’s piece, made with over 100,000 toothpicks over the course of 35 years, is a depiction of San Francisco, with multiple ball runs that allow you to go on “tours” of different parts of the city.
______________ Shakira Statue in Barranquilla, Colombia
______________ An Estonian start-up is offering a service to 3D print your unborn baby for 200 euro ($214) based on a 3D ultrasound. Customers receive the print to their door when they order. Timmu Toke, CEO of Wolfprint 3D, said the idea came after a friend wanted her unborn baby 3D printed but there were no services around.
_____________ Walthers Cornerstone Skyview Drive-In Model Kit: Actually Watch & Hear Your Favorite Movies on the Big Screen Any Time! Simply Slide Your Tablet into the Screen to Bring Your Drive-In to Life – Remove at Any Time. Works with Most 7″ Tablets including Apple(R) Ipad mini, Amazon(R) Kindle Fire, Samsung(R) Galaxy Tab 2.0 and Many More (sold separately). Compatible with Tablets up to 7-7/8 x 5-5/16″ (20 x 13.4 cm) and from 9/32 to 15/32″ (0.7cm to 12mm) Thick . Enjoy Full Sound Quality from Your Tablet Through Open Ports in Rear of Screen.
_____________ Dry Ice and LEDs Make Drifting RC Cars Look Even More Realistic
______________ At the San Francisco Bay Model visitor’s center in Sausalito, California, LEDs indicate the progress of fresh water from Sierra snows down the rivers and out to the bay and Pacific beyond.
_____________ The largest small-scale model ever built, representing 41% of the US in miniature, was the Mississippi River Basin Model Waterways Experiment Station, located near Clinton, Mississippi. It was a large-scale hydraulic model of the entire Mississippi River basin, covering an area of 200 acres. The model was built from 1943 to 1966 and in operation from 1949 until 1973. In 1964, the site was opened to visitors for self-guided tours, and facilities included an assembly centre, 40 ft observation tower, operation observation room, and elevated platforms, drawing about 5000 visitors a year. The cost of maintaining the site as a tourist attraction was too high, so the model was abandoned and became overgrown.
_____________ The Haunted Mansion
_____ Storefronts
______________ Action Figures
_______________ Withstanding A Rogue Wave
______________ Welcome to ScaleModel World the greatest model show on earth. Scale ModelWorld is an annual exhibition held over two days every November. The show is organised and run by the International Plastic Modellers Society and since 1998 the venue has been The International Centre in Telford. Scale ModelWorld is without doubt the largest model show in the world encompassing all four halls of the Telford International Centre and is unmatched in its size and diversity which helps to attract the huge visitor numbers who come from not only the United Kingdom and Europe but from all over the world. Each year over overseas groups displayed and visitor numbers continue to grow.
______________ Long before the cast and crew of Zabriskie Point ever reached Carefree, a luxurious new housing development in the Arizona desert near Phoenix, the local citizens knew something out of the ordinary was happening in their parts. Over the weeks they had noticed a house being built several hundred yards off the main highway. As its form became more definite, they were astonished to see that it was an exact duplicate of the newest and most talked about dwelling in the Phoenix area, the $400,000 home of Carl Hovgard, tax research expert and founder of the Research Institute of America. However, they soon learned that only the exterior was being duplicated. The interior was just a skeleton. The mock-up was built in eight weeks by an MGM construction crew. A good deal of the material used in the original house was incorporated including a concrete slab roof, individually cast concrete blocks and stone for the entire front of the house. It cost more than $100,000. But its life was short. Filled with dynamite and gallons of gas and benzine, the house was guarded carefully and the exact time of the explosion was revealed to no one. Still, many local people lined the highway in front of the house in the late afternoon of demolition day. In ten seconds two-and-a-half-months’ worth of work vanished although it took hours for the fire to completely die out. There were, miraculously, no injuries and all 17 cameras operated perfectly. Michelangelo Antonioni would have two hours of footage from which to choose a few seconds for his crucial scene.
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p.s. Hey. I’m in shock this morning for the obvious reason, but let me see what I can do. ** jay, Hi. Bataille’s nonfiction/theory is very interesting as well if you want to read his thinking. Haha, no, experimental fiction writers and giant mansions are not compatible. Tragically our crossed fingers seem to have done no good. ** Dominik, Hi!!! I feel like an escape room could be amazing, but I haven’t been in one or heard of one that actually uses the form interestingly enough. Love was asleep on the job yesterday. Love in disbelief, G. ** _Black_Acrylic, Happy you dug it/his/hers. ** Misanthrope, Hi, G. The turnout was crazy, yeah. Awesome that you guys maxed out NYC but not enough that you don’t want to max it out more. ** kier, Hi, pal! Oh, you can use whichever one you want. I guess I would say maybe not the first one, ‘Zac’s Haunted House’, as I think that one’s a little primitive. But, really, whatever you like. I’m excited and honored. I hope we can do our haunted house just so you can be there. Oh, uh, I think the artists I was talking are probably not so known to you? John Williams, Chris Olsen (both also stars of our film), and others. We’re just starting to think about it and think of artists to ask. I’ll keep you informed, assuming the idea advances. Love, me. ** Huckleberry Shelf, Hi, Huckleberry! How great to see you! My October was swell, did the trick, filled in the blanks. Excited to read your published work! And I’ll gather my thoughts once I have. Great! Thank you! Everyone, Highest recommendation that you distract yourselves meaningfully today by reading some poems by the awesomely gifted poet Huckleberry Shelf. Three poems are here @ Allium, and one award winning prose-poem is here @ poets.org. Congratulations to you and to the venues! Is it your first time in LA? Probably not, right? Stories is a really good bookshop and kind of the ‘it’ bookstore du jour. I always recommend The Museum of Jurassic Technology. There’s a Joe Brainard show @ Chris Sharp Gallery. I saw a lot of art, but nothing mind-blowing that’s still on show now. Use the artguide app at the Artforum website for Los Angeles. It’s probably the best way to find art stuff. And have a blast! I guess you’ll see David T? I didn’t get a chance to see him when I was there, sadly. And you should hook up with Amy Gerstler. She’s the best, and I know she’d love to meet you. xo. ** Måns BT, Hi, Måns! I linked Dominik up to some of the LA haunts I especially liked yesterday if you want to scroll down and find the links. Mostly haunts, about 25 of them. Well, I’ll hope your doubts are uncalled for, but I know you’ll be good whatever happens. I only heard a little Bob Hund. In fact, you’ve inspired me to go do a proper investigation. I don’t remember enough about them to characterise what I liked particularly ‘cos it’s been a while. Awesome about school accruing you some exciting new friends and peers. Honestly, most of what I remember about being in school was the people I hung with and what we discovered together. What are your plans for the film club? Can you shape what it’s going to be? That’s very cool. You sound great. Exciting talking with you too, bud. ** HaRpEr, Hey. Wow, that’s a lot of writing you’ve got impending there. I envy that. I’m dying to start writing something, and I’ve got no big ideas or deadlines. I usually take at minimum two years to write a novel and usually more, so I get that. My week has just been jolted by the US election news, so I don’t know what’s ahead. Stuff of some sort. Cool, yeah, ‘Austerlitz’. Sebald really is a supreme and non-copyable stylist. ** Tyler Ookami, Hi, Tyler. Oh, right, I remember now. You linking me up previously. My brain is still recovering and absent of sufficient detailing. And thanks for the new links. I need distraction today, and that sounds goodly distracting. ** Steve, Seeming huge condolences about you-know-what. I really can’t believe it if it’s really the case. It defies logic. ** Uday, Hi, U. It looks very, very grim over there where you are. Hard to know what to say or even think. Anyway, … Where’s the conference? What will you be doing there, officially I guess I mean? Excited for the zine. ** Cletus, My pleasure, of course. Happy you liked it. She’s wild. And I’m happy you’re liking ‘Autoportrait’ and that the blog was able to make that intro. Have a great day if that’s humanly possible. ** Okay. Today I offer you an escape into the world of scale models courtesy of a restored post from years ago. See you tomorrow.
FLUNKER, six fictions, 124 pp., coming from Amphetamine Sulphate in July. US, July 4: Preorders open. UK/Europe, July 19: Preorders open. Cover by Michael Salerno.
* POSTPONED: May 27 – 31: Paris @ Théâtre du Châtelet: THIS IS HOW YOU WILL DISAPPEAR * POSTPONED: October (dates TBA): New York @ Brooklyn Academy of Music: CROWD
Now available in North America 
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