Woodworking has always been fascinating to me. Just think of all the hard work that goes into creating perfect wooden objects. I’m especially intrigued when the objects are super tiny. It takes an incredible amount of talent to create art on a small scale. And a lot of precision. Any sort of diorama or lattice woodwork really gets me for this reason. It’s a skillset few people possess. So when I see something especially inventive? I’m hoodwinked.
That’s why this wooden submarine by Taiwanese carpenter Chi-Chun Yin is so mind-boggling to me. It’s incredibly detailed and intricate. And it contains animal automata that come to life when a little lever on the right-hand side turns. It’s really quite stunning. Watch a video of this impressive piece of art below.
Chi-Chun Yin posted this video to YouTube last year, but it’s clear they’ve been at work on other wood projects in the meantime. If you peruse their Instagram page, you’ll see so many beautiful, miniature objects come to life. You’ll also see details about how the submarine with wooden automata above came to be.
We first learned about Chi-Chun Yin’s miniature submarine over at Laughing Squid. The artwork contains an array of tiny wooden animals performing quaint little tasks. There’s a frog playing a guitar. A monkey reading the newspaper. Pandas and bears and horses working out. Even an octopus doing… something with a fish. (It’s hard to tell, but it looks rather interesting!)
Chi-Chun Yin
It’s hard to imagine how anyone could conceptualize such a brilliant piece of artistry. I’m really in awe of this project, and everything else Chi-Chun Yin posts to their Instagram page. Be sure to take a look and see the other beautiful, small wooden animal figurines they’re spending time on these days. You won’t be sorry.