Fortuna & the Immortality Garden (Machine) | 2024
Fortuna and the Immortality Garden (Machine) is a large-scale animatronic installation commissioned by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) as the inaugural work for their admission-free Roberts Family Gallery.
Created by artist Kara Walker, the installation explores the memorialization of trauma, the role of technology, and the possibility of transforming negative energy into healing. Eight animatronic Dolls — each trapped in a cycle of ritual — are situated within a field of black obsidian. Overlooking from on high, Fortuna herself responds to each visitor with a gesture and a fortune. The work is on view through Spring 2026.
Tools
SolidWorks, Stepper motors, Servo motors, Arduino, 3D printing
As part of the Hypersonic team, I contributed to the design, fabrication, and assembly of the animatronic Dolls. Working from Kara’s hand-drawn cardboard sketches, we translated her 2D designs into 3D-printed skin fascia, engineering the underlying aluminum skeletons and servo-motor systems to fit within each figure’s form while fulfilling the specific motions she envisioned.
A major focus of my work was developing the fortune dispenser mechanism housed inside Fortuna’s head. Driven by an Arduino and a pair of stepper motors, the system receives a visitor detection trigger and responds by cutting and dispensing a fortune. To ensure reliable paper feed, I added IR-sensed tick marks printed directly on the fortunes, allowing the system to track position and correct for any slippage between the drive wheel and paper
See more HERE.