There’s no reason the world’s most famous disembodied hand absolutely needs to be made from human flesh.
I don’t think Charles Addams, the cartoonist who originally created the Addams Family in a series of one-panel strips for the New Yorker magazine, imagined the character quite like this. Well, we know Addams didn’t really envision Thing T. Thing at all – when the Addams Family was translated to the small screen in 1964, the creators adapted an image of a disembodied hand changing the phonograph records and a sign outside the mansion which read “Beware of the Thing” into a recurring character with a surprising amount of characterization for having no dialogue. Well, an artist from the United Kingdom has gone one step further and provided a completely different perspective. What if Thing was an automaton of brass and wood powered by steam and gears?
I have to say I love the production by “Doktor A. News” – as he calls himself on his website. The gears on each knuckle are a nice touch, as are the little potion bottles on the weathered wooden stand. The whole sculpture is 7 inches tall, not including the base and it’s made of a variety of materials. I’d windup the Clockwork Thing only if I knew he wouldn’t mess with my sandwiches.
Oddly enough, the Clockwork Thing was recently on display at a gallery about 20 miles from where I now sit, in Carrboro, NC. The Wootini Gallery specializes in art and sculpture that is a bit off the beaten path, as they say, and showcased Doktor A’s Thing as part if its Addams Family Show. The Clockwork Thing had a suggested price of $1,400, but there’s no word if it sold or not.
Perhaps, if you’re nice enough, you can ask the kind Doktor to make a new one for you. Or, you know, count your blessings that it’s not loose in your area.
