Searching for Tinkering: Math and Automata in Chengdu

The day before the tinkering prototyping workshop in Zigong, I got the chance to go around the immense city Chengdu (where my flight arrived) to visit two inspiring tinkering spaces with the YiPai team. I love to travel and find people and places who embody the spirit of creative learning and exploration.

First we visited the Do Math Lab run by Mr. Gong Yao and team of facilitators. We stepped off the elevator of an non-descript office building into a workshop full of geometric sculptures, tessellated mobiles and homemade math explorations. I noticed a bulletin board filled with photos and text about large scale workshops that reminded me of Tinkering School with kids building full sized boards, giant kites and monumental structures.

We sat in on a workshop about probability and I really appreciated the way that Mr. Yao set up the dynamic so that the learners were always trying things, discussing ideas and asking questions. I think that out of the STEM topics, math is the hardest for me to think about incorporating into a tinkering mindset so I really appreciated the exemplary approach.

After a delicious and spicy lunch, we took a taxi all the way across the city (about an hour and a half drive!) to the wonderful workshop of Yu Chenrui, a automata artist working in an artistic neighborhood. The automata wonderland workshop was full of inspiring examples, woodworking tools, in-progress designs and many whimsical little enviornmental touches.

I could feel the connection to the Cabaret Mechanical Theatre spirit with a touch of the Tinkering Studio shop sprinkled in. And it was amazing to see the variety of projects that Yu and team are working on. He showed us intricate designed art pieces, beautifully packaged products and large scale automata that he’s installing in public spaces.

Yu also shared that there’s a growing community of automata makers in China who communicate online to share materials, techniques and ideas. I love that there’s an open spirit of sharing and helping each other that’s part of the local automata scene as well.

I was really inspired to see both of these spaces and then it was great that both Mr. Yao and Yu got the chance to join our prototyping workshop and contribute to the groups ideas about tinkerable exhibits, activities and installations. I’m looking forward to our future collaborations.