Independent Film Festival Boston 2009

Director Peter Esmonde and subject Trimpin in attendance.

What do vintage mechanical toys, wooden clogs, hand-blown glass spheres, and cast-off metal gears have in common? If you were the “mad scientist” and German-born artist Trimpin (who goes by his last name), you would say they all could be transformed into musical instruments—some of which fill entire rooms. Claiming to have moved to America because of this country’s abundant resources of junk, Trimpin manipulates found objects into astounding art installations that blend sound and vision in unexpected ways. He composes by drawing his scores and listening to the sounds of beautiful objects. He creates art with which viewers can make music, and instruments that play and even tune themselves.

This playful documentary follows Trimpin as he composes a toy-instrument score for the Kronos Quartet, creates a centerpiece installation of self-playing guitars for the Experience Music Project in Seattle, and experiments with a perpetual-motion machine. Along the way, we visit his curio-cabinet-style workshop, as well as his childhood home in the Black Forest, where mechanical clocks and player pianos form a vital part of the culture that inspired his dreams. A study in innovation and childlike curiosity, TRIMPIN is sure to stimulate wonder and conversation in its audience.

- Kristina Aikens