Project Description

April 1976 – September 1979
8, rue Bernard de Clairvaux – Quartier de l’Horloge – 75003 Paris – France
Photos by : Clovis Prevost

COGEDIM commissioned Jacques Monestier to make this Automaton clock in 1975. President Jacques Chirac inaugurated it on October 8, 1979.

Study of man and crab (from his sketch books). Maquette scale 1:5, maquette scale 1:10, drawing hung
on workshop wall.
Welded steel tube frame. 3D study using cardboard.
Sculptural details of the Parthenon frieze. Skeleton of figure and structure of clock.
Man and crab fighting. Stroboscopic photography of fighting man.
Study of crab claw (from his sketch books). Crab in making process.
Crab sculpture before being assembled. Study of bird (from his sketch books).
Bird in preparation process. Bird sculpture before being assembled.
Study of dragon (from his sketch books). Dragon sculpture before being assembled.
Study of dragon (from his sketch books). Louis DESOUCHES (hammered dragon scales) Alain MOIROD
(made steel structure).
EStudy of clock programmable controller (from his sketch
books).
Set up and programming.
Spreader and hoist to lift and lower parts of the sculpture. Finished clock in workshop.
Installation of the clock in area still under construction.
September 1979.
Firemen in front of clock.
Due to a lack of funding for its maintenance, the clock has been stopped since July 1st, 2003 for an undetermined period of time…