Al Gori, was born in Manhattan in 1964 and raised in Teaneck, NJ. He graduated from the Mason Gross School of Arts at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ with a concentration in kinetic sculpture. He's been working since then with the same NJ-based engineering firm as a millwright.
When he's not up to his ankles in grease and pulp at one of the tri-state
area's paper recycling plants or toiling in the local film industry as
an automobile wrangler, he may be found lugging around his homemade contraption
now known as "the Homespun Merry-Go-Round."
This labor of love was initially spawned as part of his senior thesis project at Mason Gross. In its original incarnation it was a cumbersome, dangerous eyesore which he called "The Merry-Go-Round to Hell." Through the years, he's been making his creation safer, more attractive with animated monkeys, birds, other animals, music, and the addition of a homemade bubble machine.
Since it's creation, Al has been making his Merry-Go-Round available for
a wide variety of charitable events, parties big and small throughout
the northeast. He calls himself a tinkerer or "crack-pot" inventor
with a flair for showmanship. Says Al, "I've always wanted to be
in show business. With the Merry-Go-Round I've created my own entry level
position swinging off the lowest rung of the entertainment ladder: "Carnival
Folk."
The main vertical assembly is actually the rear axle of a 1968 Dodge Dart
fitted with a washing machine motor and other reclaimed mechanical power
transmission components. The machine takes 2-3 hours to set up and decorate.
It takes longer each time to assemble because Al keeps adding more gadgets
and gizmos. The Homespun Merry-Go-Round even has an infant seat so the
smallest riders can take a spin. Turning at a gentle 4 rpm, it can carry
2 passengers up to 250 lbs.each.
Other recycled parts have made their way into Mr.Gori's creation. The
animated snake and monkey are driven by windshield wiper motors. The base
is from a large file cabinet. He calls his craft of finding new and fun
uses for old junk "Savage Salvage": the art of getting something
for nothing.
Al stores and maintains his Homespun Merry-Go-Round at home in New Jersey.
He could be coming to your town soon!
Al Gori
7 Laurel Drive
Cozy Lake, NJ 07438
|(973) 208-3345
homespun2001@hotmail.com