Once seen, you can never ‘unsee’ the scene in A Clockwork Orange when Alex reaps havoc at the house of ‘Cat Woman’ wielding a giant shiny phallus. Well, now it comes in gold!

The original phallus sculpture featured in the Stanley Kubrick film is called ‘Rocking Machine’, an art piece created by Dutch sculptor and artist Herman Makkink (1937-2013). It was part of an edition of six made in 1969 and was not designed specifically for A Clockwork Orange.

Makkink said “They formed part of my studio work at the time, and, after seeing them there, Kubrick wanted to use them for the film because they probably had the futuristic look he and his wife wanted. In the late sixties and early seventies, we, London based artists, felt terribly hip. We didn’t want to fight the establishment so much as shock them. Pop Art was in full swing and so was the sexual revolution, so I combined a penis with a beautifully shaped female rear in fibre glass. I thought this would be really shocking. I thought I could make the object move by constructing a heavy pendulum swing inside. To my surprise I found that it made an irregular movement, so I exaggerated that by adding extra weights in various places. That resulted in Rocking Machine’s specific, jerky motion.” 

In tribute to the 50th Anniversary since the release of A Clockwork Orange, the Estate of Herman Makkink has produced a small edition of 2 (with an Artist Proof) of his infamous ‘Rocking Machine’ sculpture. Made from Makkink’s original mould, this new edition is identical to the one used in the 1971 production but instead of finished in white, this one is covered in gold lacquer. It also features the internal kinetic rocking mechanism just like the original.

This edition has been produced specially for the upcoming Bonhams ‘Pop X Culture’ auction sale taking place on 11 Nov 2021, starting at 16:00 GMT at London, New Bond Street.

‘Rocking Machine, Gold Edition, 2021’ is valued at £ 15,000 – 20,000.

 

 

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