Zoom Rockman with his Alan Sugar creation

AMY’S magnificent beehive hair-do is not only a style landmark – it is very handy for hiding the cogs, levers and rods artist Zoom Rockman uses to make his life-sized puppet of the late, great singer move.

Political cartoonist and paper puppet animator Zoom’s new exhibition at JW3 Jewish Community Centre uses ancient techniques to create extraordinary animated figures.

Alongside Amy are 10 fully operational, paper-based puppets, based on likenesses, among others, of Labour peer Alan Sugar and the former comic and commentator David Baddiel.

His automata – which he calls the Zoom-a-Scopes – draw on a huge history of humans’ innate enjoyment of watching things move.

In imagining his creations, he has drawn on a pre-cinema world of curios and entertainment.

His research began as part of his university arts degree, where he explored puppet making and gradually became aware of its ancient history.

“I started out on my own, and I did not realise the history, the story of puppetry,” the 22-year-old admits. “There are so many cool, different ideas people had over centuries to make art move.

“Chinese shadow puppetry dates from about 200bc. There are magic lantern shows. It even stretches back to cave paintings – in one cave, a cow was found drawn on to a wall. It has eight legs – and the reason for this was if you lit a fire in the cave, the flickering of the flames made it look like it was moving.”

And his own specialism of automata also has an illustrious past. “In the 12th century a Persian artist, Ishamil Al-Jeezera, used sand and water to operate massive inventions,” he says.

Zoom uses a number of techniques from across centuries to make his art move, and his puppets are designed so the viewer can see how they work.

The artist’s first public foray into art came aged eight. He drew comics, based on characters in his neighbourhood – including the owner of a kebab shop he lived above in Haringey and his neighbourhood newsagent – and sold the copies for pocket money.

Aged 12, he had a cartoon strip called Skanky Pigeon accepted by the Beano. It landed him a monthly gig with the famous comic through his teens.

“When I reached 16, my interests had changed and I’d become interested in politics and satire. I decided I wanted to work for Private Eye – so I sent in some work.”

He became the youngest ever contributor to the famous satirical fortnightly: “I sent a picture of the Houses of Parliament covered in Grenfell-style cladding with the caption: Things that will never happen.”

After completing his A-levels – while sending work to Private Eye – Zoom enrolled at Central St Martin’s to study graphics.

At university a wish to bring life to his art took root. He started with traditional stop-frame methods, creating paper puppets to star in short films. One example was a puppet version of a Pete and Dud sketch – the two grumblers created by Peter Cook and Dudley Moore.

Zoom operating Amy Winehouse

“I had always wanted to make my drawings move but I got frustrated by animation, having to draw the same image over and over again,” he said. “I started making puppet animation, and found I could create a piece of art with moving parts.”

Once he had found the medium he wanted to work in, he set about exploring the opportunities.

“I dedicated my university projects to improving the tech I was developing,” he says. “I loved using paper puppets as the frame time is the same as in real life. It is in real time. With stop frame, a two-minute film takes three days. With this technique, a two-minute film takes two minutes.”

Then it turned his eye to creating a collection of puppets based on famous blues guitarists.

“I made a puppet of the blues singer Sam Chapman,” he says.

It was a breakthrough – a puppet with fully moving parts solved the painful stop-frame approach.

“Sam could be shot in real time,” he adds.

“I got my younger brother Ace to help operate Sam as I do not have four arms, unfortunately.”

His version of Robert Johnson, the blues singer who allegedly met the Devil at a crossroads and sold him his soul for superannuated guitar playing skills, was drawn from the only three known photographs of the musician.

There is no film footage – and Zoom senses his creation is the only moving example of Johnson made.

“There as a bit of a creepy element to this one,” he recalls. ‘I was working late in the studio and I sensed Robert’s eyes following me everywhere around the room.”

That the faces of the puppets should mimic real emotions is no accident.

“I learnt facial anatomy,” he adds. “I bought a Victorian book an anatomical sketches and so I could base the mechanical movement on muscle movement. It is kind of weird – I know exactly what is going on now behind everyone’s cheeks.”

The show includes 10 interactive automata, operated by the viewer turning a handle to start the mechanical processes.

His choices – the show also includes 90 portraits of other prominent Jewish figures – capture accentuated movement and include voice recordings by the figures themselves.

“Every time I mentioned the show I got a suggestion of who to include,” he says. “They range from Benjamin Disraeli to Ross from Friends.”

The iconic vision of Any Winehouse, complete with beehive, was created with the blessing of the late singer’s family, who have also given Zoom permission to use her voice. Amy’s puppet came from an A4 design which was then upscaled.

“You have to use all your body to operate it – it is a bit of a work out,” he adds.

Alan – now Lord – Sugar, the entrepreneur behind the Amstrad computer brand and more recently a TV personality on The Apprentice series, has been re-imagined as a beigel bakery owner. He recorded a voiceover for Zoom to use, complete with his TV catchphrase, “You’re fired!”

“Alan was a funny one to do – he’s pointing at you and firing you.”

And operating a puppet isn’t simply a question of tugging a lever and pulling a string.

“There is a weird thing about puppeting,’ says Zoom.

“You use your mind to puppet your own body, to operate it – and then this extra thing is here to put your breath into and make come alive. You find you have to be extremely empathetic. They come alive because of you.”

Like Pinocchio’s woodcarving father, Zoom has become attached to his creations.

“The temptation, of course, is the dream of a puppet that really lives,” he semi-jokes.

Don’t bet against it – Zoom’s creations have a very human spirit woven through their movements and actions.

• Zoom Rockman’s Jewish Hall of Fame runs from May 23 to September 3 at JW3, 341-345 Finchley Road, NW3 6ET. jw3.org.uk/zoom