Beasts of bone and steel

via iO9

Check out this gallery of awesome art pieces that combine mammal skeletons with steam-punk-esque machinations by Ron Bell.

Bell’s series “Osteomechanics” and “Crania Mechanica,” integrate animal bones into imagined machinery. With the heavy use of brass and electrical prongs, they have a steampunk feel, but Bell’s core inspiration comes from 18th Century scientist Luigi Galvani, who experimented with delivering an electrical spark to animal muscles. The sculptures are supposed to evoke a sense of mystery, leaving the viewer to wonder at the era and person that gave rise to these strange little machines, and what scientific problem they were meant to solve.