Rag and Bone

Blowing Raspberries into the void since 2008

Welcome to the Foul Rag & Bone workshop of the Heart. Janitors of the ridiculous, purveyors of whimsical contraptions and joyful noises since 2008, Rag and Bone were formed by Musician/composer Tim Hill and artist/maker Dave Young to create elemental performances, giant puppets and great beasts, installations, parades and processions; worlds to wander and dream in…

Tim and Dave met whilst working with Welfare State International and instantly bonded over a shared love of myth, magic and mayhem. Someone once called us “…like totally bonkers mad max steampunk Wombles.”  Which was nice.  We floated giant lantern horns on canals, summoned junkyard beasts from the wastelands, pedalled strange contraptions through the streets and put the moon on a stick, several times.

In 2021, as the world changes about us so we mutate and survive too; the current phase of Rag & Bone is centred around the menagerie and machines created by Dave in his Huddersfield workshop. However, Rag & Bone will always be looking for new ways to collaborate and instigate, to plant shared dreams in unlikely places, make strange noises that fill the air and a rough magic that tickles the soul. Rag and Bone’s work is collaborative, wistful, humorous, filled with joy, created for the love of it, and made with genuine blood, sweat and tears.

Jabberwocky, our most recent creation is the latest addition to our repertoire of tricycle-based,  illuminated, mechanical puppets, and is ready and available for hire. Dave is also currently developing a research project called Rogue Alchemy, a series of experiments in control, orchestration and interaction with mechanical puppets, contraptions and installations.