I just pulled a 19th‑century cuckoo clock from the attic and it’s giving me a damn good idea—what if a painting could capture the exact motion of its gears and the ticking sound?

Nice idea, but remember the gear ratio has to be exact, otherwise the whole thing will collapse like a cheap timepiece. If you paint a faint shadow moving with the tick, it will look like the clock is breathing, but only if each gear turns at the right speed. Keep it precise, or you’ll have a chaotic canvas.