S3, Bringing a thought experiment to a close (maybe?)

Announcing the S3, my latest pint sized sculptural object. It is a piece that brings a curious chapter in my art practice to a very satisfying conclusion.

One of the purposes of my kinetic art project has been to discover forms I might otherwise never arrive at, by pursuing mechanical functionality within the framework of my normal sculpture practice. From that standpoint this is certainly a successful sculpture as it performs beautifully, both mechanically and visually.

As you can see in the video above, this work is a double acting slider that operates in a similar manner to the S2. From there the differences are many. 

Most notably, this work is an "offset turned" design using three indexes or axis of rotation. It also has three distinct detent slots, hence the "S3" designation.

With this work, I was also finally able to come up with an inconspicuous assembly mechanism that securely keeps the detents in their respective slots without overextending or twisting off track.

Previous works either had bulky keeper mechanisms with visible hardware or required extra care to operate without accidentally ejecting the insert.

 Most earlier designs required me to sacrifice aesthetics in some small way to accommodate the mechanics. This new assembly freed me up to really add some great details and open up the internals to better appreciate the geometry I was working to create.

The only down side, if you can call it that, of this new assembly is that it requires a special tool to disassemble the work, should the need arise. This means that once the work is put together, it will likely stay that way once it leaves my possession. 

I know some of you enjoy taking your sculptures apart to appreciate the engineering that goes into them (I know I do). Disassembly will be a little more difficult now for the small group of you who like to tinker with your art pieces. However it is not impossible. I am happy to share how it all works and I will post a video sometime soon explaining everything going on inside the work. 

 For the rest of you, it hopefully means no more lost bearings and springs, either from intentional or unintentional disassembly.

The S3 is larger than previous sliders as well, which makes it a striking desktop piece. I had to scale the work larger to create the necessary room to fit all the mechanics without compromising on the design.  It has quite a bit of heft to it as well, owing to its all stainless and brass construction. So while I am still calling this a pocket sculpture, it may require some large-ish pockets to carry it around (no skinny jean carries on this one).

Dimension on this work are 4.05"x 1.8"x1.8 while closed, and 5.25" long when open. So a very substantial piece as far as pocket art goes. 

Similar to my last small edition ("The W3") this is a work that attempts to bring more of the focus to the sculptural aspects of the project. Allowing the work to grow in size and complexity, and letting the ergonomics slip in importance just a little, allowed me to do much more visually with the object.

 If you visit the link, you might notice that the W3 was actually an early experiment to test the workability of a triple offset turned composition, I never intended for the W3 to become its own work, but it happily turned out that way.

S3 inserts shown outside of the assembly to illustrate detail.

Also, as you can see in the image above, the inserts for this piece have a lot more detail as well. I even went so far as to use the powder coat coloring that I have previously reserved for one of a kind and special release pieces. While the powder coloring requires a fair amount of extra time and hand work, it looks amazing so I decided to go for it.

 I will be offering the five colors you see above when the pre-order opens.

 Lastly, there are two pairs of little brass details, one set on the insert ends, and one set inside the bore of the outer assembly. These bits only reveal themselves when the work is in the open position.

So like I mentioned in the title, this is very likely the piece that brings my Slider experiment to a close.  While it has definitely become one of the more interesting and popular tangents in my work, I feel like the idea has (maybe) run its course.  I am equivocating because I never say never. But I think it's best to end on a high note rather than run an idea into the ground simply because it is popular. So I do consider this my grand finale.

The good news is that this will free up some bandwidth and allow new and equally interesting small art projects to bubble up from the background and take shape. Either way, I promise to keep things interesting. 

So, down to brass tacks and "How do I get one of these?"

For those of you interested in adding this work to your collection, I will do the usual pre-order style sign up sale this coming Wednesday, May 16th at 11AM EST

The S3 is one of the more ambitious editions I have attempted to date, many of the machine operations are untraditional to say the least, and so it is quite a time consuming and complex operation to build one of these.  Because of this, the S3 is going to be a bit on the pricey side as far as small works go, but I wanted to make the work without compromise. 

 The fulfillment timeframe is also going to be longer than usual due to the long build time.  

You will have to wait for the sign up link to go live to learn the exact price as I do not post pricing on publicly facing media (think NHVB territory for those familiar).  Also, I will give everyone my best guess on shipping once I know how many sign ups I have received.  I anticipate this to be a solid 3 month process with the works shipping in batches in the order of sign up.

Again, I will post the link for this sign up sale on Wednesday May 16th at 11AM EST. 

I will post it here on this blog, and on my Instagram account.

I will leave the sign up list open for as long as I can, at least 24 hours so long as things don't go crazy, but I reserve the right to shut it down as soon as I feel I have too many orders to handle.  

This will very likely be your only opportunity to get one of these very limited works, so I encourage you not to miss out if you are inclined to add one to your collection. I say this not because I want your money, but because I have enough experience now to know that the secondary market has not been kind to those who decide too late that they must have one my small works.

So check this space on Wednesday for the sign up link, and I will have the rest of the details available then. 

Good luck, and as always, comments and questions are welcome. 

Winter project complete! Sculpture BU 622411311751

Hello everyone.

 After toiling away for seemingly ages on what was to be my "winter project" I have finally come up for air to find that it is actually, finally, spring! Where has the time gone? Regardless, now that the project has finally concluded, I am pleased to share my newest creation with all of you. 

The design for this work touches on a lot of themes I have visited over the years. It is a retrospective sculpture in a lot of ways as it is chock full of technically challenging elements from nearly every period in my artistic development.

 I have talked a lot about the offset turning methods I have been using lately and there are plenty of examples of that process in this composition. However if you look closely, you should be able to link many additional elements from this piece to dozens of works from the span of my 15 year exploration of machine work. 

There is a bit more of a creature feeling to this sculpture as well, something I commonly eschew because my primary focus is not to create illusion in my work, but to explore a medium wherever it may lead. For this piece, a certain amount of biomorphism was allowed to happen as it arose quite organically out of the complexity of the design. 

After all, life arises from the combined complexity of simpler processes, so why shouldn't life like characteristics emerge from geometric machine processes and sculpture.  It was a bottom up quality rather than top down one, so it made sense to me to push forward with it in a mindful way.

I welcome the comparisons this biological quality will draw. I think there are some obvious ones, but I am always surprised at some of the connections people make so I look forward to hearing them. 

At over three feet across and well over one hundred pounds, this is quite a substantial piece. It is designed to be either wall mounted or pedestal mounted. While the baseplates are designed for it, I have yet to fully work out the best way to safely support and position this thing to mount it on the wall. A custom brace, or perhaps a large panel, is in order for a site specific instal (I have some ideas to test). 

On the drawing front, I took some new creative liberties with the technical print as well. Many of you know I originally started making my drawings as genuine blueprints on an old blueprint machine I had restored. From there I transitioned to a less constrained way of making drawings using modern digital drafting tools to make images that took on a greyscale style. I found there were interesting elements in both ways of producing technical drawings.

 I have also seen others attempt to make faux blueprints, using digital drawing techniques to make images that look like traditional blueprints. And while I can appreciated the homage in this kind of reproduction, I think there is a missed opportunity to build on a traditional style. 

So this is sort of my reaction to all that, a mash up of the two ways I have produced technical drawings. I am calling it "Black and Blueprint". 

There are a lot of great details in this work, but all of the compositional movement eventually brings your eye to, and then through, the center. 

The exact dimensions on this work are 37"x26"x14"

A context shot to try and illustrate the scale. Currently this work is a very imposing guest in my small office gallery.

On the Process front: There is just way too much to cover, so I think it is a good time to recommend to those of you who are most interested in the process aspect of my work, to start following my instagram account if you aren't already. 

My handle is c_bathgate 

As the complexity of these projects grow, I am starting to feel that I can't do justice to all of the interesting details in the build in such a short blog post. But luckily, my Instagram account has grown into a highly detailed technical account of my practice. There, a large portion of my audience is other machinists, and so I feel more comfortable talking to everyone in a tone and manner that is much more technical. There I can be more candid about process issues, ideas, and just generally go a little deeper without feeling like I am alienating anyone. So check it out if you are inclined.

And, as always, comments and questions are welcome. 

An Unexpected Edition, the W3

For those of you who follow this blog regularly, I know in my last post I said I would be settling in for the winter to work on a large sculpture project. And I promise that I have started it, but something rather unexpected has come up. A compelling little sculpture I have designated "W3"

Over the last three or four months, this little bug of a sculpture has been forming in my head. Given its small size, and relative simplicity (which is deceptive actually), I just couldn't resist taking a few days to try and make a few. 

This was supposed to be a quick sketch, just to get the idea out of my head and proof a concept, maybe for a later work. But what a great little piece it turned out to be. So as with many things that take on a life of their own, I now I find myself readjusting my schedule slightly to make a small edition of these beauties.

Rather than one large sculpture this winter, it now looks like I may be doing two things at once for a little while. 

Part of the reason I could not resist this experiment is that I have been wanting to investigate further a type of offset turning I use with some frequency. Offset turning, as a process, basically entails turning a profile in a lathe where the workpiece is revolving eccentric rather than concentric to the center line of the machine.

Doing this allows one to cut arc segments into the surface of your material rather than full circular profiles (I apologize if this is hard to follow for some). Indexing the work between cycles and repeating this process can yield some very interesting geometry. 

The wood turning community has a long history of using this kind of process Click this link to see a video about wood sculptor Mark Sfiri on multi axis turning (which is another way of describing what I am talking about). I have had the pleasure of sharing quite a few conversations with Mark about his work and visited his studio a few years ago. You would all do well to get to know his art if you are unfamiliar. (Hi Mark!)

This type of metal turning is something I have used off and on over the years. In past works, I have used only two index locations (or axis) with various profiles. This time I wanted to try using three different index locations to see what new opportunities for interesting geometry this would create. 

Since I was expanding on an existing concept, I thought I’d keep the design inspiration in the same family as some of my other small offset turned works so that the similarities and differences would be apparent.

While this sculpture may share visual similarities to some of my past "Slider" works, this piece is not intended to be a kinetic object, it does not move at all, and I will explain why. 

The purpose of the kinetic pieces I have been making has been to bridge my sculpture practice with some of the utilitarian trends I have been observing in the machinist community. So while those editions have been successful (and very popular) the plan for those projects has always been to bring that exploration back to what I feel is fundamental about machining as a sculpture medium. 

With this work, I want to take what I have been doing lately with Ratchets and Sliders, and return to something purely sculptural and non-functional. I like designing kinetic works and I plan to keep following that thread in the future, but I want to be clear that my heart is primarily with pure, unadulterated, sculpture. 

So I know full well that this work "could be" a lot of things, a clicker, a pen, a flashlight, but that is rather the point, it alludes to potential uses, while just being sculpture. The simplicity of this is what works for me. While the novelty of mechanics is a lot of fun, I want people to appreciate this form for its own sake. So no mechanics this time, I am insisting the work remain a non-functional sculpture, albeit one that conveniently fits in your pocket.

I realize there is an opportunity for confusion so I hope you will all appreciate what I am going for here.

That being said, given this works petite size (just 2" long), I could not resist the urge to play around with a magnetic stand to display the work. My impulse control is not great these days it seems.

To achieve this, I had to use a different alloy of stainless steel. The 303 stainless I typically use is non magnetic, so I had to switch to 410, an alloy which retains magnetic properties. This metal swap lets the little pills in the center of each of these works delicately dangle from the magnet in the prototype stand you see in the video above.  

So here is the part where people might get just a little annoyed with me.

While I think the stand is interesting, it is something I consider extraneous to the artwork. So although I do plan to make a small edition of the W3, I have neither the time, nor the resources to properly make the stands in any quantity for those of you who might want one. 

The two stands you see above were printed on my home-made 3D printer. They take an excruciatingly long time to print and are not exactly the quality I am comfortable sending out into the world. Machining them would make them prohibitively expensive compared to the work itself, so I am left with a bit of a dilemma.

I feel the best way forward, since I know there may be some interest in displaying the work this way,  is to make the solid files for the stand publicly available. I have uploaded the STL model for the stand to the Thingiverse website where you can download it for free. From there you can print one yourself in any material available to you. If you would like to modify the file further and make the design your own, I say go nuts.

If you lack access to a 3D printer, there are also links to 3rd party printers right on the Thingiverse website. There you can order a print from someone better equipped to do so. 

Here is the link to the stand file for those who are interested. 

The only other thing that you will require to complete the stand is a 8mmx3mm Neodymium magnet. They are cheap enough that I can probably source them in advance for those who are interested and include one when I ship the work.

So now to the business of how does one go about getting one of these? For those of you interested in adding one of these little works to your collection, I am going to make a small run of the "W3". I will do the usual pre-order style sign up sale. 

The only caveat is that the build time and shipping schedule for this project may take slightly longer than usual, as I will be making these in parallel with my current long term project. I have the equipment capacity in my shop to make two projects at once, the only limiting factor is the human (me!) that runs that equipment. I will give everyone my best guess on shipping once I know how many sign ups I have received. 

So, that all said, I will post the link for this sign up sale on Wednesday January 31st at 11AM EST. I will post it here on this blog, as well as on my Instagram account.

The W3 is going to be one of the more affordable offerings I do this year as they are relatively small, but as always, you will have to wait for the sign up link to go live to learn the exact $$$ as I do not post pricing on publicly facing media. 

I will leave the sign up open for as long as I can, but I will shut it down as soon as I feel I have too many orders to handle. 

Fair warning, this could be just a few minutes, it will likely be a few hours, it WILL NOT be days. 

It is hard to judge these things in advance. Either way, this will very likely be your only opportunity to get one.

So check this space on Wednesday for the sign up link, and I will have the rest of the details sorted out and included on the order page. 

As always, comments and questions are welcome. 

Introducing "The Bathgate Ratchet"

Hello again everyone. 

I have something really fun to unveil today. I'm calling this new kinetic work

"The Bathgate Ratchet" 

This series is another entry in my growing line of mechanical experiments intended to bridge my sculpture practice with the utilitarian trends I am observing in the machinist community at large. 

This one borrows from both my slider work, and my Netsuke project. It is a detent driven art piece that incorporates influences from the machined metal lanyard bead community as well. 

This work uses a unique ratcheting mechanism. Basically the center sphere has a stepped bearing guide that only allows the ball bearings and springs that are nested inside to ride around the track in a single direction. This has the effect of revolving the inner geometry in steps when you sort of move the outer parts in a butterfly motion. It is similar to how a socket wrench works. 

The design also has a hole running  through the length of the work to enable it to potentially be strung on a lanyard or worn however one might like. However, like the Netsuke project, this is a bit large for an actual bead so that design choice is there as both an homage and a challenge.

While the design of the sculpture took on many forms during its development, I was ultimately able to come up with something that required zero compromise as far as how I wanted the final artwork to look. Even if this work was non mechanical, I feel quite confident I would have designed a stand alone sculpture that looks just like this. 

The sculpture functions perfectly as a static art object, while also performing its intentionally trivial, yet entertaining, function. 

The mechanism was initially inspired when I handed a version of the S2 Slider to a friend of mine and they mistakenly twisted the work rather than sliding it open. Not what you are supposed to do with an S2, but I thought it was a great idea so I immediately got to work sketching something that could operate in a twisting fashion.  Eleven months later and here we are.

The mechanism worked surprisingly well on the very first prototype and makes a great clicking noise that is sure to delight (and annoy others) in equal amounts. 

I have settled on four colors, Deep copper Orange, Charcoal Black, Deep Cyan Blue, and the very much requested as of late, purple violet. 

While I could have chosen any number of colors for the anodizing, I think a limited palette is preferable. These are the colors I feel work best for this geometry, so lets save some of the others for the future.

But just because I am limiting colors, it does not mean that I am not open to the idea of doing a two tone combo though!

So as with my other editions, a limited run of these works will be on offer. Because previous projects have been so popular, I am really going to push myself hard to make a larger quantity of these available (though it may kill me...just kidding I'll be fine). 

Currently, I plan to make 99 of theses works. I am leaving the door open to add a few additional units if demand gets too out of hand (as frequently happens). So I am reserving the right to add extra units that I will distribute in as fare a way as possible if I see it fitting to do so.

I'd like to leave the sign-up open for a few days (instead of a few minutes) so everyone has a chance to add their name, so if the first 99 units sell out quickly, I will likely add just a few more that I will assign randomly to a some lucky people on the remaining wait list.

So lets set a date for the sign-up sale then..  if you are interested in adding one of these works to your collection....

The pre-order will open this coming Thursday (Nov 2nd) at 4PM (EST). I will send out the link via my email newsletter (mailchimp). I will also link it on my various social media, but the email will go out first for those of you trying to get in early. 

The link will go to a google form where you can fill out your contact info and allow you to specify your preference for color. The form will also detail the pricing, shipping, and how payments will be processed. I do not post pricing on publicly facing media so you will have to wait until the link goes up to see the price. (Think more than an S2 and less than the NHVB for those who are familiar)

The first 99 people to sign up will be guaranteed one of the works. Everyone who signs up after the 99 limit is reached will go on to a waiting list. 

Any additional units I decide to make, as well as any cancelations will be assigned to the remaining names on the list via random name drawing. I am limiting everyone to just one work as I want to get these into as many different hands as possible. 

Do not sign up more than once or I may disqualify you. 

If you are not on my mailing list, please sign up here before Thursday morning and white-list the following email address in your mail client to ensure you receive the email: "chris@chrisbathgate.com" 

So again, keep an eye out for the Thursday pre-order email. And if you are reading this at some distant point in the future, I am sorry, but the moment has passed.

As always, comments and questions are welcome and thank you again for all of your enthusiastic support. 

Sculpture BV 753. Big Brother to the "NHVB".

Hello again everyone. Today's post brings a project I have been tinkering with for a very long time, to fruition.

For those of you new to this space, this work is directly inspired by my NHVB pocket sculpture edition, which is a design collaboration I am making with the fine fellows from Nova labs and Revolvemakers (Otherwise known as Mike and Callye)

While my collaborators have been diligently working to put the final touches on the NHVB project, I have been developing this one of a kind piece in parallel. 

The design takes most of its cues from its smaller counterpart, but it also more directly addresses the original inspiration for this whole project, a small Urn that I made well over a decade ago. 

(the whole story is "Here" if you want to dig deeper)

My intention with previous kinetic editions has been to use the lessons learned developing them as a springboard for more ambitious sculptural works. Works that have, until now, eschewed the utility of the edition it was inspired by in favor of a kind of abstract formalism. 

But in this case, I decided to embrace the vessel idea as a traditional craft form, and put my own modern machinist spin on it. I saw it as an opportunity to experiment within a decorative art context (something I have avoided in the past).

While still very sculptural, this mechanical object retains its utilitarian trappings in a wonderfully exaggerated and impractical way. In scaling the design for a larger object, I left a lot of the chunky-ness (for lack of a better term) of the original while making many refinements to the mechanics that would better suit its increased size. 

You can see the size comparison (above) with the rather diminutive NHVB prototype.

As far as vessels go, this work is quite thick. Rather than make side walls and other elements as thin as possible to create maximum interior volume, I intentionally left a lot of extra meat on the design to give it visual (and physical) weight. I wanted to retain certain qualities that engineered objects often have. Some of the qualities I am looking for come from inefficiencies with material removal in favor of manufacturing simplicity. It is not an easy thing to explain, but it has a certain look to it.

In scaling the work, I was also able to take many of the purely decorative elements in the original NHVB and put them to an actual mechanical use in the expanded design. What were merely decorative pins around the outside of the NHVB are now necessary fasteners to hold and locate various elements, such as the stainless inner liner and the feet.

The lid on this work still operates in a similar manner as its smaller companion. But rather than a 1/3 turn iris mechanism as on the NHVB, this work has a finer scroll that requires over two full turns to actuate the locking pins. The scroll mechanism runs on two roller style thrust-bearings which allows it to operate very smoothly. 

It is a very satisfying sensation to open and close this thing, if not a little harrowing to remove and replace such a heavy lid without denting or scratching anything.

The use of the color purple is sort of new as well. There still exists a loose association with the color purple and royalty, and in this particular situation, it felt like an appropriate choice given the extravagant nature of the design. 

Having decided on purple, I was still unprepared for just how brilliant the purple anodized coating would turn out. Some have already commented how the photos just don't seem real, but I can assure you, this is exactly how it looks when you hit it with studio lights (I promise I did not touch the saturation setting when editing these photos).The color you see is "in camera" as they say. 

The piece sits freely atop its base. The feet nest into divots on six small plastic inserts in the stand. I also made threaded plastic feet to protect any surfaces this rather heavy piece might rest upon. This gave me a rare opportunity to machine some Acetal rod, which is something I rarely get an opportunity do.

The internal volume of the vessel is just over one pint.  The base is 12" Diameter, while the vessel itself is approximately 7"D x 7" tall.

The technical print includes the NHVB technical details as well (lower right corner), How could I not include it when it is such an integral part of the project.

It was loads of fun developing these two projects in parallel, I feel like a vessel series may be in my near future. I still have a bunch of sketches from my original brainstorming session developing various mechanical urns, so there is a good chance I may bring one or two more of these off the drawing board over the next year or so.

While I continue to explore collaborations that expand my conception of my own sculpture work, as well as ideas surrounding craft and fine art, I am also finding a larger community of makers and craftspeople with whom to share a dialogue. It is very exciting to see my work so warmly received in so many different maker and artist communities. It is even more heartening to hear stories about how my work has influenced others to pursue their own art.

So I just want to thank you all for continuing to follow what I do, and for sharing your work  with me. I am doing my very best to keep this adventure interesting for everyone involved.

As always, thoughts and questions are welcome.

OO 62113344522

Hello everyone. 

Having dedicated a lot of energy over the last year to making a series of small kinetic sculptures, I thought the time had come to turn some of the accumulated visual capital from those projects into a more substantial sculptural endeavor. So today’s post marks the culmination of many months of experimentation.

For those of you who are new to my work. this project is based off of a series of pocket sized Slider Sculptures, as well as my Artifact spinner collaboration (links for all of my design projects). These pieces were the creative framework for this design, and served as an excuse to attempt a rather ambitious technical challenge involving a method of turning metal usually reserved for much smaller parts.

It was built around a turning process known as "offset turning" which is exactly what it sounds like; turning a piece of metal that is offset from the center axis of the machine. Think of how a jump rope swings around as apposed to a spinning top. 

In metal, this process is usually reserved for smaller parts such as my slider sculptures, or with parts that are conducive to balancing and support like crank shafts. In smaller works, vibration is not much of an issue as the weight of the machine is more than sufficient to compensate for the wobble produced in the cut. With larger works however, you are swinging much heavier pieces in such a fashion that vibration must be accounted for, lest the machine shake itself apart or even fall over. 

In order to attempt this process on larger work pieces, the entire assembly must be balanced in some way, usually by adding counter weights to the assembly, or in some cases, taking the cut so painfully slow that the wobble is mitigated. 

To balance the weight in my case, I simply designed the parts so I could cut two of them at the same time. Having two parts diametrically apposed on the assembly, they would always counter balance each other throughout the entire cutting process, even after a significant amount of metal had been removed.

Some machinist would say there was likely an easier way to make these parts, and you are correct. Most modern machine shops would likely have attempted to realize these forms through a process that completely avoided the trouble of balancing the assembly. They likely would have used some form of 4 or 5 axis milling operation, essentially carving them using ball end mills on very advanced machines.

But where is the fun in that I ask?  I felt a milling approach was just too perfunctory a step, showing no relationship between the end result and the process used to achieve it. I liked the idea of using only 2 axis of motion and a clever set up over something much more advanced. The relationship between shape and process is how I get many of my ideas, so this felt like a way forward that might yield further inspiration. 

Offset turning is also a process that would have been more commonly used for this purpose 30-50 years ago (probably much more), which is interesting in its own way.

I had originally intended to only make one version of this sculpture, but a compositional split occurred at some point while finalizing my plan. The design seemed to suggest multiple ways of mounting the work (on the wall, or free standing) and rather than abandon one version over the other, I thought they worked far better as a set, complimenting one another in a way I had not anticipated.

Above, you can see the difference in scale between the new works, and the many small projects that inspired them. The dimension are 23" tall for the freestanding work, and 16" tall for the wall mounted piece. 

The copper colored anodizing was also something that I tested during my S1V2 series run. Materials are anodized aluminum, stainless steel, and brass.

The technical drawing is 36"x36" square

Process notes: In order to attempt my offset turning operation,  there were dozens of preparatory milling, drilling and turning steps that had to occur to prepare the pieces. Additionally, I had to build a very special arbor to hold the works in the lathe at just the right offset and to support everything exactly where it needed to be. Above are some images from that long technical journey. It was a lot of fun to have everything building to a process moment that I had no idea if it would even be successful.  

Above is the end result. 

As always, comments and questions are welcome.