This new piece is a bit of a departure from some of my more recent works. Standing 12" tall and an 8" diameter at the base, it is my first Rectangular format piece in quite some time, but it also has some other elements that are harder to explain that make it unique.
The foundation for this work grew out of a Tessellated style drill pattern I had worked up for a cube shaped piece. But not wanting to be completely "boxed-in" to a rigid formulaic design, I used it only as a starting point so that things could evolve considerably from there.
As things developed, I started working with the pin system that you see connecting the top and bottom half in the finished work. If interlocking pins were going to be a dominant visual characteristic in the work, I wanted them to also supply some sort of functionality as well. As ever, I was trying to work the form and function thing from both ends and it played out well this time.
Made entirely of aluminum and brass, I opted not to clear coat the brass, I was dealing with a lot of tight sliding fits, and some of the pins would be under load as they would be holding the top half to the base. Both of those situations could lead to scratching and cracking to any finish, so I decided it was better to let the brass age naturally. I would rather embrace that fact than risk any cracked clear coating ruining the work.
some close up details
The recess detail in the top of the work.
As for the drawing on this piece, This sculpture only has a half dozen or so different kinds of parts, so I was worried there was not enough variation to make for an interesting composition. I had considered not doing a drawing at all, as I was not sure there was enough to work with.
In the end I decided to go ahead anyway, and used this print as an opportunity to expanded on my ideas for loosening the composition from my last drawing.
I am still digesting how It turned out and I have yet to get a actual blueprint made, but I feel pretty good about the initial results.
Process Notes: Accurately drilling all of the holes in this piece was by far the biggest challenge, everything had to interlace just right, so ensuring the drill bit did not wander off course while drilling what were relatively deep holes, was definitely a concern.
I also got to set up a really interesting 4 axis milling arrangement to cut the lower section of the work,. As is the case with a lot of my more complex milling arrangements, I had to write all of the code by hand to get it exactly how I wanted it. Above is a little time laps I shot that will give an idea of that process.
As always, comments are welcome.