Hello Everyone, once again, it is time to introduce a new sculpture into the world.
(lots of photos so this is going to be a long one)
Above and below is what eight weeks of my life looks like. When I started this build, it was cold and snowing outside, now there are flowers everywhere, birds are singing, and there are bright green leaves on all of the trees….how time flies!
This design incorporates a number of different
ideas I have been working on lately and builds on a component form that has shown up in
two of my more recent works.
If you look closely at H411532221315 and RC511321412 you will see the three of these works are closely related in that they center around a repeating form that has evolved over each of the last three iterations. In each case they have taken on different design functions within each work.
The design in this particular piece is more of a departure than the two that came before in that the parts in question mate with each other rather than being dependent on a central object or hub to bring them together in an interesting way.
The build itself went very well as far as fit and finish are concerned. I always make extra parts in case anything goes wrong, but I did not need them this time around.
Getting the angles and tolerances correct so that all of the parts aligned and fit together (despite the thick powder coating) was very critical and required some new thinking as far as fixture building was concerned.
Because of this, I have been thinking about my need for constructing custom tools as a creative act in itself, and how I might try to preserve or embellish some of the artifacts created during each build. It is becoming clear to me that the logistics of fabricating the work are so influential to the final design, that it does not feel right to neglect this aspect of my process when it comes to creating a viewing context.
Some of the tools created for this piece were absolutely necessary, others were for experimentation purposes, and others still were just for fun. (I may have more news on this in the near future).
I did wrestled with the color on this sculpture, more than any piece in recent memory. While the geometry of the design was pretty much set from the start and only needed minor tweaking, I found myself changing my mind on the color almost daily. I was undecided right up until the day I sprayed the first parts orange.
If I had the option, I might have made three of these works to try out different colors. Given the enormous cost and time investment to make just one, that was obviously not realistic, but I feel my final choice was a successful one.
Expanding further on my drawing work, I made multiple diagrams this time around. Above is the trademark drawing I have been doing for each of my works, a style that continues to evolve
(print is 33" tall X 64" wide).
Additionally, I made a refinement of some of the exploded diagrams I have experimented with sporadically over the years. I think I may be bringing them into my routine permanently and have begun printing a few of them in this new format. I am planning some exhibitions to include them very soon.
(Print is 24" tallX 64" wide)
The three panel image is hard to see, so here are some details of each of the panels individually.
I have also been trying to come up with ways to incorporate some of the machine code from my parts into this process documentation, but so far am struggling to find something I think is acceptable visually.
One additional build note is that I employed the use of magnets as a fastening mechanism on this work. I have dabbled with this once before to solve some tricky assembly problems. It worked very well in this case so I am thinking I might explore that further in the future.
Dimensions for this work are 15”x15”x22”. (inches)
Above is a little build montage I made to shorten the length of the post, there was too much to choose from so I thought I'd just let them roll by. Enjoy
And, as always, comments and criticism are welcome.
