Cutoff

I am not as concerned with the installation process for this one. I will need help holding the steel in place, so I can make the vertical welds. I am painting this piece and and anticipating loving the texture of the the raw edges in a monochrome. It will take some emphasis off of the finish and more onto the form itself.

Cutoff is made up of four pieces of recycled steel plate that were either the head or the tail of a larger steel coil. The end looks like a piece of rolled out pie dough with have irregular edges. I think it is the most interesting part of the coil because it is evidence of the steel being in liquid form at one time. These pieces often have holes cut in them to aid in moving them around and straightening them. The end piece is then cut off and put in the scrap pile. Where I find it and make art!

One week left

I just got off the phone with Steve at the University and one of my sites is all ready to go! It was my second choice for the location, but I am happy with it.

The triangular concrete base in the photo was replaced with a bed of gravel built to my specifications and the tree on the right was taken out, as well. This is the site for Cutoff. I think it is a cozy little nook for the piece to live in for the next year. The landscaping is a nice backdrop.

Now, I am looking out the window with the rain pouring down and working through all the last details of the PNC show and I just want to jump in and get it done! I hope the clouds squeeze out all the rain this week, so our working conditions will be easier next week.

more on that PNC show

Here is a link to an article about the Odyssey Show at PNC: http://www.pnc.edu/cd/news/Odyssey09.html


This a quick sketch of Cutoff. It is the second piece I'm installing for the show. 8’1”H x 5'8"W x 7'2"D are the dimensions. It is made of recycled steel plate. The Wikipedia definition of cutoff in theoretical physics is the maximal or minimal value of energy, momentum, or length, so that the objects with even larger or smaller values than these physical quantities are ignored. The title of this piece, Cutoff, is a play on this definition.

Getting the pieces together

I am in the middle of producing a large scale sculpture, Bration. It is a tribute to wind chimes. It will be displayed at: Purdue University's North Central campus

This is a picture of loading the truck to take some of the material to the powder coater (W. Kendall and Sons Inc. are very helpful if you ever need a powder coater in Westville, IN). I am having the rings sand blasted and then coated in a deep, evergreen color.

Thanks to my Dad's foreman, Gerald, for helping load the truck up. He could butter bread with that forklift! And thanks to my Dad, who helped with many aspects of pulling all the pieces together, including simply humoring me when I told what I was going to do about five months ago, now.

Here goes...

Well, I am writing this post so I can see what it looks like on my new blog template. I am not sure if I will get around to posting to this blog regularly or not.

To the left is a picture of the maquette I made for a sculpture I am working on for a show at PNC. The title of the piece is Bration. The piece will be 15' tall and 8' wide and 4' deep. I am installing this large scale piece the week of 10/6-10/2008 – please send me positive energy that week!

I have chosen to have the large and small rings powder coated in a deep evergreen color that will complement the landscape of the campus. The supporting pipe will be black and the steel cable is silver.

This piece is a sound generating piece. The small rings weigh ~ 32 lbs each, so it will take a big wind or a curious viewer to get them going! The lowest hanging rings will be 6' from the ground. The sound of this thick steel is not the typical pretty wind chime sounds you are familiar with, but a much deeper vibration. It is a sound that I am comfortable with because it reminds me of going to my dad's work after school growing up. He owns a pipe and steel company, Victor Pipe & Steel ( http://www.victorpipe.com/ ).

This number of rings is a bit significant to me. It symbolizes my family unit, two parents welded together and five kids dangling down by a string bouncing into each other. I love my family and feel so very fortunate to be a part of it.