say AH

magazine cut-outs on panel
12" x 36"

self study

graphite and foam insulation on panel
3' x 3' x 3"

Ingress:Egress

This past Saturday was the big event... Kulture Klash 6. I was happy to participate... it was a great opportunity for a LOT of people to experience a LOT of work in a SHORT amount of time. It was an excuse to make something. I would've liked to do something bigger and with more of a punch, but considering the time limitations, I'm happy with what I came up with. My installation was the first thing you saw upon entering... and people were passing through it all evening. It had a good run. Now it's all rolled up in the back seat of my car. Time to make something new.

made of welded steel wire, saran wrap, and fiberglass insulation

KK6

This coming Saturday I will be participating in Kulture Klash, Charleston's biggest and baddest alternative arts festival. I've been working around the clock in the studio, as I just found out that I was doing something a few days ago... but that won't stop me! Come and see it... it'll be hard to miss.

October 9, 2010

7 pm -2 am
10 Storehouse Row
(at the navy yard in North Charleston)
$15 in advance... $20 at the door

wall drawing

Last week we were setting up the student gallery, and naturally, being the beginning of the semester, there wasn't much work to be seen. My professor Herb had me rework the piece I designed for Redux last winter for the space, but there were still a number of blank walls. He was explaining to my classmate, Catherine (I wish she had a website for me to link because she's doing some really great stuff), that the student gallery should be a place for us to play, to experiment... and of course that got me thinking. It's something I've been wanting to explore for a while now. A new way of working more quickly and more intuitively. I like to think it's the start of something...

The material I used is a polyethylene foam insulation. I had a roll of it hanging around the work pad all summer at Franconia, so I'm excited to finally put it to use. Cheap, clean, and easy to work with. And every bit as yummy and fleshy as the the toxic variety. Gotta love it.

Installation shot... see my Situation Ossification in the background.

the big white guy... re-vamped

Last week I re-worked the piece I made for Redux last winter, Situation Ossification, so that it could fit into the CofC student gallery. This meant shaving off some length and width and re-shaping the contour, which proved to be a rather simple task. I worried about compromising the integrity of a site-based piece... perhaps I still do. But I'm glad it gets to have a longer life. And to reach a new audience.

Vessel

made entirely of steel (found, reclaimed, and purchased)
17' x 31' x 22'
on display at Franconia Sculpture Park for the 2010-2011 season

installation day

So, it finally happened. After much trouble shooting, we were finally able to get this thing into place. I hadn't realized that I'd created such a monster until it came time to move it. I found, on what I thought was installation day, that my sculpture was too heavy and wide to lift as is with the crane. No worries. That just meant I had to cut it into 2 parts, move them separately, and weld them back into place on-site. So after welding on the last few pieces on the very top (scary and fun), grinding a seam that could tastefully fit back together, and driving into Minneapolis and back to pick up a fancy gas-generated welder, you better believe I was ready for action!

Almost there!

We moved the big part first. Here is Artistic Director John Hock hooking her up for some heavy lifting.

And up we go! It lifted without any problems!

Lowering onto the trailer resulted in some bending and warping, but I didn't sweat, because it wasn't anything I couldn't fix on-site.

Just going for a walk to the far side of the park.

Lowering into place. Time for part 2.

By the time both pieces were on on-site the sun had started to set...

But of course that didn't stop me from welding it back together!

getting there and goofing off

crane action

Earlier this week we fired up the crane and attached the top piece of my sculpture. A very exciting event, indeed.

a special thanks to John Hock (artistic director), Bobby Zokaites (park manager), and Tom Streit (fellow intern) for all of their gracious assistance

and the journey continues... only 2 weeks left!

coming along

Piece by piece, it's coming together. Last week I met a nice man named George who kindly snapped these photos of me working. He stopped by the park on his way up into Canada. A 10 day trip of motorcycling around Lake Superior... check out his quality travel blog HERE for photos.
Now that I've got the basic structure built, my time is spent cutting cutting cutting and welding away.

Working outside has its ups and downs. It gets pretty darn hot out here during the day time. And the nighttime mosquitoes are mildly carnivorous. Rain pours down in unexpected sheets, causing a panicked shuffle to get the high-voltage tools into the barn. But I'll tell you... the landscaped. My God, the landscape makes it all worth it. I can't help but feel more and more that my piece is becoming a part of the landscape. The backdrop of cornfields and cartoon clouds... this is something entirely new to me... and I love it.

Franconia Sculpture Park

It's been a month. And I still kind of don't even know what to say. I hesitate to try to define my experience out here with words, with the fear that it might cheapen it. Life on the park is rich. Our days are full. Work is hard. But it feels good. In such a short amount of time I've become not only a weed-whacking monster, but a grass-planting manic, a thistle-pulling beast, AND a ladder-climbing acrobat painter. 7 days a week we interns work for the park. We spend the morning doing various tasks, such as those mentioned above, and have the afternoons to work on our own sculptures. My piece is coming along. I arrived with plans and models for 2 ideas, and ditched them 2 days in. I'm much more happy with what I've conjured up.

I spent the first few days constructing this scale model. Though I was committed to the form, I was all over the place as far as materials go. I finally decided just to go with steel. Lots and lots of steel. And I plan to make so that it can be disassembled and moved to another location if the opportunity arises. Once my 1000 linear feet of #3 rebar arrived, I got to bending in no time. I prefer to bend the rod without the use of tools. I feel that by using my body I am able to get the material to do what I want it to do. It's a very physical/spiritual process... not easy to explain.

Roughly 2 weeks into my stay, my professor Jarod and his wife Jennifer stopped by to say hello. It just so happened that they were in town for a wedding, and though they both went to school out here (the University of Minnesota) they had yet to experience Franconia Sculpture Park's new location. It was really great to see them... to show them around the park, to show them what I'm working on. Very cool. Everything about this SURF project seems to be working out just right.

More in-progress photos to come!