recenlty in the studio

i have been in the studio trying to make a few new pieces before the end of the year.

I have been using mirror and using the sandblaster to removes areas of the mirror from the back.

 

i like the affect but i am not sure if it is too hard to see. 

maybe the images need to be simpler?

these are professional shots in the studio. its almost necessary for this work to be able to see it properly.

i think i need to keep working on this idea, its not quite there yet.

but there is something....

this image above worked quite well. one mirror is the positive of the image and the other is a reflection and the negative of the image. i find it really interesting. this is hanging in my house now - trying to see if it is working. but i think i will investigate the reflection, positive negative again in my work.

i have also been working on a 3 panel black fire polished piece

here is the studio image of it.

and some detail images

i have entered this one into an art competition. i find out in the new year if i was successful.

socks and stripes

its always a good idea to revisit the public art installations a little while after they have been installed.

 

This way you can see what they look like after a few weeks/months of being there. You can see the whole scenario without the install equipment in place, and you can document the work.

last week we went back to the playground where adam and joe helped us install the windsocks and stripes.

the poles with the stripes look good.

 

they are all different and add a bit of contrast to the poles

 

the bright colours of the poles and windsocks match each other well.

 

its good to see the windsocks are still attached and the poles they are attached to are still vertical. not that they wouldn't be but sometimes after a job is complete you worry about these things that are necessary.

its nice to see them moving in the wind

 

the numbers and stripes standing out in the play areas

 

overall a good job, the council was very happy with the result and so were we

 

artwork and scaffolding

while i have been unable to use my right hand for much that does not mean that nothing is happening. luckily for me i work with someone who doesn;t mind doing more than her fair share when required and my brother is visiting for a couple months. so we have 5 good hands between the three of us.

deb and i had a small job that needed installing for the city council. we enlisted adam's help and deb;s partner joe to get the install done. my job was mostly watching, documenting and a bit of safety bunting positioning and a tiny bit of painting. 

the first part of the job was to erect the scaffolding. this took a fair amount of time as it was going to be set up for a 4 meter platform, and Adam had never worked with scaffolding before.

 

once it was up we rolled it into place and leveled it. then the safety bunting went around. 

this was especially important as we were installing in a popular kids playground area. 

 

the job we had to do was to install 3 windsocks on top of 3 wooden posts that were already in place. we also had to paint some lines and numbers on 10 metal poles that were already in place. 

so adam and deb climbed up to the top of the scaffold with a large stainless steel pole and drilled holes, bolted it in place and secured the windsock in place. 

 

then we had to move the whole set up to the next location, making sure not to run over any kids or families in the process.

and again install the stainless steel pole and windsock. joe and i were on safety, making sure no one entered the safety zone for a ball, and making sure adam and deb had everything they needed.

after the second windsock was up, we relocated to the third and final wooden post, but had to reconfigure the scaffolding. not so easy to do but adam and deb and joe were pros at this point

the final windsock is in place and we can pack down for the day. it took us most of the time to set the scaffold up. but after that smooth sailing. 

more photos of the final artwork in a week or so when i get to documenting it properly.

but it was great having adam's help could not have done it without him.

all in a days work

at the studio deb and i often have a new helper - anna. she likes working with us.

on this occasion we are wrapping up some benches to be delivered and of course writing and drawing messages for the delivery men. 

she is a good helper

 

then switches jobs, now deb and i being interviewed about the mirrored artworks we installed earlier this year

they asked us questions separately and will edit the final interview together

we also were filmed walking around the building and doing lots of pointing.

the final video will be 90 seconds but the interview and filming took 3 hours! glad we are not actors.

bronze update

these photos were sent to me by the bronze fabricator. he is working on the patinas for the buckets. 

the buckets will be set on the concrete drawings we have made.

 

this set of buckets has a green patina. right now it is a bit full on but they will be rubbed back a bit and then these will get installed on the ripple concrete drawing

 

 this bronze bucket finished with a brown patina looks perfect.

eventually this will be installed on a tall ladder metal unit that we are still fabricating and that will sit in this reflection concrete drawing. the black ripples are to be the reflection of the ladder unit sitting in the water

 

the bucket on the chair bronze component is meant to have a grey patina. as it is it is still too patchy for us, but it can be changed, so we will wait and see what happens to the patina.

 

eventually this sculptural element will be set on this concrete drawing of the reflected sky.

we are still working on the metal ladder unit, and all the buckets will also have a glass component to them. these are being laminated as i type. and we should be able to begin our portion of work on them in the next couple of weeks. not much more to go now.

Meeting Stations

deb and i undertook a second design/art project in the new university building at the same time as Access All Levels. this was a set of Meeting Stations. 

this is what the Flinders university wrote about this project:

During their discussions with the architects the artists raised the notion of applying a similar version of their "Access All Levels" concept to the ‘meeting stations’ on levels 1-5. This would see large sections of angled mirror incorporated on each of the meeting units further inviting building occupants to engage with and explore the space as they travel through it. The result compliments the larger work of art extending interactions with the building itself.

this project happened very organically. we were visiting the architect and started talking about these meeting stations that were being designed to be placed on each floor of the university. 

 

the architects had a tall unit and a long seat unit designed. we liked them but had the idea that some unusual angles could be introduced and some of these angled panels could be mirrored, to again allow people in the building to see new views of the space.

 

so we mocked up a few ideas in some simple and rough timber forms

 

we gave these to the architect and he really liked them

 

from our simple forms he made these fancy computer drawings.

 

timber number side

 

angled mirror side view

 

top view

side view

we were consulted a couple of times, to discuss angles, and the issue of fabrication and just to generally talk about the idea. and then the architects coordinated the fabrication and install. this is not how we are used to working on projects, but in this scenario it seemed to work really well and the final objects are really beautiful. 

 

these are some photos we had taken by a professional photographer.

 

the mirror and timber units work really well together

 

the angular mirror panels allowing you to see many different parts of the building together in one view.

as you can see the entire building itself is beautiful, even the furnishing they have selected are very nice and the mirrored meeting stations sit well in this environment.

it has been unusual being so far removed from the actual making and manufacturing of the units, but i guess that is because we both have a history in craft and making with our hands

but this is more how designers usually work, and often how some aspects of public art are made.

 

the final results are working though, and we are very happy to have been a part of these 2 large art/design projects.