Theo Jansen's Beach Creatures

I am sure everyone has seen a video of Theo Jansen's kinetic sculptures at some point. Below is a Ted Talks video of him presenting his work. He refers to these as creatures or animals giving them names and calling them by species. During the video he breaks down certain components of the these machines made out of electrical tubing. He shows how the legs work and how each has a sense of direction, so when it touches water it knows when to turn around. Also, he shows the inner workings of each machines brain and nose. It is funny to hear him talk about these creatures as living breathing things that will one day live on their own. Hope you check this out!

Piece for Art History Class

This is a piece I am working on for Dr. Wellman's art history class. It will be attached to an air pump when I am finished, making it look like he is blowing up a balloon.. I am trying to step outside my comfort zone with this, which is why I am working with the figure. This is my first time ever sculpting a bust and working solid. So far I have been struggling with the eyes and haven't started on the ears yet. 

In Progress/ Frustrating Piece

This is how I felt at the beginning of the week. I was getting really frustrated with parts of my new piece, mainly because it is larger than the majority of my work (Hopefully everyone has seen Office Space...).

I am feeling a better about it now. There will be some pipes added to the sides, so it's not completely done being constructed. I am playing around with how the machine appears to be assembled, so it doesn't appear to be rectangular pieces of metal bolted together. Recently, I have been looking at the curves and bends of brass instruments. Also, after getting the large pipe assembled It reminded me somewhat of Tim Hawkinson's 'Uberorgan,' which got me thinking more about sound and possibly incorporating it into the work somehow.

New Crank Machine

Here is a new crank machine I finished. The rivets are a little excessive, so I am not sure how I feel about the surfacing yet. The two cranks help distribute the weight of the whole crank evenly, which helps it rotate better. 

Shit Happens...

I put my stamping machine into the GAA show in the Bates Gallery and the handle broke while in use. After working like this, I have become more emotionally detached from my pieces, so when they break, I'm not frustrated. I don't make my pieces with the intention of them breaking, but in reality machines break down sometimes and need maintenance. My piece is just like any other machine in that regard. I placed an "out of order" sign on the piece until the part is fixed. This morning I was able to remake the part, so it will be replaced in about a week. Also, the reaction of the person who broke it was priceless!

Calder's "Circus"

Here is a video of Alexander Calder performing his "Circus." It is a pretty funny video, my favorite parts are the figure blowing up the balloon (go figure...) and the trapeze artists. Enjoy!

New Stamping Machine

Here are some images of my new stamping machine. I also attached a couple of in-progress images of how I surfaced the handle and worked out kinks in the stamp to get it to work correctly. I figured out that I needed the paper on top of a soft surface when using the stamp to get it to get an even coat. In hindsight, realized it would be better to have a part built onto the piece for the ink pad and paper to slide in and out.

Testing out the stamp I made. The yellow ink did not show up well, so I decided to use black instead.

Letting the tool dip dry on the handle.

Etienne-Jules Marey's Pneumatic Studies

I have always enjoyed looking at things the relate art and science in some way. Marey's work consisted of many photographic and film studies of humans and animals. I am drawn more to his pneumatic studies and the wild machines he used to complete this research. My favorite is an image of pneumatic drums strapped to a bird in flight. Here are some other images and drawings of his work (some of them look pretty funny).

 

                    

Trying some new ideas

I have been playing around with ways to exaggerate how machines look instead of making it look like an old piece of machinery. Also, I am thinking about other surface ideas instead of using metallic surfaces. There will be another part to this piece with an air pump, so a balloon will inflate out the large opening.