"Home" - 2012, A Heartfelt Gesture.

Back in 2003, I made a motor-driven piece called "Heart in Hand". It was powered by an old 8mm camera motor and had a figure that opened his arms to reveal his heart. I wanted to a similar piece where a figure was opening his coat to reveal his chest and/or heart. This piece is similar in action to "Dubious", who I made back in 2008.

As always, click on image for large picture.

Here is the piece closed. An electric motor operates 2 cams and levers that move his arms.

"Home" open. Right before his arms open, a small flicker lightbulb is illuminated by the means of a cam and a switch. When the piece is switched on, he opens his arms to reveal his heart. He pauses for a second, and then closes his arms. His right arm opens and closes slightly ahead of his left. The light goes off when his arms are fully closed.

A closer shot of his chest.

The Process

Starting out, I cut out and carved his torso, then I cut out the center to create a cavity in his chest. I added a socket to hold a lightbulb here.

I not only had to run the electric wire along each leg, but also run a cable housing, which contain the cables that operates each arm.

Here you can see the support rod, the electric line, and the cable housing, as they come out from the bottom of each shoe.

Once all the work on the inside was done, I trimmed down the piece I had cut out to about 1/8", and glued it back on. Small pieces of wood make up for the saw kerf.

Shoes, ready to be carved.

Done carving.

Here I'm working out the length and shape of the arms, and where the hands need to be.

The hands, carved from basswood, will hold the ends of the coat.

The 2 arms - yes, one is slightly longer than the other, it's just the way they worked out.

The flickering light bulb inside his chest. At this point in the process, I wasn't sure how much of the bulb I wanted to be seen. You can also see the cable housings for each arm.

His body ready for paint. You can see the cable housing for the right arm goes in his chest and down his left leg. And vise versa for the left.

His head, painted and ready for assembly.

His chest during assembly. I thought I might just put a wire cage over the bulb, but it looked odd. That's why you see decoupaged paper on the inside.

A test of the mechanism.

I opted for a thin piece of plastic with only a heart shape to reveal the flickering "flame" inside.

The two levers that operate the cables. Because these are situated so very close to each other, they each had to have a special connection, as you can see.

The mechanism. I added a third cam that operates the light inside his chest.

His suitcase - made from a block of wood, some spare parts, and the cover of an old bible.

Here is the movie......watch full screen.

For higher quality you can watch it on YouTube here.

Thanks for looking!

tom

I'm Participating in Two Shows!

I'm participating in two shows that open today........

One is here in Atlanta, at the Spruill Gallery called "Elements: Mixed Materials" and features work by Kem Alexander, Andrew Crawford, Stephen Hayes, Maxine Hull, and Steven Sachs. I will be showing 4 pieces, including "Home" and "Doppelganger". The opening is tonight and the show will be up until March 2nd.  The Spruill Gallery is located at 4681 Ashford Dunwoody Road, Atlanta, GA 30338. More info here.

Also, Red Truck Gallery is representing my work at the LA Art Show - Booths 744 & 746
January 23-27 @ The LA Convention Center.
More info here. 

Check out these shows if you get a chance!

"Doppelgänger" - 2012

This piece was inspired by my 2006 piece, "Suspicion". As in "Suspicion", the two men look at each other alternately as if wondering about their life's paths, and how if the choices they've made were the right ones. It could be looked at from the "grass is always greener" perspective. By making the figure's faces as identical as possible, I further convey the idea of "other self".

The piece measures 30 1/2" x 26" x 8". This piece is sold.

A link to the movie is below....

The final shot of "Doppelgänger". This piece is larger than it looks here.

Before I added the fence, I took the following shot to show to a friend. You can see the head is turned on the man on the left.

Here I'm roughing out the legs and torsos. A rod will run up each leg, through the torso and up to the neck.

 

Almost finished with the carving. I like how their long legs came out. Also, if you haven't noticed, their bodies are mirror images of each other.

The hands, carved from basswood.

The shoes of the man in the suit.

The two figures, ready to be painted, are 21" tall, larger than any figures I've ever made. I designed the figures to each have one hand in their pocket. Their positions are flipped in this picture.

Making the pants for the suit. I'm getting better at this.....these were the right size the first time. Sometimes I have to remake the clothes if they're too small. It's easy enough to make baggy clothes, but my challenge is to make clothes that fit "just right".

After all the clothes are made, I dip them in my special aging liquid - water with a little raw umber acrylic paint. The clothes dry while I move onto painting the figures.

Just before I start painting....

The figures after they have been painted and aged. The man in shorts will hold a book in his hand......

...and the man in the suit will carry a attaché case.

The two heads are almost identical. I made a mold of one face to make the other face.

The bottom of their feet - showing the holes for the rods that control the heads.

The base in the process of staining. After this I will paint it, age it, and finish it with a application of paste wax.

The final images of each figure holding their appropriate prop. I made the "fence" from 2 aluminum tubes and a piece of scrap metal my wife found somewhere.

The mechanism - 2 cams and 2 levers. This was shot before I glued the top of the base on; I had to do all this work with the top off so I had clear access. BTW the cams are yet to be cut.

The mechanism from the back - one cam and lever for each head.

The movie..... watch full screen. 

Thanks for looking!

tom

Boxcar Fair in exhibition in Milwaukee.......

If you happen to be in Milwaukee over the next 2 weeks, I have the complete Fortune Teller's tent scene, including the 2 figures, from our Boxcar Fair video in this exhibition - 

Role Playback:

Role Playback: A second look at creative music video production

November 15th – December 14th

http://www.aux.uwm.edu/union/art_gallery/exhibitions/

Little Tybee on CNN......

 A great piece about Little Tybee! They highlight their musical and artistic approach - and my artwork sneaks into the conversation.

http://newsroom.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/23/little-tybee-more-than-just-music/

Their new album will be coming out in early 2013 and will feature the tune "Boxcar Fair", among other great works! Check them out on YouTube and iTunes....... and here - http://littletybee.com/

"Mixed Signals" - 2012

This was my last piece for my 2012 show at Obsolete.  Years ago, I created a figure called "Misguided"  and I've always wanted to make a kinetic version of it. 

This piece started out with the background first. Having multitudes of fabric scraps in my studio, I started by sewing together this set of samples that someone gave me - they are all very satiny, almost silk-like, fabric pieces. I sewed them all together and then aged them down with a watery wash of raw umber paint. I had an old typesetter's drawer sitting around, so I decided to pin the fabric up on this while it dried.  The piece sat around a few months while I was working on other pieces, but I always knew it would become another creation for my show. 

This piece measures 17" x 28" x 12", and is sold.

Here is the final shot of "Mixed Signals".  She raises the flag, twice straight out and once straight up. 

   

A closer shot of the figure. You'll notice I made her dress out of the same fabric I used for the background.                                                         

A shot of her head, showing her curls.

Another view of her head.

In the middle of carving her hands.

Her purposely elongated body.

Her back, showing the internal mechanism.

A detail shot of her flag, (can you tell I used the zigzag setting on my sewing machine? First time....)

Here I'm figuring out her outfit. It sort of evolved as I worked on it - first it was a dress, then it turned into a skirt.

I found this hinged card file box that was perfect for this piece - and the hinge made it easier to work on the mechanism.

The mechanism - the cam is yet to be cut. And the whole thing is upside down; I often work on the mechanisms this way.

The cam that controls her arm, cut and finished.

A quick movie.....

Thanks for looking!

tom