Rustnstuff: Installations

Showing posts with label Installations. Show all posts

Friday, November 4, 2016

Bending 5 nearing completion

Over the last couple of days I have put a bit of time into the progressing the commissioned leaf installation Bending 5. The installation is called Bending 5 because it is the 5th in the series - using a similar design. Each installation in the series varies slightly in terms of: the recycled copper metal used; size of leaf forms; the number of leaves; and whether the installation has base boards for indoor presentation. Bending 5 has 20 leaf forms on rods to mark a 20th anniversary.

I'm made 27 leaf forms in all - about 50mm wide and 180mm-200mm long. All leaves were patinated and coated in an acid free gloss art coating was after a further grind and polish of the edges to stop the patination process and the associated patina dust as they the leaves are to go on display inside.

The leaf forms are riveted to the rusted rods that I had hammered to produce a flat attaching blade. Two 1/8th inch thick copper rivets are used to attach each leaf form to the rods. I made 24 rods so I will attach 24 leaf forms.

The rusted rods are given a couple of coats of the same acid free gloss coating to stop the rusting and flaking indoors.

I cut, sanded and oiled the base boards today. They are made from salvaged Camphor Laurel timber purchased from a local timber supplier.

Over the weekend the rods will be trimmed to a suitable lengths; the leaf forms will be tweaked; and holes will be drilled into the base boards so that the installation can be put together. Photos of the finished installation will be shared on Sunday. Time to go have a cool crisp glass of white wine and relax for the evening.

Sunday, July 20, 2014

Sunflower prototype

I'm thinking of doing an installation of metal sunflowers. I had a bit of free time this afternoon so I decided to make a rough prototype.

I searched for sunflowers on the web and found that they varied in the number of petals etc. I have decided to make mine with 36 petals. Because I will be making at least 21 flowers I need to be able to stream line the process.

The petals and leaves on the prototype are a bit rough and pointy; but this will be refined now that I know the process and the component parts. I still have to work out a secure way of attaching the leaves to the stem - I have a couple of ideas to try. At the moment they are attached by crimping the stems of the leaves to the stalk and glueing them in place.

The photos look good with the afternoon casting golden light and shadows. Lovely bits of rust of the rust bank in the background. All recycled materials; and no grinding or polishing.

Friday, July 12, 2013

Calling for donations of Peace Leaves

In our busy world and lives it is not always easy to stop and be conscious of peace in our daily lives and the global village. International Day of Peace (IDoP) on 21 September tends to focus our minds a bit - at least for a day a year.

As part of the recognition of IDoP 2013 I plan to construct a Peace Tree that will be on display for about a week or more at the front of our block (which is on a tourist scenic drive) so that it might attract a bit of interest; and in addition to the Flags for Peace it might create a little more peace consciousness.

The plan is that I will make a wire tree form about 2-3m high similar to the smaller one (1.6m high) in the photo below; and I will adorn it with up to 1000 peace leaves in autumn colours.

Why autumn colours? Because the reds, organise, yellows, golds, silver etc stand out against the green background; and because autumn is before spring - just as consciousness of peace comes before peace ways of acting and living. Why 1000 leaves? It just reminds me of the the story of Sadako Sasaki and her 1000 peace cranes; and because it will take effort.

I intend to create as many anodised aluminium leaves as I can between now and 13 September. Each leaf will be stamped with the word peace (as in the photos below); or some small peace saying or wish.

But I know I will need a bit of help to create 1000 peace leaves. So if you want to donate a leaf or more to the peace spirit of the tree you could send me a leaf or two or more to PO Box 102 Maleny Queensland Australia 4552. The leaf would need to arrive by 13 Sept as I will attached the leaves from 14 September onwards.

The leaves can be in any medium (card board, stiff fabric, metal ceramic). I would request that the leaves be: in autumn colours; 4-6 inches (10cm-15cm) long; with the word peace or a peace wish incorporated into the leaf; and if possible a hole in the top end stringing and attaching to the tree branches in a similar fashion to the small Christmas tree (below) I did last year.

So if you want to donate a leaf or more than one (even heaps) there is about 6 weeks to create and send. The leaves will be exposed to the elements for a week or more leading up to International Day of Peace and beyond. I have used the term donate deliberately as I can't see my way to returning the leaf forms after the installation. I will blog etc on the tree and give recognition to those who donate a leaf for peace.

Peace.

Sunday, February 10, 2013

The Wall

Today I finally got around to starting the small wall of books that is going to be located near 601 mvr Studio Gallery (aka The Shed).

Two-three years ago I created an installation of three stacks of discarded encyclopaedias called Quiet Transition.

It has sat out in the open near The Shed for all that time; and the stacks are starting to gradually breakdown - probably take about another 2-3 years.

This gave me the idea of creating a small wall from discarded books I have been collecting in the garage.

The Wall is to be about .6m high and 10m long. It will run from the Peace Post alongside a stone river to the top entry to The Shed.

Today I started to create an earth pathway-pad; and cement continuous metal thread into the pathway about 1m apart. The metal three will hold planks in place to compress the books to enable them to last longer in the elements and to stop them toppling over.

As you can see from the photos above I got about half of the metal threads cemented in. Once that job is complete Fiona and I can start the process of creating The Wall by stacking books in overlapping layers.

One of the things I liked about doing the work on the book wall today was the fact that I found myself listening to Pink Floyd's album The Wall - I smiled about the possible contrast between the lyrics and the fact that we would be building a wall out of books. Hopefully some of these books could have torn the walls of ignorance and bias down not hemmed people in.