I just finished this piece, it’s titled “Up Draft”. After fooling around with several “flapping” mechanisms I settled on this configuration. Here’s a quick test before I put everything in place:
There was a bit of adjusting and fitting before everything came together. One neat feature, there’s a bit of spring action on the arm coming from the center post. This was intended to solve a problem where there was a bit too much push and pull. The result adds some nice additional movement.
Work in progress
It’s a good idea to let choice materials sit on a special shelf and marinate until the time is just right. Today, an old grocery store price stamp seemed ready to use . Someone in my building was throwing out an arm from a drafting machine and it contained a multitude of interesting parts including the very cool large gear shape on top.
The evolving concept for this piece is a small wheel which travels around. I plan to connect this to a crank-shaft which will extend vertically to something flying, perhaps. Here’s some quick video.
Quite awhile back I posted about some bunnies I had found at a local junk shop. This piece has been in development for some time and I’ve been taking it down off the “almost finished” shelf every now and then. Yesterday I had a bit of a brainstorm involving a home-made rack and pinion gear, hence we have bunny “teeth”. I hope everyone enjoys this little work.
Lately, my favorite source for material has been the MIT flea market which runs third Sundays through the late spring, summer and fall. It’s a great source for small parts, gears, antique tools and beautiful old electronic parts. I love the typography on these ancient capacitors and purchased a big pile.
I believe these will find their way into a piece + how can I go wrong with anything Cornell? Here’s some more stuff, excuse me now while I get to work!
I just put the finishing touches on my latest piece ” Hello Saul” and shot some rough video for your viewing enjoyment. I recently picked up a book “Saul Steinberg at the New Yorker “. He’s one of my favorite artists of all time and I’ve been enjoying this collection of work. This image has become stuck in my head.
Starting September on a good track with a nice tight little ratchet piece. Each revolution of the crank indexes the ratchet 1/5 of a turn. On each turn of the small ratchet the large ratchet indexes 1/12 of a turn. Here’s some shots:
The small ratchet from a sewing machine bobbin
I’m still getting used to the new space and trying to figure out the best way to photograph work as it’s developed. One of the best things about the new studio, it’s at home and I’m able to have long conversations with Frida and Buttercup, a SATO dog and Siamese cat.
Summer has been whizzing by, mostly devoted to some interesting animation and interactive freelance work and moving my studio. As mentioned in earlier posts my goal was to trim things down for my current work which is much smaller and compact.
moving day
I’ve been getting rid of stuff for months and as a result the move went very smoothly. The new space is wonderful, it’s located under my “office” in my live work loft. The office section on top is where I do animation and design work, below is the new home for Mechanical Confections. I love the way everything creative fits into this roughly 240 square foot two level space. Thankfully I’m only 5′6″ tall and the ceilings here are almost 14 feet high!
The work cube
I apologize in advance for a gargantuan lack of posts this late spring and summer. I’ve been busy cranking out animation and interactive design for a number of clients and relocating my studio to a smaller but sunny spot.
In the meantime I’m part of an exciting group show at The Schoolhouse Gallery in lovely Provincetown featuring work by Morgan Cohen, Eunju Kang, MP Landis, Paul Stopforth, Michelle Weinberg and Consuelo Isaacson. The show runs from Friday July 10 through Wednesday July 29 with an opening reception on July 10 7 - 10 P.
For those of you unable to see the show I will have video footage from the opening and photos after this exciting event takes place.
I picked up these bunnies today along with some other goodies at a local shop in Waltham Massachusetts. What ever are they clutching in their little paws? Look forward to seeing them in some new pieces.
bunnies marked down
Here’s a photo of my most recent small work “King Oliver” it’s the finished configuration of the mechanism from the previous post. I love the way this one came out, everything interacts beautifully, a very solid little piece, worth the reworking I did on the wooden handle.
King Oliver
Finally, speaking of “little” my next challenge is tiny! I’m scaling this one down using .0625 piano wire for the crank. The watch base from a few posts back fits perfectly for this one along with the gears which have been retrofitted to the handle.
tiny
If I keep going like this, soon I’ll be able to carry everything to a show in a single suitcase.
Last week was a whirl wind of openings and screenings. If I see any more pita bread and hummus I’m going to be sick! Here’s a photo of the trailer on screen from the Boston LGBT Film Festival.
trailer on screen
Meanwhile, I’ve been working on some interesting animation experiments and plowing away on small Mechanical Confections. Here’s one from the workbench last week.
at the start
Take a look at the video below and note some of the changes. Yesterday I ended up cracking the wood handle, replaced it and then decided on a new base. The old one ( made from an alarm clock ) was pretty neat but a bit wobbly. In the end I decided on something more solid. I’m happy with the result, it’s more substantial and should hold up to years of enjoyment.
BTW, Frida, my canine companion is under the workbench.
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