The following video is from Love+ Light, an exhibit at the Loveland, Colorado Feed and Grain building Feb. 10th 2012. I’d like to thank my good friend Jon Gacke for the video edit. The show was organized by Megan Tracy and Carrie Johansing-Heintzleman featuring over 30 artisans. The building has been secured by artspace.org and will be a new resource to the artistic community of Loveland. At this point it is a 120 year old grain processing facility that has never been modernized. It’s an incredible time capsule. I chose the particular room to show in because of the markings on the columns, the machine, and the abundance of grain chutes. More information can be found at loveandlightloveland.com for the show, and lovelandfeedandgrain.org for the building.
The other two images are of a current project on my workbench.
Look out Marfa, and Alpine, Tx. I am on my way!!! next week, the 27th Feb… Call Me!
I had some fun in the studio over the holiday break.
Come see my latest sculptures and several more incredible artists this Friday night at the new Opiate galley in Old Town Fort Collins Colorado.
But for those of you who can not…
I’ve been a busy bee lately! One commission was for a pair of Bedside Reading lamps. I made a third to work through my concept. The client requested dimmable LED bulbs on this and a previous project. They work great! The Base of the lamps are from vintage film projectors and include the utility of the original drawer compartment. The brass, ball shaped shade pivots on two axis. The arms are made of Carbon Fiber and Phenolic with glass marbles. The arm is adjustable by the knob on the base. See more, including video here.
I had a group show opening at a new space Opiate Gallery in old town Fort Collins, Co. Dec. 2nd
I also completed a clock commission last week. I used glass stopcocks to mark the hours and a hemispherical mirror for the body. The clock is 10″ diameter.
Circle me! Sure enough… just as I got my personal profile on Google+ they introduced new page templates?! So I just built one for the studio. My apologies to those of you whom I connected to my personal profile… here is the one for the studio too
I finished a commission for a set of goggles, and went a little over board making 4 pairs. And I did another commission for a bracelet. The goggles are titled the Technician, Inventor, the Welder, and the Pilot. The two hand piece sculptures are a project I have been working on for some time addressing border violence issues at the Tx./ Mex. border. They are evil, with cock fighting knives, and Vietnam era flechette grenades. The thumb pieces are corn shucking tools. They include relics from Shafter, Tx. I intend to make a right hand glove in a very similar fashion. But not before Halloween this year. I hope to do a photo shoot with these wearable sculptures later this fall.
During my recent trip to the Big Bend region of Tx. I installed a commissioned sculpture I made for a child’s bedroom. Some of the parts used in it’s construction came from the area. I lived there from 1998- 2003. Funny to have them roll around in my studio for a decade only to have them go back to the same area I found them in. It is a great sculpture complete with custom switch plate.
During my trip I got to visit my favorite spot in Marfa, Tx.
So Busy!… Parenting during the summer schedule, A new commission project, and mouse orders! The commission is for an Orrery/ Chandelier/ Mobile and installs in August… more soon.
Here are a few images from the workbench…
The latest mouse is for sale at the moment….
Recently one of my favorite sculptures had an unfortunate encounter with a gravity field and had to come back to it’s birthplace, my studio, for repairs. This gave me the opportunity to get some video of this incredible sculpture Frontier Cartography Droid
I was also able to get video of another sculpture from the same customer when I did a bulb change to Sweet Dream Tetrode
Aspen leaves spinning over a sunlit Colorado stream, and a diverse student community are associations woven into this suspended kinetic sculpture. The 25 x 50 x 6′ work is composed of stainless steel cable, tube and rod, and 920 variously textured aluminum panels. The sculpture folds and unfolds like a curtain of branches stirring a reflective texture.
Forever shifting, changing and unfolding: The Fabric of Knowledge
The Fabric of Knowledge aluminum, stainless steel
25 x 50 x 6′
Colorado State University
Behavioral Sciences Building – South Atrium
2011
I am getting close enough to releasing the latest versions of my custom wireless computer mouse that I am now taking preorders. There is a 4 week lead-time. If you preorder one in March they come with brass business card, and 1 inch Aaron Ristau Studio buttons for $250. Specific character keys, colors, and other features are available. Custom mouse pads coming soon as well!
I think this motor is from a very old barbershop sign. I welcome advice.
It will run for about 20 minutes on a full winding. Very low torque. I dipped and flushed the coil spring assembly in carburetor cleaner for a day instead of breaking that part all the way down. I am considering converting the motor over to roller bearings to see if I can get a little more power and longevity out of it. Now that I have cleaned it I can consider a sculptural concept that it will work in.
To see more detail on the disassembly and reassembly of the motor go to this page
New Sculpture “Fish Finder” from Aaron Ristau Studio
I was inspired by stream and lake trout fishing as a youth. I grew up spending time each summer fishing the streams and ponds around Turkey creek and Treasure Falls between Pagosa Springs and the Wolf Creek ski area of Colorado. I imagined a device that could process information related to the angler’s age old question, “Which lure to use today?” The question stayed with me. Fish Finder originated in 2001. I decided about 2004 that the sculpture had a great start, but was not complete. I’ve enjoyed finishing it this winter. Materials used include a bird skull given to me by one of my fishing buddies. He found it in a sunny spot in the dry spring snow melt. I did not tie the specific flys used in the sculpture but the ones I did put in I have used successfully all over Colorado. Fly tying techniques have been fun to use in making sculpture over the years. The bell jar has local plant matter in it. Other materials include stainless, aluminum, phenolic, carbon fiber, and brass. The reclaimed components came from several devices including a vacuum tube insulator, a lab glass bell jar, a portion of an MRI vacuum tube cathode. And a Rotary switch contact wheel from a mechanical city/ municipality water volume counting meter. Reclaimed from the Big Bend area of Texas. The original rack mounted aluminum case with door is from a 1950’s airport remote control relay panel, reclaimed from the Big Bend, Texas area as well.
Please see the HD video to fully appreciate this kinetic sculpture. Fish Finder complements a small body of related works seen here; Atomic and Marfa Light Repeater.
I was inspired by stream and lake trout fishing as a youth. I grew up spending time each summer fishing the streams and ponds around Turkey creek and Treasure Falls between Pagosa Springs and the Wolf Creek ski area of Colorado. I imagined a device that could process information related to the angler’s age old question, “Which lure to use today?” The question stayed with me. Fish Finder originated in 2001. I decided about 2004 that the sculpture had a great start, but was not complete. I’ve enjoyed finishing it this winter.
Materials used include a bird skull given to me by one of my fishing buddies. He found it in a sunny spot in the dry spring snow melt. I did not tie the specific flys used in the sculpture but the ones I did put in I have used successfully all over Colorado. Fly tying techniques have been fun to use in making sculpture over the years. The bell jar has local plant matter in it. Other materials include stainless, aluminum, phenolic, carbon fiber, and brass. The reclaimed components came from several devices including a vacuum tube insulator, a lab glass bell jar, a portion of an MRI vacuum tube cathode. And a Rotary switch contact wheel from a mechanical city/ municipality water volume counting meter. Reclaimed from the Big Bend area of Texas. The original rack mounted aluminum case with door is from a 1950’s airport remote control relay panel, reclaimed from the Big Bend, Texas area as well.
Please see the HD video to fully appreciate this kinetic sculpture. Fish Finder complements a small body of related works seen here; Atomic and Marfa Light Repeater.
Miss Piggy spacecraft stomps through the universe in her spiked heels, out of control, sucking up all the oxygen from positive spaces. Absorbing the positive energy around her, after processing it, she disperses it in a chaotic fashion. This suspended sculpture, built around the shell of a recycled spot light, has multicolored lights indicating “me, me, me,” and features a rotating projection from below, and a plasma discharge engine for propulsion. 45 Watts total power.
Chair side Quadruped Floor Lamp will keep watch over you. The neck can be positioned and tensioned to adjust the reach over a chair. The lamp shade at the top pivots and has a separate power switch at the base. The base body is made from an old stage light acquired from Hollywood, Ca. The rear blue glass is a custom vintage shape. Pistons create the transition to the legs. The arm to the shade above is constructed of a CB whip antenna with cord wrapped onto the antenna with cloth ribbon. Adjustable tension by a stainless cable creates the curve in the arm.
Loveland, Colo. (August 3rd, 2010) – Artist Aaron Ristau’s most recent artwork will be debuted to the public at his upcoming exhibition, “Aaron’s Art Lab 2010.” Art Lab Loveland will host Ristau and his work at its gallery in downtown Loveland at 218 E. 4th St. An opening night reception will be held on August 13th from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
His new collection features technology recycled and re-crafted into sculpture. More than 30 light and kinetic sculptures will be featured including a custom computer mouse, mechanical sculptures, a remote controlled spacecraft light sculpture, retro punk-style accessories, mobiles, floor lamps, wall sculptures, chandeliers and night lights.
Ristau’s art has previously been exhibited at several galleries throughout Texas and Colorado and featured at MAKE Magazine’s 2008 Maker Faire in Austin, Texas.
Loveland, Colo., artist Aaron Ristau has a fascination with creating art that blends nostalgic aesthetics with contemporary function. His whimsical mechanisms and functional lighting assemblages are an intricate integration and redefinition of reclaimed components he discovers at yard sales, attics, garages and auctions. Ristau’s inspiration for light sculpture began with his exposure to the “Marfa Lights” phenomena while living in the Big Bend, Texas area artist community from 1998 to 2003. With a professional background in industrial technology, interdisciplinary fabrication and repair, Ristau currently works as an installation and fabrication technician at ARC Science Simulations, creators of the OmniGlobe®, in Loveland, Colo.
“Aaron’s Art Lab 2010″ runs August 13 through September 4. Gallery hours are Fridays from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturdays from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, please call Aaron Ristau at (970) 420-4523.
About Aaron Ristau
Loveland, Colo., artist Aaron Ristau has a fascination with creating art that blends nostalgic aesthetics with contemporary function. His whimsical mechanisms and functional lighting assemblages are an intricate integration and redefinition of reclaimed components he discovers at yard sales, attics, garages and auctions. With a professional background in industrial technology, interdisciplinary fabrication and repair, Ristau currently works as an installation and fabrication technician at ARC Science Simulations, creators of the OmniGlobe®, in Loveland, Colo. For more information, please visit www.aaronristau.com.
About Art Lab Loveland
You’ve seen those empty storefronts as you’ve wandered the streets of downtown Loveland. They look like buildings that need some energy to make them happy again. That’s what Art Lab Loveland is all about. We’re temporarily filling those wonderful buildings with art, innovation, music, smiling faces.
Last week I helped install the latest Omni Globe at the Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium in Saint Johnsbury, Vermont. The building, staff, and collection is incredible. They have a wonderful 1950′s planetarium upstairs, complete with working Spitz projector.
artist Aaron Ristau showcased at Art lab fort collins
Gallery to Host Opening Reception July 2
Fort Collins, Colo. (June 14, 2010) – Artist Aaron Ristau’s most recent artwork will be debuted to the public at his upcoming solo exhibition, “Aaron’s Art Lab 2010.” Art Lab Fort Collins will host Ristau and his work at its gallery in Old Town Fort Collins at 239 Linden St. An opening night reception will be held on July 2 from 6 to 9 p.m., where local band Speed Whiskers will perform live.
His new collection features technology recycled and re-crafted into sculpture. More than 25 light and kinetic sculptures will be featured including a custom computer mouse, mechanical sculptures, a remote controlled spacecraft light sculpture, retro punk-style accessories, mobiles, floor lamps, wall sculptures, chandeliers and night lights.
Ristau’s art has previously been exhibited at several galleries throughout Texas and Colorado and featured at MAKE Magazine’s 2008 Maker Faire in Austin, Texas.
Loveland, Colo., artist Aaron Ristau has a fascination with creating art that blends nostalgic aesthetics with contemporary function. His whimsical mechanisms and functional lighting assemblages are an intricate integration and redefinition of reclaimed components he discovers at yard sales, attics, garages and auctions. Ristau’s inspiration for light sculpture began with his exposure to the “Marfa Lights” phenomena while living in the Big Bend, Texas area artist community from 1998 to 2003. With a professional background in industrial technology, interdisciplinary fabrication and repair, Ristau currently works as an installation and fabrication technician at ARC Science Simulations, creators of the OmniGlobe®, in Loveland, Colo.
“Aaron’s Art Lab 2010″ runs July 2 through July 10. Gallery hours are Fridays from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Saturdays from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, please call Aaron Ristau at (970) 669-1816.
About Aaron Ristau
Loveland, Colo., artist Aaron Ristau has a fascination with creating art that blends nostalgic aesthetics with contemporary function. His whimsical mechanisms and
functional lighting assemblages are an intricate integration and redefinition of reclaimed components he discovers at yard sales, attics, garages and auctions. With a professional background in industrial technology, interdisciplinary fabrication and repair,
Ristau currently works as an installation and fabrication technician at ARC Science Simulations, creators of the OmniGlobe®, in Loveland, Colo. For more information, please visit www.aaronristau.com.
About Art Lab Fort Collins
You’ve seen those empty storefronts as you’ve wandered the streets of Old Town Fort Collins. They look like buildings that need some energy to make them happy again. That’s what Art Lab Fort Collins is all about. We’re temporarily filling those wonderful buildings with art, innovation, music, smiling faces until a new tenant comes along. When a new tenant decides to move in, we just move on to the next empty space. Watch the empty storefronts for something new in Old Town. For more information, please visit www.artlabfortcollins.org.
My new UFO sculpture has dual LED lamps with remote control of 13 colors including fade and strobe features. It works on 110vac- 250vac… It can be used around the world. The top is a well used Pearl brand symbol. The body is steel with optics placed along the outer edge to spread color on adjacent surfaces. Etched glass rods hang from below and glow with the inner light.
I have started working with ARC Science Simulations, creators of the Omni Globe. I will be doing production and installation on these incredible 3D projection display’s.
Applied Kinetic Arts (A.K.A.) is a community of artists working within the medium loosely defined as “kinetic”. Works incorporating motion, light, sound, and interactivity are represented by the group’s ever expanding member base. A.K.A. was founded in 2007 by artists Christopher T. Palmer and Nemo Gould with the intention of raising public awareness of this art form and providing a support network for its members, and others working within the genre.
On this website you will find RSS streams from some of our members own blogs which will provide a peek into the studios and processes behind this unique approach to art making. Check the members section to learn about our contributors, see examples of their finished work, and find links to their personal sites.
Please feel free to post your comments and help spread the word about us. It is your interest and support that make it possible for artists like us to find an audience and shape the future of contemporary art.
This website does not seek profit from sales. Please contact artists directly if you are interested in purchasing or showing their work.
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