Varnish Fine Art “Relaunch Part II” opens tonight. See you there?

Last weekend marked the first show at my new studio and adjoining gallery. Many thanks to all who were able to attend, and the artists involved. Below is a photo set of the exhibition, reception, and a few images from the studios of Jeremy Mayer and Nemo Gould (myself).
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nemomatic/sets/72157628080026234/

Big show tonight everybody. 305 Center street, Oakland 5-9pm.

Don’t let the headlines discourage you folks, Oakland is lovely this time of year. Especially at 305 Center Street tomorrow night and Saturday afternoon! We’re almost all set up and hope to see you here.

New sculpture: “Conganaut”

Here is the rear view of my new piece “Conganaut”

This is a detail shot of my new piece “Conganaut”.

Here is a video of my new piece titled “Conganaut”

New piece: “Inward and Onward”.

This is a detail of the torso and interior of my new piece “Inward and Onward”.

This is a detail shot of the head of my new piece “Inward and Onward”.

Here is a video of my new piece “Inward and Onward”

I’m pleased to announce that I’ll be showing my “Re:Animated” sculpture at Varnish Fine Art’s exhibit: Relaunch Part II.

The reception will be Saturday Nov. 12 from 4-8 pm.

Family resemblance.

Conga Rocket “engine”, nose cone, and “brain”. I’m always surprised when these things actually work. This one has lights and motor on separate circuits activated by a keychain remote control button.

I’ll have a couple pieces at the Blooom Art Fair in Cologne soon thanks to Strychnin Gallery.  Details below.

ART FAIR AND BLOOOM COLOGNE

Strychnin Gallery at Art Fair and BLOOOM in Cologne, from the 29th of Ocotber until the 1st of November:

Staatenhaus am Rheinpark
Auenweg 17
50679 Cologne
Germany

Please join us for the grand opening of the Lost & Foundry!

On Friday November 4th, 5-9 PM (Oakland’s first Friday) we will open our doors for our first exhibit and open house.  We are very excited to share our new space located a half block from West Oakland BART:  

305 Center Street, Oakland CA.

Come see machine inspired sculpture and painting by artists:

Nemo Gould – www.nemomatic.com

Eric Joyner – www.ericjoyner.com

Jeremy Mayer – www.jeremymayer.com

Benjamin Cowden – www.twentysevengears.com

Mark Galt 

The studios of Jeremy Mayer and Nemo Gould will also be open for viewing throughout the exhibit and through the following afternoon (Sat. Nov. 5, 1-5pm).  The show will be open by appointment through Nov. 12, 9AM – 5PM (415-894-5361)

Here’s the video for my new piece “Baby Squid”.

Check here for more information: http://tinyurl.com/3fn7hh5

New “Baby Squid” sculpture.

This is the first piece completed in my new studio!

Check here for more information: http://tinyurl.com/3fn7hh5

Back in 2008 I helped build some giant boxing robots for a Discovery Channel show called “Prototype This”.  Its kind of old news now, but the show just popped back up on Netflix.  If you’re a subscriber, check out episode one (I’m only on screen for a few moments though).

http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Prototype_This/70179983?trkid=496624

P.S. Here’s a link with some more background about the experience when it was still fresh in my mind:

http://www.nemomatic.com/nemomatic/press_blog/Entries/2008/10/28_Discovery_Channel%3A_Prototype_This%21.html

This is a counterweight mechanism I’m working on for my Conga Rocket project. The idea is to hang the rocket from a universal joint so that this machine causes the whole thing rock back and forth in space.

http://tinyurl.com/3lj9kkr

I will have my sculpture “Centipede” on display at Extreme Materials II, opening Oct. 22nd at Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester N.Y.  The show runs through January 15, 2012.

Visit http://mag.rochester.edu for more details.

More info about “Centipede” can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/3lj9kkr

We’re building a gallery in our space for a show November 4th. Stay tuned!

Conga rocket is now armed! I used a bunch of LEDs to get the nose to glow. Its so bright it actually throws a beam.

I’m stating to work on a “Bongo Rocket”. It will be interesting to attempt a ceiling hanging piece. I’ve never really done that before.

“There is no try, only do”

This image represents just a small sample of the incredible donation of treasures I received this weekend! Deep sincere thanks to my long time friend, tutor, and collaborator Christopher Palmer (CTP). This is just what I needed to get back into the swing of things in the new studio.

Nice donation of mixed weirdness from the good people of Five Ton Crane. Thanks guys!

Working on a warriors helmet for a pool table leg.

Here’s the little homunculus for my new piece. He’s an unholy marriage of a violin scroll and a candlestick.

This is the piece I was working on before I had to move out of my last studio.  Its been waiting in boxes until I had the chance to get back to work.  Jeremy recently donated a busted rocking chair which happened to have the perfect arms for it!  There is a mechanism in the base that causes him to “walk” in place.  I’m working out the details of a tiny figure who will be in a sort of control room in the chest cavity. 

Got another archaic exercise machine this weekend. I’ve seen these around over the years but never actually taken one back to the studio. It has a pretty interesting range of movement. Bound to be useful eventually.

I’ve been fumbling with this old radio cabinet for quite some time now. I still can’t say that I’ve figured it out what to do with it, but at least now it rocks back and forth.
I’m planning to build out the area around the fake fireplace to be a large mouth, making the cabinet into a sort of giant head. For now anyway…..

I’ve had a little over a week in my new shop now so I suppose its time to get back in the habit of posting.  I’ve got a way to go before I feel totally settled in, but I’m getting there with the help of some small projects.  

Shown here is a recurring theme of repurposing fishing reels.  In this case it will be a little squid.  The reel’s mechanism will cause the majority of the tentacles to rotate and the remaining two will move back and forth.

New studio!

As many of you know, I recently lost my studio of many years in Berkeley, CA.  Well, its been in the works for about three months now, but I’ve finally settled in to my considerably cooler (bigger!) new studio in Oakland!  The attached slideshow documents the process of building out and moving in to the space.  The building began its life as a foundry and then sat abandoned for many years.  The 1:39 minute mark on the slideshow shows the condition of the place once it was handed over to me (cleared out, new slab floor, plumbing and electrical fixtures).  The rest was up to me to figure out.  It was a real treat to be able to spread out and design specific work areas and storage areas for raw materials (junk), and finished work separately.  I’m thrilled to finally be getting back to work this week, and look forward to begin sharing the results!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boHZ1gN32Fk

Follow the link below for a nice survey of my “Nemo vs. Giant Squid” themed work.  Thanks to Simone Preuss for another great article.

http://1800recycling.com/2011/08/nemo-giant-squid-recycled-junk/

Oh glorious day! Finally done with the drywall in the gallery. Time to paint!

A while back I posted a photo of this cool old heavy duty cart I found on the curb.  Well, it finally occurred to me recently that it would be happier as a table.  The part of the sides that I cut off were reattached in the middle so now its the perfect solution to storing odd lengths of metal stock too!

Last week was the opening of “Gentle Giants” at Strcyhnin Gallery in Berlin.  Sadly I was not able to attend, but the good folks at the gallery sent me some photos that I’ve posted here.  It looks like it was a terrific event, and I’m sorry to have missed it.  There are some additional photos posted over on Strychnin’s blog:

http://strychningallery.wordpress.com/2011/07/16/3139/

The racks are starting to fill up, and someone left a shopping cart outside my door. I really couldn’t ask for more.

Meet Helen. She’s awesome. She’s my Vice President of Sorting and Organizing.

I had to make a house call to Ripley’s Believe it or Not in San Francisco today. It seems someone tried to arm wrestle my Praying Mantis sculpture. A few new bolts and a spring and he’s back in business.

Here is a nice little overview of my “Trophy” sculptures. I hadn’t really realized how long I’ve been working with the mounted animal head theme.

http://1800recycling.com/2011/07/incredible-steampunk-recycling-animal-trophy-heads/

I’ve almost finished framing out the gallery/clean room portion of the studio. I wound up reusing all the lumber from the loft in my old studio to do this.

My Dad and my Brother came to town to help me build out my new studio last week. Thanks Goulds!

I’m very pleased to announce that I will be participating in the show “Gentle Giants” at Strychnin Gallery in Berlin.  The show runs the 15th of July through August 7th.  As the flyer implies, you can expect a robot flavor to this exhibition.

The artists featured are: Michael Salter, Nemo Gould, Himatic, Doktor A, Mike Libby, Skeleton Heart, Seymour, Squp, John Lytle Wilson, and Carolyn Le Breton.

For more information please visit www.strychnin.com

This ranks among the best things I’ve found on the curb. Super heavy duty, and ideal for blocking a doorway temporarily. The guys throwing it out even helped me load it!

New (used) lathe for the new shop!
Yes it was raining.
Yes he dropped it.
No, it wasn’t damaged!

I just posted a gallery of photos from Maker Faire 2011 here:

http://gallery.me.com/nemomatic#100097&view=mosaic&bgcolor=black&sel=0

Shown in this photo from left to right are: Benjamin Carpenter, Jeremy Mayer, Nemo Gould, Benjamin Cowden, Christopher Palmer (CTP), and Mark Galt.  Not shown, but essential to our exhibits success are Colleen Paz, Alan Rorie, and Jonathan Foote.