Well, it’s finally done. I have to say that I’m rather pleased with the results. As most of these projects go, they often turn into an ‘albatross’ and seem to take forever. I’m often to the point where I really hate them after a bit, but alas, that’s the creative process.

Often times, I need a motivator to finally get the piece done and often times that’s a gallery show. So here it is in all its glory at a great little gallery – the Anita Sue Kolman Gallery – www.askanita.com in the hood – Northeast Minneapolis.

Well, about the piece-
As you can see from the construction, it is much more than just a cello. Everything else is fabricated with the exception of an old metal chaffing dish for decoration and some store bought carved wood applique’s.  The hull is bentwood pine over pine with a fair amount of wood putty and coats of paint. The masts are welded steel tubing painted a nice cocoa brown and distressed (as is the rest of the piece to unify it). The sails are steel with a thin sheet of decorative fabric. One of the hardest things to do was to distress that beautiful fabric since it was just so pretty right out of the store. It should be – 36 bucks a yard. Good thing the previous first pattern didn’t work out and this fabric was half price after Christmas. Also note that the figurehead on the bow is the ‘Christ’ from a crucifix and the child on top of the “Poop Deck” was a cherub (I cut off the wings- just a little too cutesy).

So, you got the basics. Now, what is the damn thing about? Well, I might have mentioned before that one of the basis of the Flying Dutchman legend was a Dutch captain by the name of Bernard Fokke. Granted, this is not the only start of the legend, but it is the only one I’ve found based on a real person. Besides, the name is conveniently a lot like my own. In fact ‘Fokke’ was a man’s first name (which like a lot of names, became the last name) and ‘Fokken’ means ‘son of’ just like Petersen is the son of Peter like it is in Norway. Anyway, he’s said to made a ‘faustian’ deal with the devil because he was able to make the trip between Holland to Java incredibly fast.

So, I decided to use this legend as a starting point. Frankly, the idea of a cello as ship came organically to me since I just happen think they look like ships as is. I did use the framing of the title as a way to look at other things that stick in my mind.

I thought it was a good way to talk about the roots of modern international trade-specifically how it changes societies and culture by the exchange of goods and just plain bumping into each other. So I likened the cello to the ‘high’ culture of the 17th century and the post renaissance ‘modern age’ of Des Cartes and Newton and far from the superstitions of sea monsters at the edge of the world. The sails are ‘fancy Dutch tablecloths’ – a metaphor for all the finery of the ‘Dutch Golden Age’. The dark side of this wealth and finery was that there were lands and cultures that were being ravished and robbed of their resources and people. 

Cultural interaction makes strange bedfellows. Conversely, some cultures benefited from western riches, tools and technology that helped their ports grow into power houses. Some dictators were overthrown and some were created.

I think that the title of the piece “Song of the Flying Dutchman” caries with it the beauty and romance of the sea. Music also references the complexity in timing for navigating latitude and longitude at that time.  In the end, I like the the idea that cultural interaction and trade is complicated and in essence never ‘makes port’ to come down on one side or the other.

Just like the Flying Dutchman.

New parts, fresh from the waterjet shop! I’m excited for this new batch of work. For reference, the large ring gear is about two feet across.

Another artist and I exchanged quotations. My piece was based on the quote for Kahlil Gibran “When I wrote on my door: “Leave your traditions outside, Before you come in,” Not a soul dared to visit me or open my door.”

At first I wanted to do something other than the obvious – but after weeks of thinking about it, I thought it wouldn’t make sense not to do a man that opens his door.

All the pieces in the show had to be less than 12″ x12″, so I started building the door and the window to fit into that space. I brushed the wood for the door with a wire brush to bring out the texture of the wood. I also designed everything to be a little wacky – slightly skewed, out of plumb. Only the top part of the door opens – I wanted to hide the mechanisms behind the behind the bottom part.

The head, sculpted from polymer clay. I did look at a couple of pictures of Mr. Gibran, but I was not going for an exact likeness.

The wall and the window. I created a stucco texture using drywall mud mixed with paint. I love this look, I might have to do it again.

My paint finish – I love how this came out too.

The finished piece – 12″ x 12″ x 4 1/2″

Detail of the door.

As the door opens, he leans over to check outside.

A closer shot.

The movie…

Behind the scenes……

This is piece is a real step forward in my progression as an artist, and make be a sign of things to come……

My friend and collaborator Max Chen Built these quirky and awesome custom bikes for the upcoming ODC Dance Company’s – Dance Downtown production this March.

Max is known for embedding his dark sense of humor into his work. I am looking forward to seeing how that will come through in this show.

Read the article in the SF Gate about the bikes and the show!

-Stay Tuned

The finished “pancake bird cage”. I’ll need four of these for my upcoming piece.

Bad Ideas started as a simple drawing in my sketchbook, but also came about from my continued fascination with collections. In my studio, I have many small collections of things – it’s a way for me to keep all my found objects organized. But sometimes these collections become the springboard for an idea. In this case, a small jar of burned-out light bulbs becomes…….bad ideas.

I placed her on a small vintage tin.

I wanted to show the back of this one – something I’ve never done before with a static piece.

Her lovely face, sculpted from polymer clay.

Her body, ready to be put together.

“Claude”- the title is sort of a play on words.

I decided to dress him as an innocent young man to contrast with the seemingly menacing steel “arm”.

A detail shot of his claw, which has 2 moveable joints.

His head shot.

Pre-assembly.

The apparatus on the bottom was his original arm until I realized it was WAY too big. This may show up on some future figure……

Until next time……………….

Making a flat birdcage for a new piece. I started with bent bailing wire and a diagram drawn on the table. Add 16 spring clamps and blocks, and things are starting to look like a wire ferris wheel.

New project brewing. Porcupine quills!

“Harvest” 2011 by Tom Haney from Tom Haney on Vimeo.

Penguin II

Typewriter parts

Jeremy Mayer 

I did a simple sketch for this back in the summer, and actually made the head in July, right before I started on the Boxcar Fair figures.

Click on the images for a better view.

The tree is fabricated out of branches I found on the banks of the Ohio River, near Cincinnati. The base is a piece of driftwood also found on the river, down near Evansville. All hearts were found at various antique shops. And I made the “picker” from a dowel and some wire I formed into the shape of a hand. I remember picking apples in my grandfather’s backyard when I was a kid. We used a very similar device, though it was not in the shape of a hand.

More pieces to come……….

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.

A quick sketch of a piece I’m about to do. 

The Bike Bridge – Part 1 from ONE ANT RED on Vimeo.

The Crucible and BRAF hosted a project last summer which paired a collection of 12 year old girls from all over Oakland with Micheal Christian, a local artist. They collaborated on the bike bridge, made almost entirely from bikes that were abandoned at burning man.

-Stay Tuned

We shot the 2 1/2 minute video in one continuous take. There were SO many variables during shooting, that even the day before I wasn’t sure it was even possible. The biggest problem was the High-Diver. She kept getting tangled. The solution was to eliminate 4 of her 8 strings. This limited her ability to move but we had no choice. Marionettes don’t do well when you turn them upside down. And she really made this fact obvious. Also, she, and the other 2 string puppets, had 9 feet of string between them and the operator. This makes them pretty difficult to operate because much of it is done by feel. My hat’s off to our puppeteers for sticking in there and getting the job done! Bravo!

Now on to the next project……….

We shot the 2 1/2 minute video in one continuous take. There were SO many variables during shooting, that even the day before I wasn’t sure it was even possible. The biggest problem was the High-Diver. She kept getting tangled. The solution was to eliminate 4 of her 8 strings. This limited her ability to move but we had no choice. Marionettes don’t do well when you turn them upside down. And she really made this fact obvious. Also, she, and the other 2 string puppets, had 9 feet of string between them and the operator. This makes them pretty difficult to operate because much of it is done by feel. My hat’s off to our puppeteers for sticking in there and getting the job done! Bravo!

Now on to the next project……….

I think we can all agree this is pure internet awesome, but few will will find as much value in it as I do.

<via Art or Science>

via Zach Lieberman: Interactive Art on Vimeo.

When Five Ton Crane was commissioned to build an art car version of The Nautilus, the classic submarine from 2000 Leagues Under The Sea, I knew there were going to apertures involved, I could have never guessed it would be this big. As we started talking about the project a few things started to become clear.

First, this was a great opportunity to wholly revise my original aperture designs to make them more durable and more precise. I’d learned a few nifty techniques since I built my first set of apertures in 2007. Second, not only were we going to use apertures in the windows, but we also wanted to incorporate a big one into the door, which we were estimating would need to be about 4′ in diameter. Third, since incorporating a huge aperture into the door was going to be a major challenge all the other elements if the door would need to be designed around it, so it only made sense that I would build the entire door. Fourth, I would need to add some new elements to the project to keep it interesting for myself so I decided that I’d not only custom machine the hinges, but I’d also motorise the aperture in the door, and use a RFID system to control the locking mechanism. Oh, and I’d need to build two of these doors, one for each side of the sub (only one aperture though).

The four small aperture windows went together easily, and as gorgeous and cool as they are, honestly, they are so deep in the shadow of the 4′ door aperture that they are hardly noticed.

I was really amazed at how well the 4′ aperture worked, in fact, this large one is mechanical smoother then the small ones. See each of the blades needs to overlap several other blades. If you image the blades being very thin and flexible then you can see that when they are all stacked up atop each-other the stack is very thin and there is not a lot of torsion on the blades. Now since these are made of brass, the material can only get so thin before it lacks the strength to be constantly twisted without deforming. Usually I use a brass in the 0.03″ range. This thickness works well when they are small but works even better when it’s large, because the important metric is not the material thickness but the ratio between the thickness and size of the blade. I also found a new much stronger method to attach the pins to the blades (this is the hardest part of the design).

The motorization of the large aperture was surprisingly easy. I used two small DC motors with spur gears and nice torque mounted on either side of the cam ring. I then welded chain around the cam ring turning it into a giant gear. It worked the first time I tried it. I controlled the two motors with an Arduino and a motor shield, two limit switches and a few lines of code. I then modified an old positioner and inserted a set of buttons, so that when you pull the handle of the positioner it trips the buttons and turns the motors.

The RFID was super easy. I got a D12 RFID reader, hooked it up to another Arduino, and used it to flip a 40A relay attached to a 30 lbs pull automotive solenoid. The solenoid was coupled to a super beefy industrial latch. The latch keeps the door closed until is sprung by the solenoid, when to door is closed it pushes the spring latch back into its locking position. Just like the trunk on your car. I love the result. The door is rock solid closed with no visible way to open it. Then you wave your fob by the reader and the door literally pops open. When you close the door there is solid, satisfying snap as it latches in place.

The hinges are one of my favorite parts. Not only did they come out really nicely but they are so smooth and stable, and add just enough friction to give opening the door some nice tactile feedback. I modeled them on old harpoon heads and went to great lengths to hide all the welds. I love when I catch people staring at them and wondering out loud how they are put together.

]]> http://www.almostscientific.com/blog/2011/11/15/the-nautilus-aperture-door-2011/feed/ 0 http://www.almostscientific.com/blog/2011/11/13/%E2%80%9Cresistance-is-futile%E2%80%9D-reading-science-fiction-alongside-ubiquitous-computing/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=%25e2%2580%259cresistance-is-futile%25e2%2580%259d-reading-science-fiction-alongside-ubiquitous-computing http://www.almostscientific.com/blog/2011/11/13/%E2%80%9Cresistance-is-futile%E2%80%9D-reading-science-fiction-alongside-ubiquitous-computing/#comments Mon, 14 Nov 2011 02:36:08 +0000 Alan http://www.almostscientific.com/blog/?p=2621 An interesting read on the relationship between science fiction and technological research and development by Paul Dourish

Read the whole paper here.

Reading research literature as in some ways “fictive” is not intended to denigrate or dismiss it; rather, we want to draw attention to the ways in which both science fiction and the research literature are founded upon acts of collective imagination, and that any imagination of [...]]]> An interesting read on the relationship between science fiction and technological research and development by Paul Dourish

Read the whole paper here.

Reading research literature as in some ways “fictive” is not intended to denigrate or dismiss it; rather, we want to draw attention to the ways in which both science fiction and the research literature are founded upon acts of collective imagination, and that any imagination of a possible future is grounded in expectations, frustrations, and understandings of the present. One might go so far as to suggest that this is not simply a reading of scientific practice alongside popular culture, but rather a recognition that scientific practice cannot be entirely separated from the popular culture upon which it draws and to which it contributes.

…

So the distinction we might draw is not between research that involves social and cultural factors and research that does not, but rather between research that acknowledges these factors and research that suppresses, ignores, or denies them. Ironically, what we achieve through an engagement with science fiction is a series of reminders about scientific fact.

Most people who work in corporations or academia have witnessed something like the following: A number of engineers are sitting together in a room, bouncing ideas off each other. Out of the discussion emerges a new concept that seems promising. Then some laptop-wielding person in the corner, having performed a quick Google search, announces that this “new” idea is, in fact, an old one—or at least vaguely similar—and has already been tried. Either it failed, or it succeeded. If it failed, then no manager who wants to keep his or her job will approve spending money trying to revive it. If it succeeded, then it’s patented and entry to the market is presumed to be unattainable, since the first people who thought of it will have “first-mover advantage” and will have created “barriers to entry.” The number of seemingly promising ideas that have been crushed in this way must number in the millions.

What if that person in the corner hadn’t been able to do a Google search? It might have required weeks of library research to uncover evidence that the idea wasn’t entirely new—and after a long and toilsome slog through many books, tracking down many references, some relevant, some not. When the precedent was finally unearthed, it might not have seemed like such a direct precedent after all. There might be reasons why it would be worth taking a second crack at the idea, perhaps hybridizing it with innovations from other fields.

This quote is from a great essay by Neil Stepheson published in the World Policy Journal.

There are tons of good thoughts to be had about many issues while reading this essay, but what really resonated me with is the quote above. I’m a voracious consumer of on-line information, and any time I have an idea I immediately google/wiki it and dive into all the links. While I love all the information and influence I get on-line I’m also constantly fighting the impulse to set aside a design/idea/concept because someone has “done it” already. I often have to tell myself out loud “It’s you execution that’s valuable/original/worthy not the design/idea/concept its self.” 

Everything came together nicely – we built the set in about a week and had 3 live performances with Little Tybee on Saturday night.

The day of the shoot we had many run-throughs and shot the video – which was one continuous 2 1/2 minute shot with no edits – about 30 times. We got our perfect shot and I will post it here soon, it’s pretty amazing and the song is great too.

My hat is off to our wonderful puppeteers – Raymond Carr, Lee Bryan, Amy Rush and Mauree Culberson. Arthur Thompson also help puppeteer and was an invaluable help with building the set and making props. Paula Joerling, my wife, helped build props and was in charge of our dry ice effects. Eric Cortina supplied the decorative lights in the Fortune Teller’s tent. Kerry Sisselman built all of the palm trees and Paula tweaked them. Mary Avery collected bags of leaves that Arthur crushed up and sifted – we used them for texture on the set.

Also thanks to Andrew Kornylak for his lighting and shooting skills and making it all look so beautiful. Andrew was assisted by Brett May, who also work as our dolly grip.

Thanks for all of your help!!!

An overall shot showing the 40′ x 6′ set, the bridge up above for the puppeteers, and the track and camera dolly.

The Explorer marionette at the beginning of the shot. The backdrop was digitally painted by Ram Bhat.

The Boxcar Fair sign with small tent in background. We sprinkled the set with ground-up leaves to add texture, and added rocks collected from right outside the studio.

The small tent. I built 2 small (3″) trapeze artist figures inside that form a heart shape as the Explorer walks by. The figures were operated by strings from below, and back-lit with a small red light.

The High-diver Girl – the next character the Explorer encounters.

Me tweaking the High-diver marionette. You can see the 2 small spotlights I added to illuminate the diver.

The Anglerfish – I finished his eyes, which move, and added the light.

The sign outside the Fortune Teller’s tent.

The Fortune Teller’s tent – the front of it rolled up as the camera panned across it.

We used a mirror for the crystal ball. The heads turned – an improvement suggested by one of our puppeteers – and their arms were operated by rods from below. I took 3 people to operate these 2 figures.

We threw in a little pyrotechnics.

A shot of the mouse in the tent.

Detail shots of the Explorer…..

….and Fortune Teller.

The “mouse run”, which is directly below the Fortune Teller’s tent. This was made from plywood and foam, covered with paper mache and painted. Each cubbyhole was lit with a tiny light and propped out with my collection of stuff – keys, light bulbs, coins, bones, etc etc.

A wider shot of the scene.

The ornate Elephant.

The ending shot of the Explorer and the Elephant, and the moon.

Stay tuned for the video……….

“Celloship” in process

I bought a few 3/4 size cello’s from a school surplus sale for uber cheap and I thought they looked like boats. So I decided to turn one of them into a Dutch “East India’s Style” ship circa 1700 or so. I just thought the form of the cello lent itself to a boat form so I’m giving it a whirl. The thing I like about those types of ships is how much they look like bloated ornate oak desks. They feel to me like fat baroque kings all “wigged up” with long flowing tendrils flowing down onto their opulent jewel encrusted silk jackets. A period instrument for a period time – another shot of Vilvaldi on the house!

I’m currently calling it my “Celloship” but will probably link it to the Flying Dutchman. Funny thing about that story, is that one source states that the legend was started as a loose rumor regarding Dutch East India Company Captain Bernard Fokke’s quick trips between Java and Holland. There were rumors that he made a “Faustian” deal and this was the beginnings of the “Flying Dutchman” legend. I’m delighted by the last name since it the paternal root of my last name – Fokken (the “en” means “son of” ie – Petersen = son of Peter in Germanic languages.).

Anyway, it’s looking cool. Here are some images of it in process. I’m thinking that it’ll be black and pale yellow stripes (near the gunwhales) with Prussian blue and gold leaf accents. Not sure what the base will be tho’ so that’s still up in the air.

I feel like I’ve drank a whole bottle of “Milk of Amnesia” and forgot my whole summer.

Anyway, it’s fall in Minneapolis, and I dare say one of the best we’ve had in a long time. We deserved it after an incredibly hot summer, short spring and crappy ass winter. Maybe this is global warming at it’s best. Well, back to things – I have to look at my resume sometimes to figure out what I’ve been doing lately. A lot of what I’ve been doing is promoting my work rather than making new work. It’s frustrating not to be in the studio, but that’s such a big part of the business when you’re stuck in the middle of the country. Granted, I love it here, it’s just harder to sell work of my type here (or so I believe…).

Well,  looking  back since my last post, I’ve put work up outdoors at a sculpture competitions in Eau Claire, WI, Hopkins, MN and a local hospital in St. Paul. I’ve won a couple of awards including 2 Children’s Choice Awards, and a 3rd Place Award all with some nice cash attached. I’ve exhibited some images of my work in a recycled art show in Shanghai, China (I just thought the shipping costs would be too much, so they asked for images instead) and in a local art center with a couple of other sculptors, applied for a couple of grants (no answer yet), a bunch of shows – some rejected some accepted, took a trip to Paris, France with my wife for her birthday and got a new dog – who chews everything – good thing he’s cute! 

I do have a show to promote. I’m showing at Garner Narrative Contemporary Fine Art Gallery in Louisville, KY. It’s run by a mother and daughter who’ve recently renovated their space and are making strides to show unconventional work. They contacted me on linkedin.com and here we are. It was a hassle to build crates, but once it was done, it was nice not to have to bump into that work over the course of the next few months. Hopefully some will sell and make more room in my studio. Here’s a nice review of the show.

http://artslouisville.blogspot.com/2011/11/exhibit-review-by-keith-waits-kyle.html

Exhibit Review by Keith Waits: Kyle Fokken

@font-face { font-family: “Calibri”; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 10pt; line-height: 115%; font-size: 11pt; font-family: “Times New Roman”; }a:link, span.MsoHyperlink { color: blue; text-decoration: underline; }a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed { color: purple; text-decoration: underline; }strong { }span.il { }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } Kyle Fokken at garner narrative contemporary fine art
Airway to Heaven, mixed media sculpture Review by Keith WaitsEntire contents copyright 2011 by Keith Waits. All rights reserved.
When a young child grasps a toy in their hands, it is an object that sparks imagination and creativity. In that same way, Kyle Fokken’s sculptures become a catalyst for intellectual stimulation in the adult mind. Perhaps they trigger a return to childhood playtime: each is fundamentally a toy, a truck, an airplane, a construction crane. Yet these mixed media creations are also idiosyncratic mash-ups of form and function: the operator’s cabin on the construction crane is a ramshackle church – the crane arm protruding from beneath the façade and anchored by a chain that runs through a window, nearly an act of penetrative violence.  The positioning of a house of worship as a vehicle of destruction is a provocative juxtaposition in an age when we witness religion as a foundation for terrorism.But that impact is perhaps balanced by the contrasting image of another church structure serving as the fuselage of an airplane, lifting the spiritual into more traditional territory, albeit with the same idiosyncratic relationships of form and function. In other pieces, the stylistic combinations are more complex and subtle, such as the steam-punk anamorphism of  “Uptet (Babylonian Gunship),” a quadripedal creature that seems a cross between a camel and the family pet, but equipped with giant propellers ready to take the steel and wood construction aloft. Mr. Fokken’s work is filled with cultural references, and in this instance it is difficult not see something of the Imperial Walkers from Empire Strikes Back: they have the same tension between awkward, lumbering mass and graceful, intricate design.The detail and craftsmanship are distinctive, and the found objects that Mr. Fokken incorporates never seem random or haphazard, but exactly the right choices for each piece. There is, however, one sculpture, “Difficult to Fathom,” that stands apart from the rest in this show.  The merging of a church onto a submarine body is entirely consistent, but the dynamic placement of the contraption trawling across the scalp of a singularly annoyed sailor introduces a more straightforwardly comic image of a human face that could also be viewed as self-portrait. Whether or not the head bears any resemblance to the artist, the whimsical depiction of art emerging from the creative mind is unmistakable.This three-dimensional exhibit represents something of a departure for this space, having devoted itself for years to largely two-dimensional work from its proprietor, Joyce Garner, and a few select others. But this past summer the gallery was renovated so that the space underwent small but crucial adjustments. Mr. Fokken’s work highlights the new environment and suggests a more ambitious mission for garner narrative that should prove welcome in what is already the busiest and most vital visual arts neighborhood in Louisville.   Difficult to Fathom, leather over wood, steel, found object
Wrecker (Church Series IV), acrylic paint over wood
Uptet (Babylonian Gunship) tempered scrap steel (soup, tomato cans) over wood, acrylic  
garner narrative contemporary fine art
642 E. Market @ Clay
Louisville, KY 40202
(502) 641-8086
garnernarrative@gmail.com
hours: Wed-Sat 1-6, First Friday Gallery Hop 1-9
http://www.garnernarrative.com
I’ve got a couple more local shows coming up but I am making new work and looking for a few good galleries in San Fran, LA, New York or Miami. All for now!

I FINALLY get to show everyone the 3D Motion Control Timelapse stuff that my friends Peter Chang, Brad Kremer, and Stewart Mayer shot in my studio. For those of you with 3D capabilities, this is available on YouTube 3D (yes, there is such a thing) here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0quUxvXtHPw&feature=youtu.be
This is part of a project that Peter Chang is working on. I’m so excited to be a part of this.

Grandfather at my studio.

Bust V

Typewriter parts

2011

Jeremy Mayer

Cat X

10”x24”x14”

2000

Jeremy Mayer

Show coming up on Nov. 4th (First Friday) at new gallery space right next to West Oakland Bart! Come by if you can make it!

Come see some new work by Nemo Gould, Eric Joyner, Mark Galt, and Ben Cowden, and me.

Here’s the FB invite. 

Hope to see you here!

Since the Anglerfish turned out to be so labor intensive, (nothing I do is ever easy), I decided to use a different method when building the elephant. I knew I wanted it lightweight, and after experimenting with some tape and paint finishes on styrofoam, I knew foam was the way to go. I chose aluminum tape, the kind they seal ducts with, and applied it in strips, papier mâché style.

Click on the images for a larger view.

Sculpting the foam – I used two kinds because that’s what I had on hand, and the pink stuff worked better for the legs and trunk.

The head and articulated trunk pieces.

The legs covered with the aluminum tape – so shiny!

Close up of the tape pieces.

The head and trunk; after aging with raw umber paint mixed with gel medium.

The pieces aged; drying. You can see my test piece in the upper right hand corner.

The underneath, showing the axles for the legs.

All put together. I added the ears and eyes last. And next I will add all the strings.
The elephant turned out to be more of a baby elephant, which was much better for the scale we’re working in, and a smaller elephant was the perfect size when paired with our Wanderer.

The “backpack” or howdah, though technically a howdah is for people and not necessarily luggage, which will be the case here.

The jhool, or textile covering adds cushioning to the howdah. And looks great.

It was suggested by Brock, my collaborator, to add some things dangling on each side and I thought, “why not just pack the elephant full of things, as if going on a journey?” I really like the idea that this may be the beginning of a journey for our characters.

As you can see, our elephant is outfitted with many accoutrements – all packed up for the journey.

More details. I really like this shot.

A front view showing the sehri, or forehead covering. I decided to have the trunk strung up underneath and not controlled by the puppeteer – though it does sway from side to side.

More details, which I think add a lot to the feeling of the piece.

Close up of the luggage etc.

Now onto the small mouse, and all the other props – especially those in the Fortune Teller’s tent. And the tents. And the signs. And, and, and……….

Yeah, it was also posted on-line, but its still cool to see your work printed on real paper.

I dove right into making the fish, based on my full-scale drawings. I cut and bent a section of hardware cloth and tried to create the fish’s shape on the fly. After a few hours of frustration, I decided I would never get the shape I was after.
I thought it would help to sculpt a small model out of foam and create a pattern from it’s form. This made more sense. After creating a shape I was happy with, I made a small paper pattern, doubled it, and then blew it up on an opaque projector. I spray-mounted the full-sized pattern to the hardware cloth and proceeded to cut it out.
Cutting out the hardware cloth and stitching it back together proved to be very challenging – and painful. The sharp ends seemed to be constantly scratching and cutting my hands as I wrestled it into shape. Once that was done, I figured it would be simple to hot-glue on all the little bits of plastic paraphernalia. I underestimated the amount of stuff I needed to cover the surface and was constantly searching for more stuff to glue on. I thought it would take one day to glue all the pieces on and it ended up taking 2 and a half. I was so looking forward to painting it all one color and aging it down. Maybe I was impatient with the gluing, but it seemed to be an endless job.

Here are my in-progress pics, click them for a larger view……..

The form of the anglerfish starts to take shape. I added a couple of pieces of wood to help hold the shape.

The top and bottom part of the mouth. You can also see the pink foam model I used to create the pattern.

The small paper pattern I got off the model.

Starting to cover the fish with plastic pieces, which I used to add texture.

Almost done. There’s a hinge for the mouth, and the eyes will move, and the fin will flap.

All covered. I couldn’t wait to cover all of this mess with one color. I figured out I used at least 500 buttons and I have no idea how many other pieces.

A close up of some of the pieces.

A small test piece I made so I could play with the color and aging.

The top piece painted. Here I’m adding the teeth which are made from a plastic milk bottle.

The bottom, with the teeth added.

The tongue, covered in a generic variety of Cheerios.

Front view of the anglerfish.

This is probably the view we’ll see the anglerfish in the video.

Another view. I still have to finish the eyes and add a light out front – it is an anglerfish after all.

A close up of the pieces after painting and aging.

Now on to the tents and props for the Fortune Teller’s scene…….

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1941888570/boxcar-fair-a-puppet-production

Images of the anglerfish coming real soon…………..

After completing “Return to Dreamland”, I wanted to explore further the idea of a kinetic figure interacting with sand. I wanted to make a figure combing through the sand, so I decided to have her sitting on a rotating platform.

This piece is available at Obsolete in Venice, CA.

I didn’t take as many in-progress pictures this time, but here are the ones I have…….

Her rake-like hand.

Her arm carved and ready for paint.

Her body in-progress. I think this is the first time I’ve done a figure in this position. I’ve done a few figure sitting before, but not sitting on the ground like this.

Her head.

Her body right before I assemble and dress her.

The background for the piece is actually a couple of ‘paint-by-numbers’ landscape paintings that I tore up and decoupaged back together. I then painted over the whole thing with washes of color.

The final shot, taken by Gregory Campbell.

Dreamtime the Movie……

A close-up of her hand moving through the sand.

There are actually 2 marionettes needed for this, one a diver and one a swimmer. I wanted to create the diver to do just that, dive and nothing else, very rigid and exacting. The swimming version is much more fluid and loosely jointed, she’ll be “underwater”. The high-diver will dive into a small pool and as the camera follows her down, we end up in a magical underwater world. We will switch to the swimmer puppet down below.

The Diver’s body cut out. She raises her arms over her head and pivots at her waist as she starts her dive. The controller for her is going to be a little unusual as she goes from a standing position to a full dive.

Her body again, showing her legs and feet. I’ll put opposing magnets in her feet, and at the end of her legs, so she points her toes automatically when she dives off the platform.

This is the swimming version. I made ball and socket joints at her shoulders to make it easy to move her arms in all directions.

Hands in-progress.

The two versions. You can see the magnets in the feet here.

The original head (diver) on the right and the copy, which cracked in the oven, on the left. It took a while to patch her back together, but she is fine now.

Parts ready to be painted.

Four hands.

Ready to be assembled. With 2 marionettes I could be specific when making the bodies. The diver version only pivots at the shoulders, waist and ankles and the swimmer pivots at all her joints except the ankles and wrists.

Dressed and ready for strings. You can see the diver’s feet automatically point when she is not standing.

The two heads – the one on the left is the diver and the other is the swimming version, who is looking towards the angler fish (next puppet to be made).

On to making the controllers and stringing them up.

The angler fish is next on the list.