Recently finished up a little Mermaid diorama piece. She began life as a swimmers trophy.
Here is a video of a recent little mermaid sculpture.
Thinking of going with an old airplane theme for my bike project. Feeling pretty good about this plan to join two upside down windscreens to make a fairing that looks somewhat like a bomber nose. Bear with me if I change direction, it’s still early.
I’m excited to have finally begun my motorcycle project! I was given a Honda CX500 in poor condition as a starting point. My plan is to rebuild the tank and body work from aluminum sheet. This is a process I have always wanted to learn but have little experience with. To get over the vertigo of not knowing where to begin, I’m roughing out design possibilities with styrofoam. No telling how many attempts it will take before I eventually get a form worth translating into a metal pattern. Bear with me, this one may take a while.
Yesterday I made the mistake of saying “I kinda want to build some models of shapes to make patterns from. Maybe out of styrofoam, but where am I gonna find a huge chunk?” Then Jeremy says “Oh, theres one on the curb a block from here”.
So now I am the proud owner of a huge block of styrofoam. I had to whip up a 13 volt hot wire cutter to process it into manageable pieces. Next up is a smaller, more precise cutter to do detail work.
I’m working on a series of pieces that will be as tiny as I can manage. Equal parts fun and maddening.
My new shop assistant. She’s ugly, but she does a good job.
Left to right: Nemo Gould, Benjamin Cowden, Mark Galt. We share a client in common who picks up our sculptures in a little plane!
Swimmers trophy + tacky fish pendant = Mermaid!
Last Friday I had the privilege to install several of my sculptures in the stairwell of Google’s building 43 in Mountain View CA. They will be on view there for the next few months. Follow the link to see a slideshow:
http://www.nemomatic.com/nemomatic/press_blog/Entries/2012/5/26_Installation_at_Google.html
Some pretty good finds this week. Check out the crazy adjustable brass candle sticks! I’ve also been looking for a little sheet metal machine for a while now. Not the kind of thing one expects to find at a scrap yard.
“The Team” (A.K.A.) at Maker Faire this year from left to right:
Tal Avitzur, Aaron Geman, Mark Galt, Jonathan Foote, Nemo Gould, Christopher Palmer (CTP).
Something like one hundred thousand people in attendance, and three editors choice ribbons for our booth, I think it was a pretty good year.
Getting “Head Case #2” ready for the destructive force that is Maker Faire! He’ll be on display in the Applied Kinetic Arts booth in the South East corner of Expo Hall, San Mateo fairgrounds Saturday and Sunday, May 19-20.
He’ll be in good company too: Benjamin Cowden, Mark Galt, Aaron Geman, Jonathan Foote, and Tal Avitzur.
See the link below for a full program of exhibitors and events:
http://cdn.makezine.com/make/makerfaire/bayarea/2012/MF12BA_Program_LoResFINAL.pdf
Big Thanks to all who came out to Natural Selection last weekend! For those who couldn’t, I’ve uploaded a collection of images to Flickr and Facebook.
If you can’t see the slideshow below you can view the images here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nemomatic/sets/72157629728025960/
Or here: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150969884489187.482278.66801769186&type=1
Big show tonight folks! Don’t come if you don’t like awesome.
305 Center Street, Oakland CA 5-9PM
Mayday! Mayday!
New piece finished up last minute before our show this weekend!
A stranger in an even stranger land finds himself in peril, desperate for a safe place to land.
Materials:
Radio cabinet, chalk line, license plate light bulb cover, typewriter cooling fan blade, radio tuning knobs, book illustration clippings, fresnel lens, LEDs, motors
Mayday! Mayday!
New piece finished up last minute before our show this weekend!
A stranger in an even stranger land finds himself in peril, desperate for a safe place to land.
Materials:
Radio cabinet, chalk line, license plate light bulb cover, typewriter cooling fan blade, radio tuning knobs, book illustration clippings, fresnel lens, LEDs, motors
Here is the video for my new piece: ”High Voltage“ 2012 (102” x 65” x 24”)
This sculpture uses an effect known as a “Jacob’s Ladder”. A high voltage arc is produced by way of a neon sign transformer, and then transmitted up the electrodes in the sculptures head. I’m personally very pleased with the movement with this one. All the action is generated within the abdomen. The little pistons in the ankles act as shock absorbers to smooth out the motion.
Materials:
Industrial water valve, scaffold tubing, street light support arms, glass tube, vacuum cleaners, lamp fixtures, bicycle pedal cranks, neon sign transformer, gears from floor polisher, magnifying lens, drain cover, high voltage vacuum tubes, hydraulic dampers, plastic, phenolic, motor, LEDs
New piece to share: “High Voltage“ 2012 (102” x 65” x 24”)
This sculpture uses an effect known as a “Jacob’s Ladder”. A high voltage arc is produced by way of a neon sign transformer, and then transmitted up the electrodes in the sculptures head. I’m personally very pleased with the movement with this one. All the action is generated within the abdomen. The little pistons in the ankles act as shock absorbers to smooth out the motion.
Materials:
Industrial water valve, scaffold tubing, street light support arms, glass tube, vacuum cleaners, lamp fixtures, bicycle pedal cranks, neon sign transformer, gears from floor polisher, magnifying lens, drain cover, high voltage vacuum tubes, hydraulic dampers, plastic, phenolic, motor, LEDs
Here is the video for my new piece:
“Cycloptopus” 2012 (65” x 57” x 29”)
Cycloptopus is a fearsome hybrid of two of my favorite monsters, one real, one mythical. This creature is particularly dangerous because of its irritability. You’d be irritable too if you were powered by an open flame and your body was made of wood.
Materials:
Radio cabinets, rocking chairs, fake fireplace, decorative clock elements, cabinet knobs, wall paper, chair parts, lamp parts, wheel hub, motors, LEDs
New piece to share: “Cycloptopus” 2012 (65” x 57” x 29”)
Cycloptopus is a fearsome hybrid of two of my favorite monsters, one real, one mythical. This creature is particularly dangerous because of its irritability. You’d be irritable too if you were powered by an open flame and your body was made of wood.
Materials:
Radio cabinets, rocking chairs, fake fireplace, decorative clock elements, cabinet knobs, wall paper, chair parts, lamp parts, wheel hub, motors, LEDs
Here is a video of my short presentation at the Exploratorium in San Francisco last weekend. It takes you through the basic process of making a sculpture, followed by an overview of my work in general.
Wow Paul Spooner, he’s huge!
Seriously though, one of my heros.
This is my latest attempt to solve the puzzle of user interface. You’re looking at a photography dark room timer routed to a high amp relay. The user pushes the bright red button to activate up to six sculptures plugged in to the back of the box for a period of one to sixty seconds. This provides people with something they can interact with without exposing the art to mishandling. UV LEDs make use of the timers glow in the dark face.
I’ll be bringing two of my smaller new pieces to Instructables Robot Block Party this evening in San Francisco. If you’d like to come by be sure to sign up at the link below:
http://www.instructables.com/community/NRW-2012-Robot-Block-Party/
First Sunday of the month = Alameda Flea Market. Always a good time. Not much in my cart today: Giant ice tongs, tiny rocking chair, small clock. A decent haul.
Spent some time recently working out the hips and ankles of a new large Robot Sculpture. Its important that these parts be sturdy and aligned well with one another. This can be pretty tricky when the elements are curved such as these.
This Jacob’s Ladder will the head for a new large scale robot sculpture I’m working on.
This will be the head (I hope) for a new large piece I’m working on. It’s a Jacobs Ladder, meaning that a high voltage electrical arc will repeatedly climb the two long electrodes inside the glass cylinder.
