Tag Archive for: Nautilus

Commission for Monterey Bay Aquarium finished!

February 6, 2014
06 Feb 2014

I’m super excited to be able to share final images and video for my series of Cephalopods commissioned by the Monterey Bay Aquarium!  The pieces are destined for the upcoming exhibit “Tentacles: The Astounding Lives of Octopuses, Squid and Cuttlefishes,” opening April 12, 2014. These pieces will help tell stories about the impacts that pollution, overfishing and habitat destruction have on these animals.  The project has truly been a dream come true for me and I’ll be sure to post images of the pieces once they are installed among real sea creatures in April.  I will also be displaying these pieces briefly at an open house event in my studio Saturday March 15th.  Stay tuned for details to follow.

In the mean time I’ve posted details of each piece individually: Cuttlefish, Octopus, and Nautilus here on my site, and put together a quick video overview of all three (above).  Below is a very cool little video that the Aquarium produced about the making of the pieces as well as a few teaser images of finished pieces:

Octopus_low_res4 Cuttlefish_low_res_7 Nautilus_low_res6

8 Comments/in Uncategorized /by

Archives

Instagram

  • Tonka truck excavator jaws versus old revolver. I'm really happy how this turned out! I had honestly expected it to end up in the scrap bin. I damaged the trigger mechanism a little bit machining the path for the Tonka toy lever, but it works well enough for art.
  • This week I've given myself the challenge of producing quicker, simpler projects, or my equivalent of sketches. This is typically difficult for me due to what I refer to as my "complexity fetish". Small projects have a way of turning in to big ones when I'm not looking. Shown here is the union of a cool cigarette dispenser that was gifted to me years ago, with a fishing pole reel and equipment stand. Each element had to be machined a bit, and a few parts made, but I did my best to leave the objects alone as much as I could.
  • This was one of the first components in this project. Once I had it working on my bench I just kind of moved on. It proved really tricky to get it into a reliable condition when mounted vertically in the panel. Pleased to say it's behaving as it should now.
  • The little truck project I posted a couple days ago is actually part of this whole play set thing I just finished. It's a third birthday present for my son who loves trucks and trains, but especially crossing gates. It's essentially a mashup of a ton of components I've been hoarding. I'm really enjoying the challenge of creating these counterfeit flea market objects lately. I love that it looks like it didn't take me forever to put it together.
  • Here's a quick studio tour.
  • Had another inspection this weekend. Other than a few minor citations, it went really well. I think this piece is nearly ready for the public.
  • I just "Fixed" another Tonka truck for my son. This one features a functioning meter in the back. The "driver" is the center element from a smashed light bulb with a LED inside. Messing around with toys as a kid is how my path to art began. It's super satisfying to pick it up again as an adult
  • I just "Fixed" another Tonka truck for my son. This one features a functioning meter in the back. The "driver" is the center element from a smashed light bulb with a LED inside. Messing around with toys as a kid is how my path to art began. It's super satisfying to pick it up again as an adult.
  • Electrical system is working! This is always the most challenging aspect of a project, and this one particularly so. Each component has to work independently of the whole, and with it. In this case, each panel needs to be easy to connect to the case by one person, with no tools. These may sound like minor details, but they can add days or weeks to a project. Many details yet to address, but major brain work is over at last!

Follow