Update Wednesday

While I am scaling the penny farthing and the Duesenberg Model J on paper, I will be starting work on a new kinetic piece.

Making the tutorials and videos of my sculptures flipped a switch in my mind, and inspired the idea for my new kinetic project. The cameras I use for this blogallery are all digital, and Hollywood has abandoned film in favor of digital, but not too long ago mechanical cameras ruled the day, and before our modern era of talkies, were the days of moving pictures; Nickelodeons; and, earlier still, kinetoscopes. I know that Kansas isn't quite Hollywood, but let us hope that Kansas is far enough west for me to evade Edison's patent attorneys, because I am producing my very own Edisonian kinetoscope which will be made from one hundred percent black annealed bailing wire. No film required.

In addition to these projects, be sure to stop by the blog on the first Tuesday of October for the first of a three part micro tutorial series covering bending basics.

The Juggler Unveiled!

Sculpture Finished! Unveiling Delayed.

I finished the sculpture on friday, and shot the unveiling video that night and again on Saturday due to my new Phone's camera being sub par. Upon inspection, the video was out of focus and did not meat my requirements for public release. I aim for quality in all of my work, and that means that I will not release this video until I have a camera capable of focusing properly. Expect the unveiling this Wednesday.

Nearly there.

I will be posting the finished product after work, as I still need to attach the hand and make one or two minor tweaks to the mechanisms.

Not quite finished.

I am on the last leg of this project, and I will unveil it this Friday. Here are some current pictures to tie you over until then.

GALIMOTO!

Galimoto, was written by Karen Lynn Williams, and Illustrated in beautiful watercolor by Catherine Stock. It is published by Harper Collins, and available at libraries and bookstores alike. As I stated last week, I first heard about the book through the PBS program Reading Rainbow, which was hosted by Levar Burton.

While I don't recall much about the episode in which it was featured, the subject of the book stuck with me, and serves as a source of inspiration for my sculptures. As prefaced in Galimoto, on the copyright page, "galimoto" is the Chichewa word for "car," but the word "galimoto" also refers to a push toy that is made from various odds and ends, e.g. scraps of wire, cloth and the like.

The story follows Kondi, an imaginative and industrious young Malawian boy who sets out to make himself a galimoto from nothing more than a few spare scraps of wire.  

While I don't have as much trouble getting supplies as Kondi does in the story, I feel we are of kindred spirits, in that both he and I enjoy making things with our hands, and that we want to share the joy of the things that we make with others.

My first exposure to wire sculpture came as a child in the sixth grade, in art class, when I made a static scuba diver, a shark, and some coral using both annealed bailing wire for the framework and colorfully insulated pieces of copper wire that our teacher harvested from stripped telephone and computer cables, as we learned about proportions and golden sections.  I can't say that I remember the first time I saw Galimoto on Reading Rainbow, or even if it had any sort of initial impact on me during my childhood, but I can tell you that whenever I prepare to build a new sculpture, whether it be static or kinetic, my thoughts always drift to Galimoto, especially when I am making a vehicle.

Whether you are a child or an adult, Galimoto is very much worth a read, and I highly recommend it.

And now, an Announcement!

After I have completed my kinetic Unicyclist, I will be making a galimoto, but not just any galimoto, it's gonna be a "Dusie,"  an articulated model "J," complete with rack and pinion Steering! Also soon to be in the works is a bone shaking, Penny Farthing bicycle.