Artists and Artisans

Sharing the World of Kinetic Sculpture

Pinterest helps in developing paths to new places. Recently while exploring there, I found two interesting videos created by other kinetic artists to share their work. Here are two very different approaches from artists I have mentioned on this blog in the past.

The first is a video by Elizabeth Runge created about a year ago. It is a "dreamscape" about the life and work of Anthony Howe. He must have an incredible front lawn!

 

The second is an in-depth explanation of the mechanism behind "Tantalus Mackerel" by sculptor Chris Fitch.

These videos are inspiring viewing for both those who like to build kinetic sculpture and those who like to collect it.  Enjoy.

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Barnum's Dream by Ed Ross

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Have you met someone interesting recently in a totally unexpected way? I did. A customer came to pick up a recently completed Frolic kinetic sculpture that he had ordered from me. He brought along his friend because he thought he would be interested in my work and workshop. Through visiting, I learned that this friend, Ed Ross has crafted some incredible kinetic work of his own. Inspired by the Steampunk world, he built this magnificent sculptural ship call Barnum's Dream.

 

 

Ed blogged extensivly about the construction process on his blog here. I have no idea how long it took to create. The blog starts in 2010 and things seemed to be in progress at that point. Ed also created a video filled with whimsy as well as detail about the trial run of this incredible sculpture. Check this out.

 

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Organic Mechanic • Blair Somerville

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I definitely would like to take a little trip to New Zealand and Australia. That has always been on my bucket list. This video pushed it higher up on the list. Here is a kindred tinkerer with whom, I expect, I could have some interesting conversations.  

Image source: Colossall

Blair Somerville lives and creates on the South Island of New Zealand. There he operates the Lost Gypsy Gallery in a converted old school bus.

Image source: Inka Parei

And he whiles away the hours creating kinetic sculpture and automata from found materials. His style and mine are worlds apart but it is all in the mechanics....making it work.  What fun.

Images source: Colossall

Images source: Colossall

He doesn't have a website that I could find but was recently featured in this beautifully crafted and whimsical video by Joey Bania. It is a very entertaining, motion filled wonderland. Enjoy.

I love the part where he tries to assign words to what he does. His choices - Rustic Automata, Organic Mechanic, Tinkerer all creating Fine Acts of Junk! 

 via Colossall

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Searching for Sculptures Across America

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It has been quite awhile since I've posted on the blog and for good reason. Marji and I have just returned from a 7 week road trip exploring America. We left on September 5th with few specific plans but several broad goals. One of those goals was to experience any sculpture parks we traveled near. Some folks collect baseball parks, others national parks. We collect sculpture parks.  The quest was inspired by our frequent visits to both Storm King Art Center (Mountationville, NY) and Grounds for Sculpture (Hamilton, NJ).

We started with a Google search that ended at a Wikipedia article listing sculpture parks around the world. We concentrated on the USA for this trip! The first park to cross our path was the Scandaga River Sculpture Park in Wells, NY. It was in a remote area near the Adirondacks and we had our doubts as we followed the GPS. But it led us to the beautiful garden of artist John Van Alstine and his studio. It was our lucky day because the artist was home. We had a delightful visit.

Sculpture and Photo credit • John Vanalstine

John told us of a recently published book by Francesca Cigola titled Art Parks: A Tour of America's Sculpture Parks and Gardens, and recommended it as a resource for our travels. We located it on Amazon and had it waiting for us at a friend's home as we passed near Pittsburgh.We used it extensively and adjusted routes to view the parks shared in this book. It directed us to a wide range of parks and wonderful sculpture across America. We saw very little new kinetic work (more info later), but many exciting sculptures.   

The book was helpful in locating some extremely interesting parks. Be sure to cross reference things with online resources because some have restricted viewing. Of note, the northeast has the highest concentration of sculpture parks by far and we never knew about a host of them. We didn't visit any of those because we can see them as day trips from home. We have some interesting weekend trips ahead!

Here is a quick overview of a few of our discoveries.

Normade by Plensa at PapaJohn Sculpture Park Des Moines, Iowa

 

Sequences by Richard Serra at Cantor Art Center, Stanford University

 

A Flock of Signs by Kim Beck at 100 Acres in Indianapolis, IN

 

Our trip was exciting on many levels but especially because of the art we saw, both natural and man made.  I will continue to share additional information about the various sculptures parks we visited across America in future blog posts. Check back regularly. You might discover a place you need to visit!