I recently combined four White Water sculptures together to create Double Cascade. This modular concept continues to grow! I have now created sculptures with one, two, three, and now four White Water modules.
Open House Soon:
Also - an advanced announcement. Marji and I are planning an open house at my studio in Ashford, CT Columbus Day weekend 2010, Oct. 9th and 10th. Start planning a road trip to Connecticut to see the fall leaves and visit us. More new work will be on display! Additional info will follow here on this blog or sign up for my mailing list.
For years Marji and I have discussed the large outdoor sculptures we'd like to build. We never had the time. Last year, as we were discussing vacation plans Marji suggested taking a week off, staying home, no "real" work allowed, and building a sculpture. It was one of our best vacations. We decided to turn it into an annual tradition.
We spent the past year collecting and discussing ideas. A few months ago I worked up some 3D sketches with my new favorite 3D program Strata Design 3D. We showed the drawings to our kids and others, made many changes and arrived at a "plan." I put plan in quotes because one of the best parts of this collaborative project are the changes that happen as we start actually building the piece and have to "think on our feet."
The original inspiration was a photo of a sculpture by Elias Wakan. We liked the geometric feel of the sculpture and the way it moved in 3D space and connected back to itself.
We decided to try something like it using 3 inch plastic pipe rather than wood. This was mainly for practical reasons. The pipe is relatively cheap and easy to work but also is impervious to weather elements. We were thinking large in scale and definitely an outdoor sculpture. We also thought plastic pipe would add some flexibility so we could define long curves - more on that in a minute.
The final concept was quite different from the original inspiration as you can see in this animation.
It includes about 120 segments, each 12 inches long bolted together side to side but offset by 1 inch.
Our daughter Karen volunteered to join us on vacation and help with assembly. Work progressed nicely. I designed jigs for cutting and drilling the segments. It was important that the holes lined up precisely and for the most part they did. We assembled 6 foot segments in the shop and then moved to the yard for final assembly. Almost immediately we realized that these were far more flexible than planned. We all realized that in fact this was a wonderful feature, not a problem at all. A new sculpture concept was formed.
We joined all the segments into a 35 foot long chain and started playing as you can see in the video below
The final form for now is shown in the photo series on Flickr. In reality the beauty of this piece is in its flexibility. We can rearrange it on the hillside whenever. I'm sure we'll see lots of variations as time goes by.
Today David is introducing White Water, Avalanche, and Falling Water II, three sculptures based on a common module. This series allows you to combine modules to create larger, more complex sculptures customized for your own space. Extensive information on all three pieces plus other ideas are presented on the website today.
White Water is a single component sculpture which is a landmark design because of it's extended run time. David finally managed to cross the 24 hour time mark with this piece by simplifying the mechanism and modifying some construction techniques! (No perpetual motion yet!)
But what if you have a larger space? Simple! Add a second White Water to it, rearrange them, and a larger, more complex sculpture emerges. Above is Falling Water II, similar to the original with its constantly shifting yet relaxing patterns and quiet clicking sounds but it is shippable. It is composed of two White Water modules arranged in a vertical orientation and would fill an 11-14' tall wall.
But explore further, rearrange those two modules into a different orientation and a third sculpture emerges. In Avalanche, shown above, two modules are positioned in a diamond motif to create a sculpture version that works well on a horizontal wall.
Possibilities are endless! What if three were put together? A visit to our website will share with you animations of other compositions. What shape wall do you have?
Jamboree, a new and unique kinetic sculpture, is being introduced on my website this week. It is a one-of-a kind piece that is larger, freestanding and for the first time I have ventured into the third dimension in the design of my patterning wheels. The emerging visual effects vary as you alter your viewing perspective. Jamboree is the first completed piece emerging from my design sabbatical. There will be more experimental ideas appearing over the next few months so stayed tuned.
David installed Willow Wind at Eastern Connecticut State University on April 21, 2010. The kinetic sculpture is displayed in the new science building and was acquired by the university based on faculty requests. The juxtaposition of science and art continues to fascinate David.
For more information on Willow Wind be sure to check it out in the archive section of the website.
