Nazars for PYT and Sugar Knives for Baltimore

Projects for the end of June beginning of July 2011 include creating a "premium" multiple for Tampa Fl. based Philanthropic Young Tampa and a sugar dagger multiple for Current Space, Baltimore MD.

During 2010 i produced the first of what has become a series based on sympathetic magic. The nazar stickers shown above were made for the Elvenwerks exhibition at The Peacock Room, Orlando FL. They are meant to ward off "the evil eye" and therefore preserve an individual's good luck. Elvenwerks was an Experimental Skeleton Inc. project, more info can be found at(-http://experimentalskeleton.com/Elvenwerks.html and http://experimentalskeleblog.blogspot.com/2010_05_01_archive.html)

Philanthropic Young Tampa( http://www.pytampa.org/ ) is an organization that seeks members to help secure works of art for institutions like the Tampa Museum of Art and puts on small events with lectures. I am now creating a multiple work of art to help boost membership for PYT. The work will take the form of an amulet style nazar seen below. New members will receive one of these works with the eye on the amulet matching their own eye color.

Another project in the works- a multiple for the Current Space "C A R T" exhibition opening in on July 9th in Baltimore, MD. This work takes the form of a hard candy cast dagger. Based on my own memories of Astropops and the candy's tendency to become wicked pointed at the end when sucked, this "Sugar Shank" candy is a functional weapon once sharpened by the owners saliva. Below is a sketch book page dedicated to the project.

Obscura Antiques and Oddities- Still no interest

My latest attempt at getting Obscura to take a second look at my collection of curiosities. This is a vintage print of surgical tools used for manually trepanning.  Still no interest. I suppose I will have to get out the good stuff and photograph it. Stay tuned in for the next attempt!

Mid June- Adventures in Restoration and Deep Sea Anglers

Recently I have been working on several projects involving the reproduction or restoration of architectural elements at The Tampa Theatre and more recently the possibility of restoring some fountains at the Westfield Mall in Brandon FL.
My first attempt at sculpting and reproducing one of the Tampa Theater gargoyles (which is basically a lion head) is documented in images below.
The original form. These gargoyles line the entrance to the theater in the lobby area. They are only one type in an amazing variety of elements that decorate the Tampa Theater's spaces.
Beginning from sketches done on site.
Measurements were taken and sketches done from the originals.
First comparison- needs quite a bit of work! Chin, upper lip, brow almost everything.

Todays first pull from the mold. Soon there will be product.

On June 9th I did a walk through with Adam Sich, the Assistant General Manager of Westfield Mall at Brandon Town Center, Brandon FL to look at restoring some fountains that had ceased to function properly. Not having a clue as to the problems these water features had i encountered these bizarre works.

A manatee fountain with once moving flippers.
An alligator fountain with once snapping jaws.
And a three fold frog fountain with various leg motions, all now static.

The interesting part of these pieces is that they all function on the pressure of the pump's output. They are all designed with water wheels that power the movements of the features.

All of these machines are however frozen with corrosion. The pumps are also burned out and what water is moving through the system is not what was originally designed into them. So, when the pumps have been replaced I will be out in Brandon again to see if any of these creatures creak back to life.

Finally here is a view of the anglerfish sculpture that i am working on for the Tempus Projects "Shelved" exhibition. It has two LEDs and is made of resin,epoxy and wood. More info on this little guy to come in the next post.

Early June, Golems and other Stuff

June 2011 has begun with exhibition opportunities, gallery openings, and various restoration/casting projects . Here is a sample of the sundry possibilities that are brewing or have come to fruition since the beginning of this month, along with a little commentary on the meaning of some of these images. Late May I watched the silent film "The Golem: How He Came into the World" which was filmed in 1920 and is a beautiful example of German Expressionist film. The film tells the story of a magical being made of clay come to life. The Golem is based on and Jewish legend of a creature brought to life by a Rabbi using demonology. I was most impressed with the scene where the Rabbi summons the demon Astaroth. Astaroth, I learned from research, is a prince demon of Hell who answers all questions put to him, destroys through promoting laziness and philosophy and belongs to an order Gamchicoth/Devourers who seek to waste the substance and thought of creation.

Astaroth from the film "The Golem: How He Came into the World"

The other really interesting thing about the story is that The Golem is animated by a word( given by Astaroth ) which is written on paper and placed into an amulet. This amulet is placed on the clay figure and it comes to life. Also, if the amulet is removed the Golem looses its animation. i also found in my research on the Golem legend that this word was typically emet(truth in Hebrew) and that removing the e would deactivate the Golem (leaving it with met- "dead" in Hebrew langauge). Very much like the villain I remember from childhood on the television show "The Electric Company" named Spell Binder who was Letterman's arch nemesis and would change words around to change situations. Letterman would always replace the proper letter to save the day.