what do? Udu. What do what?

Ok that was too much fun. I got my percussion pieces fired. not perfect but it is a start and I am working on finishing them.  here is a little teaser of the udu hope you like it.  Things are getting places I do however, need to build thinner and darker and things will happen.

Art Forgery!

Finished a little project of imitating the technique of an early 20th century artist. I chose Kathe Kollwitz to imitate. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%A4the_Kollwitz. Hope you feel something from it!

much needed updates

I am sorry to have delayed posting updates.  The unfired piece is slowly melting back into the earth.  Oh and an awesome picture of a leaf.

Also pictures of the drum that never was. (probably for the better)  it broke when i tried to flip it over to fire it. should have used a more dense clay body and should have used incised lines for strength rather than ribbing.  oh well

Boom! entropy has happened.

Check it out
The rain has infiltrated the clay body.   It split like this when I lifted the leaves off to take pictures. this is entropy at work seriously.

statment

I has been drawn to my attention that i have not published my statement.

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The work I do is influenced by observation of the form of parasitic consumerism rampant in the culture which I am accustomed to. There is an addiction to comfort and a ends justify the means approach. The supply of goods has produced abuses of many varieties.

I am process orientated and often make decisions based on wanting to try new things or experiment with tools. Often I use tools and materials in unexpected ways. I envision a piece and feel my way though the manifestation of it.

Most of my current work deals with history and a new dark age after the fall of technology. Entropy and rebirth are huge concepts in this concept. There is decay in abandoned and forgotten artifacts. There is also much rebirth in this concept as society learns to rise from the mutual state of ignorance as forgotten skills are relearned. This is a world in conflict. A place of tribes and clans and of strange encounters. Neutrality is only assured for the wanderer (or is it). Home is often a place that must be defended often. Some hold human life to be something sacred and some like people in our day and age have no emotions to that extent they are societies of sociopaths. Obviously there is mental conflict in the essence of the existence of those who believe they need to be non-violent but are threatened by the bloodlust of others.   

New website I found

I was looking for stencil designs to inspire my design of hand drums and I found this bit of epic ness.  enjoy.  http://waystowasteless.com/ I like the ideas put forth by this bunch.

A blast of madness.

I finished this instrument this week.  It sounds like, well... madness.  Sparta? Sparta? .....This is madness.  oh well that is me being silly.  I will call it a balloon-o-phone it uses a balloon as what is called a labial reed to make noises like the blasts of mythic beasts and dying animals and such.

This weeks installment of aided entropy vs unfired clay.

This installment is two weeks worth.  I poured 1 gallon over the piece both this week and last and the cold weather is helping more than the heat did.  cracks are forming and the piece is pulling itself apart this is really cool. More water actually has a effect on the piece versus not anything happening with a quart or two.  

I really need to post something this week

I will get more posted next week as I did not have enough time to post much yesterday.  Big deal today is that my title came so I can finally sell my old car!  It is Nice to get rid of the old car. The new car is such a blessing.  Anyway have a nice time til next week

Applied Graphic Assignment

I know i should of had more pictures earlier but here is what is up.  I am working on a applied design project. it does have a purpose but I will not reveal it yet. here are some juicy pics for you to enjoy this thing in its rough state.

Unfired Piece 5

10/13/11

This week I did something new.   2-litres of water people!  Guess what! If you thing it just melted the piece down you are wrong; this thing is tough seriously!  no change over last week. I touched it it was wet enough to make a very thin layer of slip on top but not much else.  if anything the water is strengthening it not weakening it.  I will continue with updates but not much is really happening. Next week I will include this in a broad update on what is happening next week.  Also this week more macro photos. one is of my hat today and the other is of a piece of tape that was laying on the ground.

Unfired Piece 4

10/6/11

Today we have more photos, It is the birthday of a friend and it rained last night. I was hopeful given the rain but still dumped another 20oz on the piece. The clay is washing away bit by bit. This is slow but neat. Several pictures this time (I am having fun with the macro lens and wish I had room in any of my camera bags for the off camera flash grip but no such luck.) next week maybe more water if I am able and if I remember. These macros are making my piece look like a rock face.  

Unfired Piece 3

9/29/11

I dyed the water red and then poured the water over the piece slowly. Not much really happened, the color was not that visible though it did provide for some nice macro photos. I am learning to better use the macro lens week by week. I do think that pouring water over the piece before photographing would be a good practice. So, I will do that when I photograph the piece next thursday. It is disappointing that the water did not do much.  

Unfired Piece 2

9/27/11

The piece has not changed much included is one macro photo (the distance photo is too dark) and a photo of my awesome hat (it is awesome). As not much has changed I will force the play thursday by dumping 20 oz of coloured water (for visibility). We will see then what will happen. I hope lots of clay will just soften and melt off that would be awesome!!!

my unfired piece 1

9/20/11

Space for living is borrowed and ephemeral. People build giant monstrosities of homes that will be acted upon by entropy from the moment the first nail is pounded home. It may be a long time before the home is reduced to ashes, scrap-wood or a pile of rocks but it is bound to happen eventually. In the animal kingdom arrangements can be less permanent. Some animals dig a burrow that will cave in later in the next year but it serves as winter protection. I will admit that some creatures may use natural caves as shelter but elements still erode mountains and hills over time. In Kansas where I live we have these wasps called mud daubers that build nests for their larvae made out of mud. There are several types of these wasps and each builds a different type of nest. Recently one built a nest in the air conditioning unit in one of our drawing classrooms here at the university. When the professor turned the unit on she was bombarded by bits of mud and chopped up wasp larvae and dead spiders. You see mud daubers are tolerated around here not only because they are hard to get rid of but also because they kill spiders. They are the number one predator of black and brown widow spiders around here. The mud daubers put dead spiders in the larvae tubes before they seal them up to feed their young. The nature of housing to decay and particularly the making of nests by mud daubers inspired my piece. First I built radiating pods from clay body with coarse sand mixed in and molded them together to have one opening. I coated the piece with a rough platy slip to create a natural texture and placed the piece in a natural location where I could record the process of the piece returning to nature. I may help nature along from time to time as I do have a schedule to finish the process by. The first two pictures show are both a macro shot and a far away shot. The piece is rough like a stone and already appears as if it were what it is intended to resemble in a way. The location is ideal for the recording of the deterioration bit by bit.

9/27/11

The piece has not changed much included are two photos and a photo of my awesome hat (it is awesome). As not much has changed I will force the play thursday by dumping 20 oz of coloured water (for visibility). We will see then what will happen. I hope lots of clay will just soften and melt off that would be awesome!!!

I am blown away on occasion.

Three points of lights on a blank wall.
Seventeen assorted bottles strewn on the floor.
The cracks are widening between the clapboards.

Can I borrow a quart of mud?