16/01/2013
This is a follow up from my previous Mechanical/ Architectural drawings of my previous art project, I felt that my drawings looked slightly flat no matter what medium I tried. I visualized my artwork being more thee dimensional, something that could be walked around and viewed from many perspectives, I eventually began looking in nearby skips in search for scraps, I came across these materials at first and had an idea to put them to good use by recycling the recycled or what has been used before.
18/01/2013
With this I began to create a stand out of the materials I had found at the time such as car wheel guards, this was intended as a side project to put my work on top of in relation to my work but instead became part of it.
I also considered using this as part of a plaster cast for the sculpture. I thought it could look interesting.
19/01/2013
Over time my collection grew.
22/01/2013
I found some scaffold pipes that had been discarded and also some red weights which I thought would be perfect to accompany my stand so it would apply extra support underneath so the sculpture does not topple or collapse.
As shown here I experimented a lot with the positioning of the red weights into a triangular formation in which i intend to create a tripod formation of bars.
After this I applied a brackets to the top and base of my structure with the idea that i could fix the sculpture into place but also make it look more decorative and interesting.
This was my next stage of what I have planned. I would cut down some bars that I have and place them in the "ready made" support holes that they were intended for, but use them for a different purpose.
As I do not currently have the right supplies to create the tripod formation of bars, I used what i could find and what i had being a set of iron bars and a sweeping brush to visualize the height of the sculpture
And so my collection grew as i found lots of bike wheels to estimate a size of how big my intended sculpture would be in diameter, length and width. I used the metal extractor fan cut off's that I found as a temporary scrap metal bin to make my area seem more presentable.
My resources continued to grow as I found a large sheet of glass and pieces of wood which were added to my collection for future experiments and possibilities.
I then focused my time on the bicycle wheels in which there are also many salvageable parts, possibilities and ideas that could be tried. I also found another car wheel guard and another piece of thick wood with a texture I had been looking for, i began to sand these down to regain its color, remove splinters and allow it to be easier to be worked with for my project as a whole, I also cleaned the glass panel.
I became a little bit sidetracked as I looked through each of the wheels to show a really interesting image consisting of lines, this could somehow be incorporated into my work, it does have some possibilities.
26/01/2013
This was my attempt at beginning to combine my found objects together starting with two bicycle wheels and a large car wheel together.
I then placed extra wheels on the outside to see an overall size of how large the sculpture would be if attached.
What I am intending to do is somehow shine light through the tire to create shadows on the surrounding walls. the lines from the bicycle wheels would become projected and enlarged. I did also intend to cut out pieces of the tire and shine light through the square cut outs, also with this placing glass within the holes (I did manage to find a large sheet of frosted glass which would add an effect to the light which I am still undecided of how powerful it could be.)
This was my plans drawn out after finding more items (more pipes, car bumpers and car tire guards).
27/01/2013
This could mean one of two things. I have either collected too much for my project or i have gained an obsession for collecting things. either way I am still asking myself "who throws away perfectly fine car bumpers?!".
28/01/2013
came in extra early (9am) to drop off my new found scraps which I could carry, there is more to come. I began to experiment with what I had already, with this the objects were placed into different positions to see what forms, shapes and designs could be created.
I did consider applying extra add-on pieces to what i had to make the object look even more appealing. some parts I felt have the purpose to be additional decorative parts which could become useful later on.
This was my second test which I liked more because of how it firmly stands together without the need for joints or welding, it fit together almost like a puzzle.
With my friend Rosanna Jones' paper tree in the background. I noticed that the tree almost merges with the wheel which I found an interesting concept of connecting nature and industry.
I placed my sculpture in front of the window and when I looked through the wheel I saw more lines within the lines that I had created through the view of the trees outside. I found this to be a very interesting development to my work.
My studio space today. I really need to stop collecting now. this is becoming quite an obsessive habit.
30/01/2013
I got a very nice surprise to find this sitting on top of my tire, thank you for your donation!
This was a small side project in which I fixed together an old mudguard which I scouted for as many pieces as I could, unfortunately there was one piece missing, with this I attached plastic pieces from an old pan steamer and soldered in to the holes some pieces of umbrella metal which reminded me of grass but in a more industrial view.
31/01/2013
I attempted to work further with the umbrella that I had found by stripping it of its metal to hopefully attach elsewhere. I randomly placed them all here with no real intention but to hope it would look more presentable and attractive, unfortunately this experiment failed.
01/02/2013
I decided that I was going to do something with the tire I had found. there was an experiment which I wanted to try, I was going to try and give the perception of making the items that I found look more valuable than what they are, and with this I thought of precious metals which have some value to them, as I have a fondness for silver and copper I bought spray paints and began to experiment on a few of the items I had found.(Although I realized this could only be tested once as an experiment but considered for future reference to work with for another project, due to the cost of spray paint cans.)
I spray painted the inside silver chrome and the outside copper chrome.
As I turned my back the whole studio collapsed around me, just thought I would add that in.
by this point this was the motion of my project.
I attempted another go at spray painting my other sculpture by using one of the bicycle wheels and the stand as the main focus. I left the steel pipes as they were for two reasons, one being I ran out of copper spray paint and two I felt I could still incorporate both industry and the idea of precious metals that had been thrown away, with the wheel blending into the white wall as well as the stand disappearing into the floor, I found this interesting as it seems as though they are there and valuable but forgotten and hard to find. with this experiment I did realize that the red floor stand did work better with linking my previous project with this one. I did prefer it when it was red because it appeared to be more bolder and stood out more. There is more development that needs to be done.
05/02/2013
today seemed like it would be more productive, it wasnt, the studio was still filled with found materials that I did not have any idea what to do with but thought I would make a start and see what I would come up with.
I decided to try and put some barbed wire inside a car wheel mudguard (which I like the texture of, I may use it later on for something else) however it looked really unsafe and dangerous so I scrapped this idea almost instantly.
I also tried photographing multiple items together which i feel worked well as a great photograph. I am thinking of using this idea further later on.
I attempted to play about with my work which gave the artwork a certain presence but i feel over time my sculptures could change form.
This I found to be quite fun when i had found a whisk handle without the whisk in a shop and asked the people there if I could buy it (this saves it going to waste). I managed to balance this on top of a rubber ring on top of a hockey ball on top of a book which I felt looked very successful. I was pleased with this form that I have created. Matthew lee also helped with suggestions for these ideas so I thank him for his ideas.
06/02/2013
Today I continued to play around with my sculptures applying extra pieces to the top. something that was said to me while doing this was that it looked very much like a bicycle but placed into a futurist concept which I found an interesting positive way to express my work. The reason that I did this was because the whisk handle reminded me of the gears and foot pedal, the bicycle wheel always sat on top, the two scaffolds looked like a frame of a bicycle and the licence plate which I found completes this, however these were later removed and placed back to normal.
07/02/2013
Not much was done today, I was fortunate to be given an idea thanks to my friend Rosanna Jones for moving my grid of umbrella pieces around which instantly found fascinating, I give her a very big thank you for her help. I do want to do something with this but may take a few days to complete.
08/02/2012
today I have decided to begin soldering the umbrella parts together to form a large spider web style frame sculpture which i feel has a lot of potential to become something really interesting. I feel this may become very time consuming but fun to create, I do not know the outcome as this is an experiment that can grow over time.
11/02/2013
Today I decided to try and be bold and use the exhibition space to my advantage, I moved everything out of my space so I could see what worked and what didn't, what I should keep and what to discard even though I didn't want to. At this time I do not have the use for all the materials so I stuck with what could be manageable for this project. from this I created an exhibition and gained two new additions to my collection to display.
13/02/2013
This idea happened just like the first original idea of layering small pieces of umbrella together to create an image into a square, I like this idea and could develop it further into a wall hanging. I would do this by soldering each individual wire together so they will stick.
This is my collection so far.
14/02/2013
this was done late this evening, I decided to try and create something after looking at my pile of umbrella pieces for so long to create something with them, I set out with the intention to build something but the outcome being as broad and unpredictable as possible, I don't like working towards a plan or deadline because whenever I do plan something, it usually changes all together, so I left it to flow. in the end this is how much I had finished before calling it a day.
26/02/2013
Apologies for the lack of updates, I have been really busy cleaning up my space and working on many different sculptures and wall hangings, also been thinking about why I am creating them which has been more of a task than I thought.
A new acetate drawing that I finished a couple of days ago.
I have attempted to bring out the image from the wall by adding an extra layer of umbrella pieces which worked very effectively.
Today i entered the studio with a fresh mind at 9am intending to create something, I was there until 7pm creating another wall hanging. 11 hour days are hard.
I did try layering the two images together but it became a bit messy so I left them as they were.
12/03/2013
It has been a couple of weeks since my last post as I have been very busy soldering umbrella pieces together, here is an update of what I have been doing. I firstly made more wall designs however I was left unsatisfied so I began looking down alternative routes.
The interconnected junctions of the steel umbrella parts fastened together well with my soldering which I must say is improving. The sculpture also became more expansive with working from the floor outwards and upwards.
so far the sculpture stands about 2-3 meters high, I will continue to problem solve as some parts are coated and need a lot of sanding before hand.
More to come...
