So far, so good

So the first part of my "Summer of Pilchuck" has been nothing short of amazing.

Being there pre-session for pole turners, I was able to learn more about cane techniques than I had previously known... ever.  It was such a crash course in how to pull cane in several ways... like using a drill to twist cane all day, or how to pull flat cane by oneself.  The terminology... now I know the difference between filigrana, ballentini, nostri, and some of the history behind these patterns (Scott has written a book at some point I want to track down).  The nuances of the different colors... or example white Duro pulls different than enamel white, while both are stiff colors the duro is so stiff it's set up is completely different.  Now the thing to remember is that the pattern and minimal color of the centerpiece was the most important thing.  The beauty in understated color shifts, and offset patterns on top of each other.  The picture below is the mock up Scott sent to Pilchuck for the proposal this years centerpiece for the Pilchuck Auction.

Having this explained, and shown, to us by Scott Benefield, Tyler Kimball, and DJ Benyosef was like having three free classes in two weeks.  Some of it was note-taking, but most of this was observation and practice in the hot shop.  That's not including all the people I was working with.  Being on a few different teams, I was able to live that mantra I'm always trying to tell my students... "Work with as many glass people as possible, since we all do it differently, there's always something to learn."  So it was a great educational, and I will readily admit humbling, experience to be able to work with so many talented people in one location.  I learned so many new tricks of doing things, and like always, it's the real subtle things you might miss otherwise.  For example, if you're using a 3/4" punty, if you super chill the first 1/2" or so of the pipe before the gather, the core of the punty is super stable.  This comes in handy in a production environment where speed, and success, are key.

So like this for 2 weeks... loud, hot, and wonderful.

So the logistics of it all... there are (I believe) 100 tables at the auction.  Each table needs a centerpiece.  Each centerpiece is comprised of 5 cylinders, 4 of which are a cane technique and one which is a solid color.   So we needed to turn out 500 cylinders, in about 9 days.  Now given the amount of people working in the hot shop at any given moment, it was amazing no one got hurt, and that we lost as few plates as we did.  The 500 vessels also doesn't reflect the two different benefactor gifts that also had to be made as well.  In short it was a huge production run.  The 9 days also doesn't include the 2 days of cane pulling, and 2 days of documenting, packing, and transporting the centerpieces to storage as well.

The first groupings of finished, signed, centerpieces.

One of the benefactor gifts that Scott was making every morning at 6:30.

It was a great experience overall.  It wasn't a residency, I knew that going in, however the amount of information that I was bombarded with for those two weeks will help my practice down the road.  By seeing these techniques that I had previously thought were pretty difficult, I can know try these things out myself as I saw it wasn't necessarily hard... it was just practice and pushing oneself to try something new.  I can also pass this knowledge on to students that show interest in techniques such as this.  In a way it has been a good jump start for the casting class I'll be taking later this summer at Pilchuck.  That trip is right around  the corner, the 28th of July, and will be for 3 weeks.  I'm super excited to see how that type of technique will inform my work, but having the information to pass along to students will be the best part.

My outside experience (Part 2)

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Understanding unlocked

You may have noticed on the right side there is a translator tab for this blog.  Not too long ago I made this blog public, and I have to admit, I like seeing where everyone is coming from in the world when they come to see my blog.   Now it's real easy for any of my friends from Japan to see what I'm up to.  Plus I love seeing all the English converted into Japanese.

It was really easy to get/install.  Just do a Google search of "translator for blogger" or "translator for wordpress" or "translator for WhateverYouAreUsing".  Follow the instructions, if there are any, the translator for Blogger had minimal instructions.  Save your changes, and that's it.

BIG Update

There it is, in all it's cardboard goodness.  This is the life size mock up of my project, now just imagine all the cardboard as frosted glass and you'll get an idea of how the final will look.  While putting this together, the amount of information learned was great.  The configuration had to be moved 3 times to get the spacing in the grid right, and that was the main purpose of this mock up, to figure out the spacing.  The maquette was a, slightly flawed, model.  This has been much more informative in terms of placement, in the space itself, and the spacing of the larger panes of glass.

One of my goals for this project is to stay fluid and roll with whatever comes down the pipe.  Today was a great reminder for this attitude.  I had wanted to get at least one column hung for my progress crit this Thursday, sadly this will not happen and it has to do with this guy here.

The image above is called a lapidary wheel, it's a large steel disk that turns at a high rate of speed.  This type of wheel has several magnetic disks in many grit sizes, a typical selection is 80, 220, 400, 600, and cerium (final polish)... it's just like sanding wood, only with water.  It has a water feed to keep glass dust contained and to keep the temperature of the glass cool while cold working.  It also is the only way to finish the small glass pieces that need polished back to shiny glass goodness.  The problem is I'm missing the next step in the polishing process, one was ordered for me but has yet to arrive.  I tried going to another studio today, Glass Axis a public glass studio here in town. However they do not have the disk in the grit I need.  I also tried using a wet belt sander as well, that marked the glass too differently so I will wait and use the same tools for consistent results.

Remember these, well due to my wonderful math skills... the photo above has changed into the photo below.

That's another 62 small pieces to bevel.  It's not all bad in glassland though... they only need two steps in polishing to be finished.  While waiting for the rest of the small glass pieces to arrive, I went ahead and kept working on the half that will need to be polished all the way.  Today I did manage to get 30 of the new small pieces roughed in, I'll have them all finished in no time.

The two pictures above are showing the gluing process.  I can get the small pieces that are going to be sandblasted in place and set, while continuing to work on other things.  Like more grinding.  All the small pieces need work of some kind, however all the large panes need the edges taken off so I don't cut my fingers while working.  Last count was 18 had been worked on, leaving about 15 or so to do.  If I get real sick of grinding glass I can keep gluing.  The glue being used is called Hxtal (Hex-tall), it's a 2 part epoxy with an extremely long curing time.  It takes a couple of days to set, a week to cure.  Those aren't the same pieces of glass in the pictures by the way, they are 2 separate batches.  Once the glue sets, those pieces come off the table and the new batch gets started.

Once the large panes are being glued, I can grind more glass, or go work on the hardware configuration.  The picture above is the hardware layout for the top row of panes.  Nice and clean, unfortunately I did not get a picture of the finalized layout I came up with today and will post it later.

The specialty hardware arrived and it is sexy, try to deny it.

This is most of what I have been up to since last crit.  This doesn't include getting ready for sandblasting or ordering more hardware for the final hang.  There has been a lot gone into this project with much more to go.  It has been a lot of 18 hour days.  It has been moving into the mindset of "This is my job".  

That last sentence, I feel, can sum up how I'm feeling about everything right now in the program.  This is my job, sure it is tough sometimes.  Sometimes, it makes my head hurt.  Sometimes it's scary, exciting, and awesome all at once.  The entire time has been fun, and I hope my job stays like this forever.

Forward motion

So here is the maquette in it's finished form.  This is one of the better pictures too, I found out that photographing plexi is a lot like photographing glass... hard.  The working scale here is 1 inch to 1 foot.  The frosted plexi squares are 2 in. X 2 in.  So a working height of 6 feet hung from a 8 foot (from the floor) ceiling grid.

This is the foot print of the piece on the floor in tape.  I know you can't really see it but I wanted to show this photo for the light in it.  This is the light coming into the MFA space every morning and it is beautiful.  I think that light in combination with lots of frosted glass will be spectacular, hell that box is going to glow.  So here's the foot print without the funky angle.

The spacing of the columns was a problem on the maquette, I'm trying everything I can to make sure that doesn't happen for the final build.  To figure that out, it's going to take another model.  A "to scale" model at that.  I'll be taking 2 ft. square pieces of cardboard and arranging them to figure out the best spacing.  Keep in mind there will be "dead zones" in the grid from the hardware that keeps it together, I'm trying to hang the piece with that in mind.  The final model won't be finished until the end of this week, and that's if everything goes smoothly for the rest of this week.  I want to get some pictures of people standing around it for scale... maybe some of my classmates?

The specialty hardware I need has been ordered, the glass I need (that I had miscalculated about) has been ordered as well.  The glass should be here at the end of the week, the hardware order will be filled in about 2-3 days with another 5-7 days for delivery.  I'm working on having the polished glass reinforcement panels done by the end of this week, Sunday at the latest.  The next batch of panels coming in will sandblasted, so not much cold working there.  

Working with glass can be tricky, it's more practice than anything else.  I have to keep in mind the Fiberwave video and bend with any changes that might come my way, there is a way around any problem.  Gaming circles call this the "way of the water warrior", having a plan but being fluid enough to react to anything that can happen and to remain fluid through the encounter.

Lots of little edges

This is what I have been busy with for the past week.  At least doing 2 stacks of 10 panes per day (more if time allows), each stack of 10 takes an hour to bevel 3 sides.  I am taking a little time off from this part though, my wrists and fingers are locking up faster each day so a little rest for the hands is in order.  These are the reinforcement panels for my larger sheets of glass.  These measure 2 1/2 inches wide by 5 inches long, and I ordered a gross (144) of them.  Do I need 144 of them? No.  But, like any glassblower, I believe in having more than what I need in case something does go wrong... if I happen to drop one, or not having enough water when drilling the holes and the friction cracks it, or my dog's tail knocks a few off the table, you get the point.  Redundancy in materials, having your bases covered with the same solution just multiples of it.  It goes to the big panels as well.


*edit* Remember up above when I said I didn't need 144 of those small little pieces?  I was wrong.  Redoing some of the math I am actually short by about 70 pieces, when I was tabulating how many I would need I was only counting the reinforcements for ONE side of a 2' x 2' pane.  The good thing is I caught it now, not when I'm trying to everything glued up and hung later.  I will still have extras, which is good since I had 3 casualties today out of 50 pieces.

This is my crate of glass goodness, this came to the Sculpture Studio yesterday, and that made me very happy.  There are 36 panes total, I need 31, so there is room for error... just not a lot of room.  The edges of these 2 foot square panes of glass will be beveled enough to take the edge off, so a millimeter at most here.

I'm thinking about the material, and for a project this size material is very important, what you use is just as important as how you use it.  I'm also doing some research into more conceptual art and those books arrived today in fact.  In my head the project has undergone a transformation, at this point I don't know if I'll be drawing on the glass, and most likely won't.  I do plan on writing on it, text from myself, my Mother and Grandmother will adorn 3 of the sides of the box.  The remaining wall will be blank in reference to my Grandfather, who is gone.  The project is starting to feel like a family room, that room in the house that everyone would hang out and talk in, maybe watch some T.V. or a football game.  That room is usually filled with mementos of the family that lives there, little figurines, photographs, and books.  The thing is I'm getting that vision of it completed in my mind's eye.  I can see it and as I work on the glass it gets more clear everyday, I have most of the materials now and nothing is going to stop it... except exhaustion.

Happy QR Code Fun Time

Ok, I have to admit it, the idea intrigues me.  That could be from the whole "What's it gonna be?!" scenario.  It has that same feel of the toy in the Cracker Jack box.  The whole notion of being able to physically embed something into my work that takes you someplace else is... for lack of a better word, magical.  We, as artists, all want to take our viewers somewhere and we can do that.  For this code in particular, and it seems dependant on the QR reader you have, it either jumps straight to the video (which is the desired effect) or takes you to the YouTube dashboard to play the movie.

Linking this code with a piece about the body and what resides within has a lot of potential.  Being able to visualize that, a heart monitor, ambient sounds, something completely grotesque... gets me to think about what I see in the people around me, and ultimately in myself.

Maquette Progress - Part 2

The maquette is coming along nicely, the base and support structure for the grid are mostly done.  Patch a few holes on the base, drill a few holes to hang the plexi from, a dash of black spray paint and base will be done.  This was a pretty easy build for the most part, all the supplies used here... styrene sheet, 1/4" square styrene tube, 1/8" round brass tube, 1/8" square brass tube, styrene cement, and superglue are available at any hobby/model train store for a reasonable amount.   This build was only $15, but I can get a rough idea of what it's going to look like and how it will work.  All that is really left to do is straighten a few more paper clips  to represent the cable holding the glass from the Unistrut grid.

"No plan survives contact with the enemy"

  

There was one, grossly overlooked detail that escaped the production of this model.  The struts are 6" long, the exact measurement of the plexi... they need to be at least 6 3/4" to allow spacing between the rows of hanging plexi.  If this was the final, the glass would banging against each other and breaking.  No problem though, that's why I wanted to build this model.  To see any potential problems in the build and correct them before they could become a major problem later.

Glass has arrived

On Tuesday most of the plate glass for my project came in.  Today was the initial cold working.  There are a lot of small, 2 1/2" X 5", glass pieces that need to be beveled, and then glued to the larger 2' X 2' panels.  Then the 3/8" holes can be drilled after that.

I decided that working on batches of 10 would be best, there 144 of these small pieces to do total.  Just working on the 80 grit wheel, 10 small panes come in at just over an hour to bevel three sides, which will turn out to be about 15 hours.  This is just the roughing in of the bevels.  It's just like sanding wood, only with water to keep the temperature down, if the glass gets too hot from the friction it will crack.

The upside is only half of them need to be polished, the downside is half of them need to be polished.  The grit sizes I use are 80, 220, 400, 600, then cork and cerium, or just cerium, as you can see the polished panels need 4-5 more steps.  Time is not my friend on this project, between the cold working and the gluing I'll need to be spot on with time management and I still might miss/break something.  However if something does break, it's not the end of the world.  I ordered more than I needed just in case something unfortunate happened.

Proposal Revision

The following is a revision of my proposal for my Semester 1 project.  I feel this is more accurate proposal overall, mostly due to details such as a budget.  It is also a rewrite requirement for my Studio Practices class.  The initial proposal on the grad application was a good starting point, but this puts everything in a better light.

Describe the project you will be working this semester. - My project for this semester is an abstracted head constructed out of panes of glass.  The glass panes will be 2 feet by 2 feet square, and 1/4 of an inch thick.  Reinforcements made out of smaller slabs of glass will be fixed in place using Hxtal, an industrial grade adhesive that is recognized as the only archival glass adhesive.  The panes will also be trimmed in metal edging to help stabilize the glass and help prevent shear.  The head will be organized into three walls, each wall is 3 panes tall by 3 panes wide. This will delineate the back and sides of the head.  The face will be constructed from one row of panes at the top, the next row will consist of a reclaimed window, another pane (carved to mimic the structure of the bridge of the nose), and then another reclaimed window.  All of the glass will be sand blasted on the inside and drawn on to varying degrees.  The windows, specifically, will have eyes drawn on them.  Inside this large glass box, there will be a table with bell jars, and specimens of memory alluding to the brain and it’s functions.  The panes will be held together in columns of 3 by Long D Shackles, a rigging shackle designed to take large stress loads.

Describe the final form it will take when finished. - The final form of the piece will be as described as above, the final showing of the piece will be in the MFA space.  It is the only space on campus with a Unistrut Suspension Grid rated well above the weight tolerance I will be using.  The grid is rated for 2000 lbs., the combined (rough) weight of the piece so far is 385 lbs.  Lighting might be difficult to do as planned, having all that sand blasted glass lit more from the inside would make it glow through the diffusion of light but the MFA space is well lit and I will tackle this more as fabrication begins in ernest.

List the resources, labs, and any specific instruction that you anticipate needing to complete this project. - So far the biggest resource I need is space.  Hxtal takes a week to cure completely, and I have 31 panes to glue reinforcements to.  The more panes I can lay out the more gluing I can do at once.  The faculty and staff at the Sculpture Studio have been very helpful with providing me a studio space there to work out the fabrication that will have to be done.  This includes grinding, polishing, gluing, sand blasting, and drilling 1/4 inch thick plate glass.  So lots of time on the cold working equipment and wet table to accomplish this.

Include a budget for the project. - The budget for this project is still rough and not finalized, all the estimates are on the high side for simplicity.

144 small glass pieces & 1 replacement window  - $122

           36 2’x2’ glass panes                                                   - $360

           100 Long D shackles @ $8.19/piece                       - $820

           100 ft of steel cable @ $0.25/foot                              - $25

            Additional hardware

                   42 connecting links @ $1.50-$2                        - $63 to $84

                   24 thimbles @ $1                                                  - $24

          new colored pencils                                                      - $5 to $7

          2 cans of matte varnish @ $10/can                            - $20

        ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                                                   Rough Total  =     $1,462

Include a timetable for the project. - A timetable for this project is a hard thing to tabulate.  Nothing will start until I get the glass I need, one order is already placed and I’m waiting to hear from the supplier to go pick it up.  The earliest I was told for this order was middle to end of next week, this the order with the 144 smaller pieces.  The larger glass order will be placed next Monday (9/13) with delivery on Tuesday.   I’m still researching the Long D shackles to get the best price and that order should be placed no later than the end of next week (9/17).  Once I have the glass I need, I can really begin to work.  Until then I have been trying to coordinate everything, space and resources, and get any drawings done that need to be finished before the glass gets here.

Describe what will constitute the successful completion of this project.  Also describe how your work, process, and artistic progress should be evaluated. - This is the hardest question of this proposal.  Success, to me, would be completing this project on time as presented.  I have never attempted a project of this scale, both physically and logistically.  There has been tremendous amounts of information I have gained already, I am in the process of compiling a supplier database for things I need in town and across the country for the future.  Doing most of the leg work now, means less work and more creating in the future because I will already know who to call.  I believe that if I can hang this and it doesn’t fall apart from it’s own weight then thats is a process success.  If I can get across the idea of the head and it’s mostly working memory banks then an artistic progress success there.  I’m not sure I understand the work aspect of this question.  My work as a whole?  Related to the previous body of work? Or work as in this piece?

This is the biggest project I have ever attempted, it is a little intimidating to say the least.  However, I feel the opportunity at CCAD would be wasted on things I already do, the chance to do something completely different is very attractive.  This feels like diving in head first but not knowing the depth of the water.

I believe it will work, the science behind it is solid, however theory and practical knowledge don't always meet well.  I'm using a book of European architecture practices to help decide the best course of action with this, and it has been a valuable resource.  It is entitled Glass Structures : Design and Construction of Self Supporting Skins by Jan Wurm and it is a translated volume from German.  Amazon link here.  If you ever had a question about plate glass use, adhesives, stress diagrams, and actual glass construction then this book is for you.  

Maquette Progress

As I wait for my materials to arrive I decided to make a maquette to see if there might be any problems with structure or details such as the drawings that might need extra thought(s).  This will also allow anyone whose talked to me about my project to get a better idea of what I'm thinking about, as opposed to seeing a xeroxed copy of the sketch stapled inside my sketchbook.  This gives me something to present to my peers for my progress crit as well, that will probably be next week.

So far this was yesterday's work with a few hours this morning.  I just need a few measurements, like the floor to Unistrut height, and I can start the final assembly of the whole thing.  The model should be finished this evening.

When I can't work on this I have other tests to run at school.  Drilling through glass that was Hxtal-ed together on Thursday, to see if the glue separates and if I can step up that window of opportunity without having to wait the full week Hxtal takes to cure.  Making a jig to glue the small reenforcement panels to the large panels, a rack to store the large panels as they are worked on, and a stand to rest the panels in the sand blaster are all things that need to be done as well.  I'm going to try and scavenge as much as I can from my house for these items to keep the cost down.  The project is already more expensive than I had initially thought is was going to be, and I refuse to cut corners on the materials directly involved for the final presentation.  The support materials, well they just need to hold it together for a few months.

Yeah this feels better...

Ok, I do like blogger better... this is way more user friendly for a computer neanderthal like me.  The interface is nicely streamlined, and I already know the control layout.