Introducing Nautilus and a Music Experiment

This week we are finally adding Nautilus to the website and making it available for sale.  

David finished Nautilus a while ago but we have learned in previous years to never introduce a sculpture in the middle of summer. No one notices! So we have held off until this week. Check out this new design and read about it here.

The process of introducing a new sculpture takes a lot more work after David has spent many months perfecting the design and construction. One of the time consuming parts is adding sound to the video. Most of David's pieces make little to no sound at all (although Nautilus does). Video without sound is lacking so David tries to add a music background. He has tried all different ways of adding royalty free music and this process continues to be a youtube challenge. In order to eliminate constant challenges to the ownership of the music David has most recently decided to use only the pieces supplied by youtube for inclusion.  

But the choices are still many and what genre best suits a piece? We have learned that the background music significantly affects a viewers emotional response to a piece.  So here is a little experiment......

David has added several different music scores to the Nautilus piece. We'd love to hear your reactions to it in the comments sections below.

Nautilus with actual sound:

Nautilus with Classical music

Nautilus with Pop music

Nautilus with Rock music

We would like to know which style of music you think best fits Nautilus but also share any observations you might have about how the music impacts the perception of the sculpture.

Visit the web page about Nautilus here for a description of the sculpture. If you are interested in ordering, visit the order page here. Some are available for shipping now. 

Summer Sculpture Week • 2014

Marji and I attempt to put aside one week per year during which we collaborate on an outdoor sculpture for our growing sculpture collection. Traditionally this is always an outdoor sculpture, in non-traditional materials and in large scale. We both drop all regular work and direct our attention to this project. 

The concept started in 2009 and we completed projects in 2009, 2010 and 2011. We missed 2012, and 2013 and were excited to be able to return to the tradition this year. We have been collecting ideas for awhile.

We now have gracing various locations in our woods, 13 more "trees" constucted of aluminum flashing and PVC pipe.

Marji has blogged extensively about the project, construction techniques and earlier designs over on her blog, Ashbee Design. Check it out.

Solo Kinetic Sculpture takes flight!

David recently released another new kinetic sculpture.  This one is Solo and it again incorporates one of his favorite themes, flight. He is applying a new mechanism to drive this and is very pleased with the end result.

Visit the website to see a video and more photographs of this new piece.  It is being produced in an edition of 95 and runs for 11 hours per winding.

A search of his portfolio shows that he has designed 17 flight related designs over the past 35 plus years. Click here to explore them all and see a little history along the way!

New Kinetic Sculpture • Variation II Sun

Just wanted to let you know that David has released a new sculpture this week. Variation II Sun is the second in the Variation II series. It incorporates all the mechanical advances from the first Variation II design - Wave plus a dramatically different pattering wheel. 

 

Visit the website to see the video because it is all about the motion! Those six satellite wheels create a fascinating series of kaleidoscopic patterns.

Always Tweaking - Kinetic Design Changes

This week I am introducing Monarch II.  This isn't really a new sculpture introduction like Swoop was last week. No, Monarch II is a tweak, a significant tweak, to Monarch. 

Part of the joy of my job is the freedom to explore.  I am constantly learning, evolving and changing my designs. I have modified Monarch to incorporate a variation recently refined while working on other ideas. There is a longer explanation about it here on the webpage but suffice it to say, although the motion, action and essence of the two is the same, there is a visual difference in the center. 

 

In Monarch II much of the clutter has been removed. It just wasn't needed in this new, more elegant solution. I have learned that if I don't document these changes, and update the photos in the website, people notice and wonder.  

I have decided, because there is a noticeable visual difference, I will close the Monarch edition (now Monarch I) at 36, and will start Monarch II with the next scheduled production run in June. This will be a new edition of 75. 

• Monarch II Information Page
• Monarch II Order Page 

I am constantly looking for a better design, a better mechanism or even a better tomato soup recipe. It keeps me working and smiling.