Dave's Werld

I just got the circuit boards in for these. This piece was inspired by my recent trip to New York.

Case piece with speaker

I should have the electronics done by next weekend. Need to find a home for 16 of these.

I didn’t feel like this piece had the right look, so I put it aside for some time. I didn’t like the conveyor belt as I felt it became somehow a focal point. So recently I came up with the idea that the conveyor could be an acrylic chain of links. So it is.  Things are looking up. Here’s a couple shots of what’s happening as I am putting it together.

And a little larger view. Electronics and lights this weekend…

I am really liking this little single board computer. I’m using it for a couple new pieces and it’s really been a nice little machine. I had some extra laser time yesterday, so just fooling around, I made this little case.  Really nice having a laser cutter available.

Raspberry Pi in it’s new home

Well, the hard part about making art work that you hope/plan to show is that eventually you have to document it. So with a friend and a family member I got a lot of video shot and a lot of photos taken. Sadly, Neal isn’t in any of the photos to claim his rightful credit. Apparently spending too much time behind the camera. Thanks to David and Neal for their efforts.

Videoing one piece

Side view

Confused and struggling

Me looking thoughtful for the video.

A close up of one of the pieces

A really cool shot of the same piece. Amazing what a photographer can do.

Last night was the premiere of ArtPulseTV. I’m thrilled to be a part of the pilot. It was really an excellent show and the reception was really nice.

I’m hopeful that the show will continue on, because one of it’s key goals is to inform people about the arts in San Diego. San Diego is one of the larger cities in the US and really has a diverse art scene. This is a good goal and I wish them all the best in this endeavor.  The show had several segments, one segment featured a local sculptor who does beautiful horse sculptures. Then there was a segment about being a docent at SDMA. It’s funny, to me, because I have been in countless museums and never taken a docent led tour, I’m going to change that and take at least one now.  Then a segment about me, which I really was nervous about, but Barbarella and David and their team did such a nice job, that I felt pretty good about it. Then the last major segment was something called “Terri tries it” In this episode their reporter spends an afternoon trying to work with ballerinas. The segment is funny, but points out the amazing effort these people do to master their art form. I think that’s nice, because a lot of artwork requires discipline, dedication and desire. It’s easy to forget that when someone sees someone else doing something that appears effortless. The effort is there. Trust me.

Here’s a photo of the overall group.

One view of the party

I’m still happy to do both representational static sculptures and abstractions. We had a great time at the opening of Sculpture in the Garden at San Diego Botanic Garden in Encinitas.  The Gardens are located at 230 Quail Gardens Drive, Encinitas, CA 92024.  Here’s a couple pictures of the piece, it’s about 8 feet tall. Those concrete pieces are not part of the piece and were covered with mulch.

View from top of path

View from bottom of path

I’m updating the Sisyphus piece, here’s it in work. More laser cutting today.

Overview of new design

Detail of cut acrylic

There’s a couple theories in Psychology about whether the individual acts alone and affects the group or if the group affects the individual. I’m not sure that I know what I think the answer is. Simple physics seems to have an opinion. Tilt a table with a bunch of ball bearings and the group all falls. You could easily argue that one ball bearing would also fall the same way. But would it? Isn’t it affected by it’s neighbors?

Basic motor

I kind of got a little crazy on the actuator, it’s very unlikely that anyone will ever see it anywhere but here. But it looks nice and I like to make things as nice as I can all the way through.

This is what lifts each side at a different height

Here’s what the basic design looks like, the finished one has completed semi clear sides. I just found a lot of white acrylic, so while I work on this, I laser cut the stuff I have a lot of.

Frame tilting

What it looks like from the top.

I’m very pleased to say that I was interviewed by Art Pulse TV. Barbarella and David came up to my studio and became friends with my shop helpers, Baloo and Marlow and really were a lot of fun. There’s a teaser (think that’s a media term) of just me and my pieces on You Tube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=an2OVi7q1w0

There’s also a trailer for all of us in the first show too. I really think it’s nicely done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugU3dUYx2VY

I really like laser cut acrylic. The heat of the laser flame polishes the cut edge so it’s glossy.  So, I used it for a couple pieces. Infinite, yet bounded is the roller ball thing where a captive ball goes back and forth in the tube for pretty much ever. You turn it on and that’s all it does. All day. Every day. Back and forth. Rolling along. Draw your own conclusions. I have mine.

I have to take video of it. But I did take a nice detail shot of the control box.

Detail of Infinite, yet Bounded.

Also, I have revisited Sisyphus. I wasn’t happy with the continous rotation servo and the performance it gave. So, now we are using a 12v DC gear motor with enough torque to really mess things up if it got cattywampus.  ( Go ahead and use spell check on that word…) I’m also using different colors of acrylic to make things more noticeable. Here’s the main part without the cylinder and rolling ball.

Sisyphus main body with gears

And a little detail of the gears that are laser cut.

Detail of gear and mount

In case you are wondering why there is brown paper on my clear acrylic, that’s how it comes so it doesn’t get scratched. I only removed the minimum amount so I could see what I was doing.