Wednesday, January 10, 2007

inner workings


It generally seems that the excitement of the conceptual and design phases of any project is eclipsed by many long hours of tedius labor.
Many. Long. Hours.

Trial and error, step by step, detail by detail punctuated by mishaps requiring Bactine, cursing, the occasional brilliant insight, more cursing and finally, the wicked comedy brought on by exhaustion.

This hard work and tedium proves too much for the average bear, resulting in the bell curve for projects dreamt of actually completed. Which is to say, not so many.

This process has definitely proven true for the kinetic works I've created in the past, and is ever so present for Fortune's Teller.

Still, little by little the works come together so that the lights go on, the finger beckons, the eyes open slowly and the wheel begins to spin.

Our deadline is Jan 22. We're okay for now, but experience tells me that as we approach it, our days will grow longer.

I'm looking forward to showing you what we made. This photo is of the gear mechanism inside a single figure from Dark Caravan's midway sculpture several years ago. It says a lot about what work in the studio is like these days.


Jason Erik Lundberg has a site called Second Chance Book Adoption where you can get rescued books for amazingly low prices. Some good ones too. I'm going back for another look.


Our computer guy Chris sent me here WorldNetDaily for a look at this weirdness regarding birds falling inexplicably from the sky near Perth, Austrailia and in Austin, Texas. If you see more about this or find some clue as to whether this article is reliable, please comment.

We saw Children of Men (2006)last night.
I thought it was good science fiction and well made. Also saw a preview for the upcoming Mimzy. Mimsy Were the Borogoves is one of my all -time favorite stories. We have it in several editions, including a 1950 A Gnome There Was by Lewis Padgett. The preview wasn't inspiring, but promises eye candy.

Another long studio day tomorrow. Now to stretch and work out what the work worked in. And to find the soundtrack for Children of Men.

g'night

5 comments:

Jason Erik Lundberg said...

Thanks for the shout-out, Lisa! And good luck with your deadline.

Dan Guy said...

Wow. Do you machine the metal parts yourself or do you find pre-existing bits that can be mashed together?

Carl V. Anderson said...

This is the second good word I've heard about Children of Men in as many days. I think a trip to the theatre is in order.

lisa said...

Jason: you're welcome. Good luck with the rescue!

Dan: We bought some, machined some, bastardized some from toys. We mold and cast our own gears though.

Carl: See it. You always give good movie reviews. I'll be interested to know what you think of it.

Dan Guy said...

That's amazing. You're amazing.