Friday, February 27, 2009

Ladder Update


Here's the ladder. It's still in progress but I'm getting close! I'm going to leave it alone for a few days (more likely a few hours) and then go back and fix a few small things (not visible in the photo). But it's a real thing and not just an idea now so I'm happy.

Monday, February 23, 2009

James Forsythe Sachs, Anonymous

I was at the Philadelphia Museum of Art last Wednesday. I was standing in line at the coat check looking at the donor names posted on the wall. As I was scanning them I noticed something that reminded me of an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Ted Danson donates money to build a wing of museum as "Anonymous" but tells everyone it's him (and no longer anonymous) and Larry David gets pissed. This was sort of like that. Well not really, but sort of.

Then the most peculiar thing happened-- I saw a Sachs name. That wasn't even the weird part. I looked closer to take a picture... WHOA!




The Simpsons

For those of you who know me, you've undoubtedly heard me make reference to The Simpsons on more than one occasion. If you don't know of The Simpsons, it's the longest running primetime cartoon of all time appearing on FOX at 8 pm on Sundays. And welcome to Earth.

I find The Simpsons relevant to many aspects of life and am constantly amazed at how new episodes and content are generated each week. The introduction and opening credits have remained the same throughout the show's 20 seasons save Bart's chalkboard message and the couch gag which are changed nearly every episode*. And I suppose they also do a new one for the Treehouse of Horror episode each year. But the point is over 20 years they have stayed with the same intro with only minor variations. That's pretty cool. They like to keep it real. Here's one of the more recent couch gags that really exercises the breadth of characters and ideas developed throughout the life of the program.

*Lisa's sax solo also changes but much less frequently.





Due to the advent of HDTV, something big has happened.

I have long talked about this day with my fellow Simsonians, Kyle being the first to comment on the staid genius of the classic intro. I argued that an updated version, tastefully done mind you, might just be the best present a Simpsons fan could ask for. While paying my full respect to the unflagging lead-in of the last 20 years, I am thrilled to see a new, re-tooled intro complete with chalkboard, sax, and extended couch gag. And it's all in HD or so it says. I wouldn't know, my TV still has a VCR built into it.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Ladder

Here is a rendering for a piece I've been working on. Likely only one of these will be made but I did three to give a reference for comparison. I'm partial to the one on the far left.








This is a picture of the gluing up of the stringers (sides of the ladder). It took 56 clamps and many feet of rubber tubing to get it just right.






In this shot you can see the rubber tubing used to hold the plies together between the clamps. The top stringer is being glued (the bottom one is dry already) and tied to the bottom one to ensure that the curves match exactly. I really hope they didn't get glued together too badly. On my way to the shop now to check.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Here are images of some recent work (Fall 2008). This is a continuation of an idea I had during my undergraduate studies involving everyday objects and hinges. By adding a piece of generally useful hardware (hinges), these objects quickly lose their prescribed utility.

Cane (Foiled), 2008
Found Cane, Brass
26"x4"x1"


Cigarette with Hinges, 2008
Found Cigarette, Sterling Silver
3"x.25"x.25"



Metric, 2008
Found Yard Stick, Brass
36"x3"x3"

Sunday, February 15, 2009

This is blogging?

So this is blogging? Somehow I thought it would be more exciting. I guess I felt like I'd be higher tech if I had a blog. And now I have one and I don't feel like I've climbed the tech ladder all that far. Guess I need to keep teching out for it to take effect.

Here's hoping,

Jamie