Monday, May 20, 2019

The Nose

The last few weeks have been intense, with several major detours off the main course of the Flybrary build. 
There was travel to various festivals in support of The Hand of Man in North West Alabama, a speedy weekend trip to a wedding in NYC, as well as attending and participating in a very inspiring local festival called Monolith on the Mesa that showcased some of Christian and my sculptures. 
Turns out commitments keep piling up, whether you have a HUGE Burning Man project or not.
I have been doing everything I can to get ready for the next few months, including a rigorous dietary cleanse, which has helped me manage stress, made me feel great and given me a much needed energy boost as well.  
Other than my computer not being able to run most of the programs needed to actually view the fancy 3D cad drawings, things are progressing. The computer thing is actually quite a problem but I am navigating those murky technological waters as well. I am retiring my 8 year old computer and starting a new.


 A dear friend helped design the Flybrary Logo and bookmark (thanks Vlad). Schwag is near! These seem like small things, but they take time and vision and are a necessary step for a project like this. 



As we live far from pretty much everything, (albeit one of the reasons we live here) after I received the final specs for the face structure I ordered materials and a week later started the build!



 I have been using the well crafted cardboard model as my go to for angles and measurements and so far I have built the nose and forehead. See the green outline.

Next week I will have good help in the shop and things should really get up to speed. 

I am looking for more help though, so if you have skills in the shop please let me know! 

Once all the face panels are built, they get sheathed in plate steel and hung off the internal super structure.
From there it's interior builds and the book-birds and their trusses.









The Flybrary needs your books! I will write a dedicated post soon regarding books, but I will start by challenging you, my friends to give or send me your favorite book! Media mail is cheap and your book will be in the amazing FLYBRARY collection. Please send your book to: POB 658, El Prado, NM 87529, or drop them at SOMOS in Taos. 

In the meantime I was invited to participate at Burning Man's Desert Arts Preview event in San Francisco, and since I can't be there in person my friend Filastine made a quick video for the presentation. I will post it on this blog after the Event, which is on June 2nd.

We have a saying in the shop and I have been abiding to it(somewhat reluctantly) for the past weeks, which is SLOW is FAST. It's true, one little calculation,angle, measurement wrong and it's a catastrophic domino effect. So it's going slow, but it's going well.

Thank you for your support, in whichever way it comes, I am very grateful!






Friday, May 3, 2019

Ready Set Go!

With a project this size and complexity it sure helps to have some talented hands sharing their expertise. I like having the support around me, especially in the beginning of a project like this. I have reached out for help on a few things, mainly the engineering and have just received my first set of preliminary specs. That means I now know what sizes of materials I can use for the build. 
Christian and I had speculated on a few materials sizes and were pretty much on the money. It does feel good though, to have calculations run on a structure and know that if you build it this way it should withstand winds of 105mph, for example.
And I get a detailed technical computer drawing of the piece:

This past month I also had my friend Mike Barbee help with some calculations, thanks to his wizardry with Fusion 360 and Autocad. I am always impressed with people who can work in these programs, because I have no skill nor much patience when it comes to trying to understand them. Yes I have tried, but I am just better in the shop.



I have started on the chandelier, which I thought clearly should be in the shape of synapses. It is fun to work with these intriguing shapes, they are pretty wild. Here's one of my favorite renderings of these magical electric pods in our brain.
And if that isn't trippy enough here's what they really look like..


 



I have started making these pod like structures, by using steel balls, cutting organic holes in them and welding on arms. 

I imagine light illuminating from within each of my stylized neurons as well as through the arms (dendrites) and have something extra bright happen right at the synapse. 

They would all connect in a circular pattern via the dendrites within the top of the Flybrary head. I think by adding undulating LED lighting they will light the space beautifully.
This last month has been busy with several out of town trips, including North Western Arkansas with the Hand of Man, and NYC, and a spring cleanse (which has me off coffee, sugar and grains), nursing a very sore elbow injury and waiting patiently for the specs so I can get going. I am preparing in all the ways I know how for the inevitable gargantuan build ahead.
Where to start on this huge head? Christian suggested I start on the nose, and that sounds like an excellent idea. The nose it is!