PlanetSimon

My time as a Masters student at BCU School of Art

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Intensive prototyping workshop today. This is a rotating platform for both working on, and displaying, 3D maquettes.

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Experimental surfaces using annealing, rolling and stamping this morning

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Experimental surfaces using annealing, rolling and stamping this morning

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Experimental surfaces using annealing, rolling and stamping this morning

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Higher end photography induction today...

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CHAOS Kinetic Sculpture 2013

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I've seen this artist's work in passing previously, but couldn't find him... until now. These contraptions really appeal to me, and have reminded me not only of how much fun Heath Robinson and Rube Goldberg inject into their work, but also the fascination pinball machines hold for me. Legros's work fuses some of my favourite techniques and materials... I wonder if there are any examples of his work in the UK?

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Vacuum forming induction this afternoon. May have found an interesting new way to present my "artists book".

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Experiments in anodising, colouring and etching aluminium this morning. Trying different inks to see which takes and what effects can be created.

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As previously mentioned, I hate waste. Many of my experiments and researches using laser-cut acrylic have needed reworking or re-cutting... but I've saved every bit. The acrylic pieces are interesting in their own right, and have some lovely aesthetic qualities, almost like cut gems. It made a lot of sense to use these as decoration, and I have chosen some of the more attractive leftovers to attempt my first piece of jewellery design. With Valentine's Day fast approaching, not only have I been able to experiment with some new techniques, but also create a gift for my beloved. I hope she's not following this blog too closely! The clasp is a simple hook and eye and the tension in the copper-clad steel rod keeps them latched. This clasp could easily be upgraded later to something more elegant.

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Idea for a transcription device using MP3 modules: this is for a planned artist interview. The interview can be replayed using an acrylic kinetic sculpture, making the submission for my Research in Practice module a piece of interactive art in its own right. A rack which can raise or lower a platform on which a speaker sits activates the sound module, replaying a part of the interview. Questions would be structured so that each module deals with a particular theme. The viewer can then choose which part of the interview they wish to hear by operating the mechanism.

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I hate things going to waste, so I took all my welding practice offcuts and made a series of free-standing sculptures, provisionally entitled "Bad Welding Making Interesting Art". The way the metal discolours and warps in fascinating ways as the weld heats, cools and anneals the metal gives some interesting shapes and textures, especially with this light guage steel. Not pretty, but they have an industrial feel whilst also having an element of natural forms.

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More welding practice this afternoon. I think I will call this piece 'Bucket', which is a poor joke only people of a certain TV vintage and country will get...

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Studio lighting basics today. Amazing how many different effects can be achieved with lighting.

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Tim Lewis — Floorr

"Even as a child I clumsily tried to build little working models and devices to mimic almost any situation I came across, of course I didn’t realise that this could be a kind of art, it was just something I did."

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Beautiful short film of Arthur Ganson’s “Machine with Wishbone” by Randall Lloyd Okita, with several dramatic cameos from other pieces. The film shows off Ganson’s work in detail, showing the mechanisms in good detail.

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Practicing stitch welding... regulating the speed of the feed seems key but still getting a lot of burn-through even on the lowest voltage settings. Practice, practice, practice...

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It strikes me (pun intended) that no Artist Engineer can survive without knowing how to weld, so today I've been learning the noble art of MIG. Clearly there's a long way to go!